My dog Lola started barking when I played this video, so she wants to let you all know that she fully supports this Golden and his beef with the neighborhood snowman.
In the TikTok clip, we’re out on a nighttime walk with a Golden Retriever who is usually all sunshine and social skills—until she spots it. About 100 yards ahead, in the glow of a street light, stands a snowman. Perfectly still. Suspiciously still. Too still.
Our Golden stops in her tracks.
She locks in, ears up, tail frozen mid-wag like her internal Wi-Fi just disconnected. A low grumble starts, then a bark, then a full-on monologue of “Absolutely not, we are not just walking past that frosty intruder like everything is fine.”
Her human can’t help but laugh as she calmly reassures her that the ice man is, in fact, not a threat to national security. The Golden’s body language disagrees. She edges forward a few steps, stops, and barks, then backs up before inching forward again. It’s like watching someone argue with an inanimate object—and somehow lose.
Meanwhile, Lola—watching from the safety of the couch—is ALL IN. She barked at the screen like she wanted to hop in, tag this Golden out, and finish the round herself. Apparently, the “untrustworthy snowman” opinion is universal in the dog community.
Part of what makes the video so funny is that it also shows how earnestly dogs try to protect us, even from piles of snow with stick arms. They don’t always understand what they’re seeing, but they know one thing: they’ve got our backs.
When Your Dog Thinks the Snowman Is Sus
Dogs reacting dramatically to harmless objects—snowmen, statues, lawn decorations—is actually pretty common. New or odd shapes can confuse them, especially in low light, and their default response is, “Alert the humans!” The key is to stay calm, reassure them, let them investigate at their own pace, and never punish them for being scared. For more insight on why dogs freak out over “strange” things and how to help them through it, this PetMD article is a great read.
So yes—if your dog has beef with the snowman, just know they’re doing their best, one suspicious side-eye at a time. ⛄🐶
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This story was originally published by Parade Pets on Dec 17, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add Parade Pets as a Preferred Source by clicking here.