It’s officially the end of April, and the end of the UK’s first full month in lockdown.
It’s undoubtedly been a tough time for everyone, but one wonderful thing that has come out of the situation is all the extra hours we’ve got to spend with our precious pets!
There’s been some fantastic pet stories that have come out of quarantine over the course of the month, from giggle-inducing grooming videos to heart-warming tales of friendship and love.
So to help bring you some cheer (and possibly shed a tear) we’ve rounded up some of our favourite good news and amazing pet videos from across April to help bring a smile to your face!
Enjoy!
CHANELLLLL!
If the inspiring and heartwarming story of Chanel the African Grey parrot has passed you by this week, then you might be quarantining a little too hard!
The story of the UK’s now favourite pet bird took Twitter and the rest of social media by storm earlier this month after a scouse woman named Sandra Hannah posted a distressing video to her Facebook.
In the viral video hit, Sandra and her children wander the streets of Everton, Liverpool screaming for their pet parrot Chanel, who had flown away after becoming distressed by the sound of what seemed to be a nearby lawnmower:
Utterly OBSESSED with this Facebook video of this woman who’s lost her parrot Chanel. #FINDCHANEL ???????? ❤️ pic.twitter.com/NJHdutnWoj
— James (@jamesc1995) April 23, 2020
And it wasn’t long before Sandra’s calls for help were answered by the people of the UK.
At first there was a unified manhunt on social media, with the hashtag #FINDCHANEL trending.
However, as is often the case with these things, the effort to help Sandra find her prized percher quickly evaporated, and instead descended into memes and online edits of her original and admittedly bizarre video:
Robin S – Show Me Love Ft Chanel pic.twitter.com/HpfFA8UI9q
— Love of huns (@loveofhuns) April 24, 2020
Ah internet… never change.
Thankfully though, Chanel the parrot ended up being quickly found thanks to the video’s early Facebook appeal, and the parrot is now back where it belongs with Sandra and her family!
Which also means you can now laugh at the original video guilt-free! (Sorry Sandra!)
Guinea Pigcasso
Those weekend trips to the art gallery are becoming an incredibly distant memory to the more cultured of us quarantiners, so much so that our once esteemed art knowledge is beginning to become muddled.
Da Vinci? No yeah I’ve heard of him, he’s the bloke from Titanic right?
Van Gogh? Yeah, I know him, played for United a few years back.
Dali? Ah, no thanks mate, I’m more of a Chicken Bhuna man meself.
Thankfully though, the guinea pigs of New Jersey, USA won’t be meeting the same fate, as second grade elementary teacher Teresa Mistretta has ensured her little piggies will be getting a serious lesson in art history thanks to her very own guinea pig art exhibition!
Spoofing some of the greatest known works of art to feature more pig-like subjects, Teresa decided to liven up her isolation in April by making a gallery of guinea pig portraits, framing them in gold-painted cardboard and then hanging them up on her hallway’s skirting boards to create a hilariously odd exhibition for her pet.
The result is an uncanny replica of those cold white museums we’ve seen so many times before and it’s proved a real hit with Teresa’s second grade class as well as people from all around the world.
This video captures the museum’s hilarious grand opening, in which Teresa’s pet guinea pig Maisie observes some of the 20th centuries greatest works and appears to be enlightened by the entire experience.
That’s right. This guinea pig now officially knows more about fine art than you.
For shame.
Life’s Greatest Grooming Hack
With a trip to the pet groomers being a bit more of a difficult task these days, many dog owners are beginning to bite the bullet and give a little home-grown DIY dog grooming a go.
But boy can it be difficult.
From hair trimming to nail cutting, most dogs just won’t have any of it and it makes you realise just how amazing our groomers really are!
However, one woman believes she’s cracked the code when it comes to getting a pup to sit still for grooming, and all it takes is a jar of peanut butter and some cling film.
Lindsay Shelton’s hilarious TikTok, in which she displays her bizarre method for clipping dog nails, unsurprisingly went viral this month after the dog mom wrapped cling film around her head and then spooned copious amounts of peanut butter onto her forehead.
@linds.sheltonNeed help clipping your dogs nails? I gotchu. ##dogsoftiktok ##tiktokdogs ##tiktokdiy ##fyp ##foryoupage ##smallgestures♬ original sound – linds.shelton
The idea here was that her dogs would sit still and lick the butter off her head while she looked down and clipped their nails.
Weird right? Well what’s even weirder is that from the video, you can see it clearly works!
And with 2.5m viewers so far on her TikTok video, there’s no doubt there’ll be a fair few dog owners trying this technique out in May!
Dog Zoom Chat
While everyone in the world has been using a variety of different video messaging services to stay in contact, it appears that the digital doggy format of choice is officially Zoom, according to a recent viral video.
Irish pooches Laiki and Henri amused the internet last week after a video of their unlikely Zoom call captured the two furry friends catching up amid lockdown with a friendly chat/ barking session.
Just two good dogs on a Zoom call with each other… ???????? pic.twitter.com/AfLwY4FFR6
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) April 28, 2020
The zoom call was set up by Laiki’s owner Jeremy Howard, who wanted to put his dog in touch with his best friend Henri, who is owned by Jeremy’s parents.
And it’s clear from the footage that the two pups were definitely missing each other, spending the majority of the video howling and barking, which in doggy speak was presumably a conversation about how many walks they’d been on and whose bum they’d sniffed recently.
The two pups had previously hung out every single day before lockdown and so it’s no surprise they had a lot of catching up to do.
I mean heck, there’s probably more awkward silences in my weekly family skype call.
Plum The Dog
One of a series of dogs to melt the hearts of the internet this month, Plum the miniature Australian Shepherd racked up 51 million views on TikTok at the start of April thanks to a video of his impossibly adorable wake up routine.
Plum was born deaf and is also partially blind, and was adopted by US veterinary assistant Aiden Mann last summer.
Aiden had initially been nervous about adopting a special needs dog, but found Plum’s sweet nature impossible to resist.
However, he very quickly learned that taking care of a blind and deaf dog came with plenty of challenges, and he soon had to devise a system of communication through touch.
But while teaching her to sit or stay weren’t too difficult, Aiden found that waking her up by touching her would often be very startling, and so he had to come up with a new method for making waking up a calming experience.
Upon filming his finalised approach for TikTok, Aiden and Plum suddenly became internet superstars and given the bond displayed between the two in the video, it’s easy to see why.
How to wake up a deaf and blind dog. I cried. pic.twitter.com/1CKG4skXgW
— Karen Azzi (@karenazi) April 10, 2020
But be warned, it’s a tearjerker!
Hedgehog Ninja Warrior
Another example of what happens when we have too much time on our hands, American hedgehog Pepper and her owner have been entertaining the masses this month with their Ninja Warrior assault courses, complete with an annoying play-by-play sportscaster voice over.
If you’re unfamiliar with the TV show Ninja Warrior, it is a high-stakes obstacle course challenge similar to Total Wipeout, which pushes competitors to their limits with it’s gymnast-level obstacles requiring the peak combination of balance, coordination, strength and agility.
Naturally, it’s quite hard to replicate this format for hedgehogs, however this prickly pet owner has certainly given it a good go, utilising his furniture and accessories from around the house to test the wits and wiliness of his sneaky sniffer.
Toothy Thomas
Ben Campbell’s beloved Yorkie, Thomas, never misses a chance to get his paws on a new toy or snack, even if it wasn’t necessarily bought for him!
So when owner Ben decided to purchase some giant fake teeth to take selfies and videos with during an increasingly dull isolation – comedy gold struck almost instantly!
After Ben left his whopping pair of fake gnashers lying around the house, it didn’t take Thomas long to snatch the chompers for himself as his new favourite plaything.
And the results were unexpectedly hilarious.
Need a giggle? Get a load of ‘Toothy Thomas’ LoL!!! https://t.co/2zTrDNjVnP
— Emma (@SocialHappiness) April 22, 2020
This video captures the moment Ben walked in on his new pearly-whites pup, and it’s no wonder he couldn’t contain himself!
The moment has rightfully made Thomas a star of self-isolation and it’s only a matter of time before he appears on Live At The Apollo with a revised routine, including a wig and glasses.
Andrew Cotter’s Commentary
If you’re not aware of Andrew Cotter by name, you almost certainly will be by voice, as the veteran BBC sports commentator’s dulcet tones have been narrating events such as the Masters golf tournament, Wimbledon and the Olympic games for well over a decade,
Unfortunately though, all three of those aforementioned events were cancelled this summer in the fight against COVID-19, leaving Andrew somewhat twiddling his thumbs.
But ever the professional, Andrew hasn’t let the cancellations stop him and has instead taken his award-winning insight and cadence to a whole new sport…
His dog’s playtime.
Filming his labradors Olive and Mabel, Cotter created this hilarious video in which he conjures up a thrilling and tense-thrilled competition between his dogs out of thin air, gloriously poking fun at the stereotypical word play and quotations of the everyday sports commentator.
Some sports are slower. More about the strategy. pic.twitter.com/JMBaGJ1tSd
— Andrew Cotter (@MrAndrewCotter) April 9, 2020
Cleverly entitled the Game of Bones, the video went instantly viral and with over 18.6M views on Twitter, it’s probably one of the most watched sporting events of the year already!
And although it’s not exactly the Olympics, it’ll have to do for now.
Dog Friends Reunited
A lot of us are getting to the stage where we are really beginning to miss friends and family, and it’s only getting harder as the length of lockdown increases.
But who would have thought that some of our pets are going through the exact same thing, with so many soulmates and playdate pals being kept apart by self-isolation rules.
This super sweet video filmed by dog owner Stefani Martin captures the moment when her black Labrador mix Samantha unexpectedly bumped into her doggy friend Baldur from across the street.
The canine couple haven’t seen each other in over a month, and their beautiful reaction to seeing each other again for the first time is an absolutely heartwarming moment.
As soon as Samantha catches an eyeful of her puppy playmate, she drags Stefani over to her poochie pal and begins barking, rubbing noses and excitedly jumping around.
It’s enough to bring a tear to your eye!
@stefani_maryn##missyou ##dogbffs♬ Surrender – Natalie Taylor