For pet parents, there are dozens of universally adorable situations. When your cat cozies up in your lap and starts “making biscuits,” you will likely react with an almost-involuntary “aww.” Plus, we all know that any time your dog stretches after a long snooze, you’re legally obligated to announce, “Big stretch!” Why do we do these things? Don’t overanalyze it—pet love goes beyond logic.

But the ultimate cute-dog moment is probably when your pup recognizes a word and immediately, eagerly tilts their head as if to communicate, “Really?” or “What are you on about?” And one excellent viral video expertly builds on this premise, as a “dog mom” content creator reads a fake letter—one loaded with obviously familiar words—to their golden retriever.

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Dog mom reads a “letter” to an adorable golden retriever

Subtitled “No, this is literally our fav trend,” the clip shows our protagonist pup suitably enthusiastic about a note labeled in large block letters. “Hi, Ollie. It’s your friend,” the letter begins, before Ollie runs off to the window, excitedly looking for his pal. “It’s your friend from the park. Do you remember?” the greeting continues. “We played frisbee and ball. I wanted to know—do you want to go outside later and go on a walk? By the way, where is your daddy?”

That latter word seems particularly exciting for Ollie, who runs off once again to the window. “He usually brings us food,” we learn. “Food and water. I’ll talk to you later. Your friend, Cilio.” The video then cuts to a shot of the family cat, Cilio, before Ollie grabs the letter and cutely stomps around. Their associated YouTube account features a similar reaction video—this one featuring all of those beloved words, along with “treat” and “bone,” packaged in a fake email.

You can’t fail to draw a reaction with a creative cute-dog video, and people naturally shared their collective “awws” in the Instagram comments. Here are some examples:

“The little head tilt❤️❤️❤️❤️”

“He’s literally a human being “

” see his expressions – he’s listening to each and every detail “

“I can’t with his headtilts “

“BRING HIM DAD IMMEDIATELY”

“Not my dog tilting her head next to me over the words as I played this reel”

“Take him out to the park now “

“Cilio just chilling like… what?! What did I do? “

Why do dogs tilt their heads anyway?

Dogs are smarter than a lot of people realize, and that includes their ability to recognize a lot of what we tell them. As PetMD notes in a 2022 study of 165 adult dogs published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, researchers found that—according to pet parents—the ruffs in question knew an average of 89 words, with an overall range of 15 to 215.

As for that classic doggy head tilt? In 2023, Scientific American explored this beloved movement, interviewing a number of experts. Andrea Sommese, an animal cognition researcher at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary, remarked, “In humans, when you remember a story or something, you tilt your head to the side, and you have this mental image of something in your mind. Probably it’s the same for dogs.”

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a  gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing. 

Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold. 

A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen. 

Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing. 

Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to  loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth. 

Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:

Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis 

Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community

Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or  in one of 60   countries where we work around the globe

Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door 

Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore

Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone. 

Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today. 

Dog trainer Jerri Scherff kept seeing a man in her neighborhood walking with a dog leash in his hand, but without a dog. After driving by multiple times, she decided to pull over and ask him why.

On Instagram, she shared a tearful video about their heartwarming exchange and grieving their dogs.

“Finally this morning I said, ‘Can I ask you something?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ ‘Did you lose your dog?’” Scherff says to the camera. She adds that he nodded to her, and she tearfully replied, “‘Me too.’ And then I just hugged him.”

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“He said ‘everyone makes fun of me for it, but I just miss him,’” Scherff says. “Anyway, so pray for that guy.”

In the video’s caption, Scherff writes that the two “hugged like we were passengers of a sinking ship. Bound together by tragedy…when I see him now I wave. And I say a little prayer for him that he would know comfort and peace in his grief. I could see it on his face how much he loved that dog.”

In another clip, a photo of Scherff’s beloved dog Enzo is shown, with dates marking his birth and his last day on Earth (3/27/17-3/27/26).

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“Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone”

In an interview with Upworthy, Scherff explains that her loss is “bittersweet.”

“Losing a dog is one of the bittersweet things that almost every human being has or will experience in their lifetime if they’re lucky to have loved a dog that much that they are grieving so deeply over that loss,” Scherff says as she chokes up.

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She adds, “That it’s a privilege and it’s an honor. In these incredibly divisive times, that is the one thing as human beings that we can all hold on to and relate to one another, and have compassion for each other. I would encourage people to take their dog on that walk. Throw that ball one more time.”

Finally, she hopes her video inspires others to connect.

“Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone. They may desperately need that hug and that connection,” she says. “They may have just lost their best, most special friend. For someone to acknowledge it, and grieve for a moment with them, is an honor and privilege as a human being.”

The emotional video resonated with dog owners and lovers alike, with many sharing their heart-wrenching stories and how the video deeply touched them:

“You have a heart of gold.. so does he. ❤️😢🙏 prayers.”

“I get it. Ten million times over. I’m so sorry for both of your irreplaceable loss. ❤️‍🩹🙏”

“I’m so sorry. 😢. It hurts bad.”

“I still bring my boy’s ashes on hikes with me. You have to keep them with you somehow.”

“❤️❤️praying for all of us. We’re all healing in our own ways. Proud of him for getting out there still. You too. I do it every day myself, in honor of my girl. Her harness hangs where it’s always hung, even now 7 months later. It’ll likely hang there as........

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