German Shepherd Gets Spooked During Walk—Alerts Owner to Something in Drain

Newsweek

3 days ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A nighttime dog walk turned into a terrifying nightmare when this woman's German shepherd got spooked and later directed her to something in the drain.
Tiffany Holm, 42, was walking her dog, named Bruh, shortly after 2:30am on the morning of July 8. They'd done that route plenty of times, both day and night, and Bruh had never had any problems with it before.
However, on this occasion, Holm, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, told Newsweek that he "stopped suddenly and just stared" at her. His whole body became tense and his eyes wide, showing clear signs of nervousness.
It was certainly unnerving for Holm to see her 5-year-old German shepherd act this way, and it seemed as though he "sensed danger."
"He wouldn't move forward. He was clearly alerting me and communicating that we needed to turn around," Holm said.
Bruh the German Shepherd refusing to walk and directing his owner's attention to the suspicious drain.
Bruh the German Shepherd refusing to walk and directing his owner's attention to the suspicious drain.
@tiffany.holm6 / TikTok
In the days that followed, Holm returned to the area with Bruh and repeatedly tried to get him to walk, but was unsuccessful. She even took one of her other dogs, Jessica, to the area, and she too "showed signs of intense concern."
Needless to say, Holm's interest was piqued, and she was left wondering what could possibly be happening.
Shortly after, she drove down to the area in broad daylight and asked Bruh to show her what the problem was. "He walked straight to the drain, stared at it, then looked at me, and back at the drain," she continued.
This left Holm incredibly curious about what could be in the drain. She looked inside and noticed a slab of broken concrete covering a patch of dirt, and three pipes that weren't connected.
The discovery raised more questions than answers, so Holm contacted the sewer department to see if they would look into it. Unfortunately, they will only investigate if she has seen, heard, or smelled something unusual herself. Holm also spoke with a police officer who agreed to check it out but could only inspect above ground as anything below needed to be handled by the sewer department.
Holm told Newsweek: "The three pipes inside the drain weren't connected—just aimed at each other. That means water would fall directly into the dirt. I didn't see water flowing at that time, but when I returned during a rainstorm, I saw that it's still an active drain and water was flowing through the pipe to the river.
"I don't actually expect to find a body—but the whole picture made me feel it's worth checking to see if something strange is happening. It could be instability in the soil, disease, or a gas leak. Whatever it is, I trust my dog, and I want to find out what he's trying to tell me."
Although she still doesn't know what's down there (if anything at all), Holm has documented the experience on TikTok (@tiffany.holm6). Many of the videos have gone viral, with the initial clip of Bruh directing her attention to the drain amassing over 5.7 million views and 354,500 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.
The online response has left Holm stunned, and she continues to share updates for the thousands of social media users following the journey. Plenty of dog owners have reached out to share stories of when their dog alerted them to something, with many telling her to trust Bruh's canine instincts.
"The response has been overwhelming, and now I'm open to exploring this from several angles, including psychic input and cadaver dogs. I've even contacted local professionals for help," Holm said.
In just a matter of days, the viral video has generated over 2,100 comments on TikTok.
One comment reads: "Trust your dog. Sometimes if they are like that, it is because there is something spiritual attached to that specific area."
Another TikTok user wrote: "He's looking at you like: Tiffany, believe, let's go back."
While another person replied: "My dog did this too. Listen to your animals' instincts. They're ten times sharper than humans'."
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