Laughter As Husky Watching TV Realizes His Breed Has To Work for a Living
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The moment a pampered pet dog realized how good his life is was captured on video and has been viewed by millions of people.
Jessica Ilardi and her boyfriend, Thoma Fusco, both aged 30, live in Long Island, New York, with their adored Siberian husky Atlas, who has "stolen our hearts" since joining their family as a puppy in 2020.
"Atlas is our world—anyone that knows us knows that we revolve our life around his happiness, health and comfort," Ilardi told Newsweek.
"He's such a special soul, and my phone is filled with quirky videos that show it!"
Now one of these videos has led Atlas to go viral, after Ilardi shared a clip of him realizing how good his life is to her TikTok account @atlasacethehusky on June 27.
"We had come in from our walk and outside playtime not long before and Atlas was napping on the couch," Ilardi explained, as she and her boyfriend decided to watch the movie Eight Below.
The 2006 adventure film revolves around a team of husky sled dogs struggling to survive in Antarctica after a devastating snowstorm—and Ilardi quickly realized that Atlas was paying attention.
Atlas the Husky watches the movie Eight Below.
Atlas the Husky watches the movie Eight Below.
TikTok @atlasacethehusky
"Atlas will typically watch a few minutes of a show or movie if it has animals on the screen so I figured he'd enjoy it too," Ilardi said. "He'll usually watch the screen for five or so minutes and then fall asleep, then wake up here and there to watch for a bit more."
This time, Atlas paid a little more attention than usual, as Ilardi wrote over the viral video viewed more than 2.9 million times: "My dog realizing for the first time that some huskies have to WORK for a living."
In the clip, Atlas lies relaxing on the sofa, and as his eyes flick towards the screen, it shows a pack of huskies rushing through the snow. The camera pans back to Atlas who appears to be watching the screen wide-eyed ad shocked, the marks over his eyes giving the impression that his eyebrows are raised in incredulity.
He continues staring as Ilardi giggles behind the camera—and then he looks back at her, before resting his head on his soft pillow.
Ilardi said: "At the start of the movie, he showed some interest when a dog would come into view so I had a feeling this scene with multiple dogs would draw his attention in particular. He is super expressive on a regular basis and makes us laugh constantly so this moment was no exception!"
Atlas watches the screen wide-eyed, then rests his head back on the pillow to look at his owner.
Atlas watches the screen wide-eyed, then rests his head back on the pillow to look at his owner.
TikTok @atlasacethehusky
TikTok users loved it, one commenter joking: "Then he looks at you like 'you better not get any ideas.'"
"The way he couldn't even keep his head up to watch 5 minutes," another laughed. "Tired from just seeing them run."
And as one put it: "It's like seeing someone run a marathon. Cool that my body could do that conceptually, but not a desire of my heart."
Siberian huskies were bred over thousands of years to work as pack sled dogs in northeast Asia, where temperatures can drop to 100 degrees below zero, where up to 20 dogs would pull sleds on the ice to search for food, according to the American Kennel Club (AKC). They are also popular as pets, and in 2024 were named the 24th most popular breed in the United States.
Ilardi told Newsweek that Atlas's video going viral "has been surreal."
"It's amazing to know that we were able to share the immense laughter and joy that he brings us daily with 3 million people. We're so touched by all the comments stating that this quick clip made someone's day," she said.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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