Two dog owners in Haslet, Texas, were bracing for disaster when they realized they had left their energetic German shepherd puppy loose in the house while at work.
Brian Baker, 35, and Shayla Baker, 33, live with their 7-month-old German shepherd, Maverick.
In a TikTok video that has garnered more than 1.2 million views, Brian shared the moment he returned home from work and discovered their mistake.
The clip included a text overlay that read: "When you're on your way home from work and realize you don't remember putting the dog in the cage before you left the house."
Baker filmed the moment he walked back into the house, and realized something was amiss. But despite expecting the worst, he was pleased to find that, aside from a few misplaced feathers and shampoo bottles, everything was intact.
"I realized while driving home from work that I hadn't put him up that morning," Baker told Newsweek. "It's normally my responsibility, and I didn't remember doing it, and realized I'd left him asleep on our bed. Honestly, I expected to find something much worse—he's made bigger messes in far less time, which you can see throughout our social media pages. We were pleasantly surprised."
Baker explained that he began filming in anticipation of carnage, convinced Maverick might have chewed through furniture, shoes or walls during the day. "If the house was going to be destroyed, I figured at least others could laugh along with us," he said.
Instead, Maverick appeared calm and well-behaved, leaving viewers both amused and impressed. The video quickly drew mixed reactions.
Some viewers criticized the use of a crate, while others could relate to the moment of panic.
One commenter said: "I have two mals and a shepherd if I forget to cage them I won't have a house to come home to," while another wrote: "I couldn't imagine leaving my male Frenchie out alone all day. He's BAD."
Some even said the video had reminded them to double-check their own pet. One commenter said: "Literally just made me check on my dog to make sure he was still crated."
"Many German shepherd owners totally understood, knowing how mischievous the breed can be," Baker said. "Others criticized us for crating during the day, but that's a common and safe practice for working families like ours."
This isn't the first time a pet owner has shared the aftermath of forgetting to shut their dog's crate, while another pet owner got a surprise when they arrived home and saw that their cat had made the way into the crate with their dog.
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