Dog That Looks Like A Bear: Photo Of An Adorable Fluffy Creature Has Internet Divided Despite The Debate Being Settled
A dog that looks like a bear cub had overtaken the internet for a couple of days. The adorable puppy looked remarkably like a young bear cub and managed to create quite a debate on the web. Though the mystery has been solved, many still insist there’s a lot more to the “Beardog” than meets the eye.
A dog that looks like a bear? A very furry creature whose photo appeared on the internet had the online community abuzz with the question. Social media was streaming with posts about the true biological identity of the creature and many weren’t exactly sure what it is. As thousands of people tried futilely to identify the mysterious, but super cute beast, the question, along with the photo, made multiple rounds of the internet.
This strange-looking bear/dog creature has stumped the Internet https://t.co/myjXSGpC2E pic.twitter.com/Zn0ZMKQEbr
— BuzzFeed's Adorably (@Adorably) January 4, 2016
Some internet users opinioned it might be some kind of bush dog. A native to Central and South America, bush dogs are an extremely rare species that might have already gone extinct. They live far away from human civilizations, in caves, which mean that many people have never seen a bush dog. The rarity simply fueled the mystery and supported the hypothesis. However, many insisted that the ball of fur, with a remarkably sharp array of teeth must be some kind of bear. Though there’s a striking resemblance, the possibility of the puppy being a bear was perhaps started by the person who uploaded the photo in the first place, reported ABC News.
The mystery was solved when the source of the image was uncovered, reported Canada Journal. The photo of the dog that looks like a bear was posted by Reddit user RedFoxx. The internet was unintentionally left confused with the caption:
“Somebody brought this bear into doggie day care.”
The dog that looks like a bear is actually a female Pomeranian-mix, shared Ryan Horn, an employee of The Dog Spot, in West Nashville, Tennessee. The specialty pet shop acts as a retailer, dog supplier, and daycare store with three locations in the Nashville area. The shop specializes in caring for dogs of special breed with varying sizes. Horn further added that the dog, named Bounce, was checked in The Dog Spot last Monday.
Since the dog looked adorable and resembled a bear cub, he took a photo of her and texted it to his friends, joking, “Somebody brought this bear into doggie day care.” Subsequently, one of his friends, Lanier Basenberg, posted the photo to Reddit and Imgur with the same text as a caption, which set the ball in motion.
Is that a bear or a dog? Picture of animal stumps the Internet: WEST NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Workers at The Dog Spot see… https://t.co/qp5xxlLFgW
— OKC Breaking News (@okc_news) January 5, 2016
The photo quickly went viral, with thousands of views and comments that merely fueled the debate and added to the confusion about the biological identity of the dog, reported Web Pro News. Even as hundreds of users got into a debate over whether Bounce was indeed a bear or a dog, no one was exactly sure what animal, or what she was, but most agreed that fluffy creature was quite cute. By Tuesday afternoon, the photo of the “bear dog” on Imgur had nearly 1 million views.
Settling the debate, Horn confirmed Bounce belonged to Elizabeth Maguyon. She is a 19-year-old chemical and bio-molecular engineering student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Bounce was brought into The Dog Spot because she and her family were headed to Tennessee for a vacation and needed someone to take good care of their beloved pet. The Pet Dog’s doggie daycare offers one of the finest services that a dog can hope for, added Horn.
Incidentally, Maguyon isn’t a stranger to the puzzled looks and the question, “Is that dog a bear?!” Interestingly, she added that Bounce isn’t just like a bear in appearance but also in personality, because she just loves to sleep and doesn’t bark much. However, Maguyon insisted that Bounce is a dog in spirit, as in, she’s very friendly.
[Photo Ryan Horn/The Dog Spot, via ABC News]
