{"id":59226,"date":"2023-04-17T16:18:50","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T20:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/?p=59226"},"modified":"2023-04-17T16:16:44","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T20:16:44","slug":"lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Lonely\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly"},"content":{"rendered":"

TikTok users are gushing over the dynamic duo of Dolly the Pomeranian and her human, John, that has gone viral with their sweet relationship. The account, <\/span>@_dadanddolly<\/span><\/a>, is run by John\u2019s daughter, Katie, and features videos of the two snuggling and taking walks together. John moved next door to Katie\u2019s flat in London over two years ago after being diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\n
<\/div>\n\t
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n\t
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Dolly, now 7 years old, was adopted by Katie in 2019, but after her father moved next door, she worried about him being lonely. Speaking to <\/span>Fox News Digital<\/span><\/em><\/a>, she shared about the experience. \u201cI knew they would be very good flatmates. She is such a sweet, easy-going dog, and she just wants to sit on the sofa all day and chill out, and so does my dad,\u201d she said. She added that Dolly keeps her dad active, something she feels may benefit him with his diagnosis. \u201cHe has to take her out on a walk, and that\u2019s really good for him because he engages with people when he is out. She also goes at the same pace as him. I think with a [cognitive impairment] diagnosis like that, there is still sort of an element of hope and things you can do to delay progression, and I think [Dolly] helps,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only has Dolly helped John, but she has given Katie comfort as well as she deals with the realities of being a caregiver. Prior to the pandemic, John had been living with a partner who had to return to her own country after the pandemic hit. \u201cHaving Dolly has helped enormously,\u201d she told <\/span>Newsweek<\/span><\/em><\/a>.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u201cIt means I feel more relaxed that he\u2019s okay and not lonely when I\u2019m not there. I think looking after Dolly also gives him a sense of purpose, which is important for anyone. My dad is a very strong person mentally, but the last few years have been hard on him. Many of his close friends and siblings have died or moved away in recent years, so Dolly helps to fill that gap and enriches his life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

\n
<\/div>\n\t
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Katie began taking videos of the pair originally as a way to document memories of her father. Twenty years ago, her mother died of ALS, and she doesn\u2019t have videos to reminisce about. \u201cWhile I\u2019ve got this time with my dad, I want to record it [and] keep it,\u201d she said. The two have become a recognizable team where Katie and her father live, with people recognizing them from the videos and daily walks. \u201cIt\u2019s nice because I know other people are looking out for him and recognize him because he\u2019s got the dogs. They keep an eye on him when he is out and about,\u201d Katie said. She said she hopes the TikToks will remind people of the value of the elderly. \u201cThe world to me today, especially looking after my dad, feels kind of exclusive for older people, as in they are not included a lot. It\u2019s fun to see someone my dad\u2019s age on [social media]. I hope it\u2019s part of a movement where older people will get more respect and consideration.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

×<\/span><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The pair has become best friends after his daughter gave him the dog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":59232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","fbia_status":""},"categories":[626],"tags":[1875,1451,6540],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Lonely\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly - FamilyToday<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An elderly man and his dog, Dolly, go viral on TikTok after sweet video of the two of them is shared by his daughter.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Lonely\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An elderly man and his dog, Dolly, go viral on TikTok after sweet video of the two of them is shared by his daughter.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FamilyToday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-17T20:18:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-17T20:16:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2023\/04\/dad-and-dolly_credit-@_dadanddolly-tiktok.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leigh Pizzutilla\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"BN Media, LLC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/famtoday\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2020\/03\/bnmedia-logo-lg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2020\/03\/bnmedia-logo-lg.png\",\"width\":1315,\"height\":311,\"caption\":\"BN Media, LLC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/\",\"name\":\"FamilyToday\",\"description\":\"Here today, better tomorrow.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2023\/04\/dad-and-dolly_credit-@_dadanddolly-tiktok.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2023\/04\/dad-and-dolly_credit-@_dadanddolly-tiktok.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"@_dadanddolly \/ Tiktok\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/\",\"name\":\"\\u2018Lonely\\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly - FamilyToday\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-17T20:18:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-17T20:16:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"An elderly man and his dog, Dolly, go viral on TikTok after sweet video of the two of them is shared by his daughter.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\\u2018Lonely\\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b4657d3469f747f936431c833b98e51a\"},\"headline\":\"\\u2018Lonely\\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-17T20:18:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-17T20:16:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#webpage\"},\"wordCount\":546,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2023\/04\/dad-and-dolly_credit-@_dadanddolly-tiktok.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"dog\",\"elderly\",\"viral video\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Family\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b4657d3469f747f936431c833b98e51a\",\"name\":\"Leigh Pizzutilla\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82495162063119d033794eb2206a0067?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82495162063119d033794eb2206a0067?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Leigh Pizzutilla\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/author\/lpizzutilla\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Lonely\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly - FamilyToday","description":"An elderly man and his dog, Dolly, go viral on TikTok after sweet video of the two of them is shared by his daughter.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Lonely\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly","og_description":"An elderly man and his dog, Dolly, go viral on TikTok after sweet video of the two of them is shared by his daughter.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/","og_site_name":"FamilyToday","article_published_time":"2023-04-17T20:18:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-17T20:16:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2023\/04\/dad-and-dolly_credit-@_dadanddolly-tiktok.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leigh Pizzutilla","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#organization","name":"BN Media, LLC","url":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/famtoday"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#logo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2020\/03\/bnmedia-logo-lg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2020\/03\/bnmedia-logo-lg.png","width":1315,"height":311,"caption":"BN Media, LLC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#logo"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/","name":"FamilyToday","description":"Here today, better tomorrow.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2023\/04\/dad-and-dolly_credit-@_dadanddolly-tiktok.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2023\/04\/dad-and-dolly_credit-@_dadanddolly-tiktok.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"@_dadanddolly \/ Tiktok"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/","name":"\u2018Lonely\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly - FamilyToday","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2023-04-17T20:18:50+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-17T20:16:44+00:00","description":"An elderly man and his dog, Dolly, go viral on TikTok after sweet video of the two of them is shared by his daughter.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u2018Lonely\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly"}]},{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#webpage"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b4657d3469f747f936431c833b98e51a"},"headline":"\u2018Lonely\u2019 Dad Goes Viral With His Best Friend, A Pomeranian Named Dolly","datePublished":"2023-04-17T20:18:50+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-17T20:16:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#webpage"},"wordCount":546,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/family\/lonely-dad-goes-viral-with-his-best-friend-a-pomeranian-named-dolly\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.familytoday.com\/2023\/04\/dad-and-dolly_credit-@_dadanddolly-tiktok.jpg","keywords":["dog","elderly","viral video"],"articleSection":["Family"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b4657d3469f747f936431c833b98e51a","name":"Leigh Pizzutilla","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82495162063119d033794eb2206a0067?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82495162063119d033794eb2206a0067?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Leigh Pizzutilla"},"url":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/author\/lpizzutilla\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59226"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59226"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59238,"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59226\/revisions\/59238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.familytoday.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}