This Little Dog "Ruined" Every Frame Of A Google Street View By Chasing The Camera
Updated June 4 2023, 6:53 p.m. ET
Google Street View is sometimes very helpful, sometimes very creepy, and occasionally extremely delightful, like when it catches people doing some unexpected stuff on camera. Remember when this guy discovered his wife was cheating on him thanks to the technology that provides panoramic views of streets all over the world? But when it catches a puppy? One hundred times better.
A little dog is winning everyone's hearts for chasing a Google Street View car down a road in Kumage, Japan. The whole episode is documented forever, or at least until they send another car down this tiny dog-guarded road.
You can see the moment the doggo spots its prey:
You can tell by his stance in this frame that he's very interested in the car. Anyone who's ever had a dog will recognize this posture as the unmistakable sign somebody is ready to pounce or preparing for a wild chase of another dog or perhaps some wildlife/potential prey. In this case, the dog seems to have set its sites on the Google car, which I have to say is super ambitious. After all, the vehicle towers over this little guy, but he doesn't seem at all fazed.
Sure enough, in the next frame you can see the chase is on! Our once stationary hero is almost a blur in this frame, indicating he really took off lightning quick in pursuit of the car. And, once the photos made their way to Google Maps, this little guy also took off in the hearts of people who saw him.
SORA News reports that the dog has become a bit of a sensation on the sorts of blogs that obsessively catalogue Google Street View. Yep, there are whole sites dedicated to finding the funny moments captured by the car-mounted cameras, like StreetViewFun. The images offer some fun out-of-context moments in the lives of people (and animals) who happen to be in view when the car passes by. Though people's faces get blurred for their privacy, this little guy only looks like a blur because he's so fast!
People are writing it loving tributes, like:
“I laughed so hard when I saw how far it chased the car!”
“It’s so cute!”
“It looks like it’s saying, ‘What’s this that’s come down my road?'”
“As soon as it sees the odd-looking car, it knows something’s up.”
But who wouldn't love a pup this determined?
He won't give up, either. If you've ever seen one of these vehicles you understand why this little pupper is so interested. Unlike your usual car, this one has a big pole on top mounted with several cameras to catch the landscape from every angle. And if you were a dog, I'm guessing you'd imagine that apparatus could be the world's funnest toy ever. But how would you know unless you catch it first?
This pooch is going to get to the bottom of this mystery no matter what. There could be treats in there, or maybe it's one of those machines that throws tennis balls! The possibilities are endless. What I really want to know is, how did the driver resist stopping to gives this little guy some love? I'd be powerless.
"Excuse me, I have some questions, please pull over!"
Unfortunately, it seems this guys's little legs are giving him some trouble keeping up with the car, as he grows more distant in each frame. "Wait wait, come back here!"
Dog is following Google to the end of the road and seems to catch up. This is one intrepid dog who really missed his calling as a K-9 unit detective. You have to appreciate his dogged persistence. (Pun totally intended. Sorry not sorry.)
At this point, it seems our fearless pooch has this perp cornered, literally, because they reach a dead end.
Can you imagine being brave enough to follow a strange car to the end of the road just to see what happens?
Because this good dog did.
Once the car seemingly parks at the end of this stretch of their mapping duties, the dog disappears. Presumably, it trotted back to its person after sniffing the intruders.
Or maybe it was sucked up into an alternate dimension:
If there's a dog who can handle that kind of adventure, this is it.