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By Lucy Notarantonio
Senior Reporter
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A video of a golden retriever being filmed carefully watching over his baby brother has racked up over 664,000 views on TikTok.
The footage shows 1-year-old Winston standing in the hallway, looking back at his owner to make sure she is following. The next scene captures the 3-month-old baby lying down with Winston by his side, before the pup gently places his paw on the child.
The clip, captioned "Who needs a nanny when you have a golden," was shared to @winston.goldenpup by Winston's owner, Roissy Koeneke, 29, who lives in San Diego, California.
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"He has such good hearing so he hears the baby before us, and that's when we know sometimes that a cry is about to come," Koeneke told Newsweek. "Then he gives us such a sassy side eye when we don't stand up immediately!"
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That watchful look can be seen in the video where the text reads: "My dog will keep staring at my husband and I until either of us checks on our baby. And he will follow to make sure we actually stop making him cry."
Although Winston is gentle with the baby, Koeneke and her husband, Alexander, 30, said they always keep an eye on them.
"Winston was full of excitement when he met the baby. He wouldn't leave the room where the baby was and would always follow him around," Koeneke said.
"He would also wake up every time the baby woke up to feed, change diaper, etc. no matter what time of day or night it is—to the point where we saw him also super-exhausted and sleep-deprived.
"One time, we saw he left this toy in his water bowl, and he's never done this before, but he was probably just super-tired for choosing to wake up with the baby each time.
"One of the sweetest things he does is try to soothe the baby with his paw. We're always careful when it happens," Koeneke said.
Winston's devotion may come with added benefits. One study found that children who had lived with a dog at any point were less likely to experience developmental delays in communication, motor skills, problem-solving, and social development. Continuous or past ownership showed the strongest benefits, suggesting that living with dogs may support healthier early-childhood development.
Viewers of Winston's video were quick to share their own experiences with protective pets.
"My dog gives this look too. Like 'hello is anyone going to be a parent around here???'" said one user.
"This must be a common golden retriever response cause mine will nudge us with his nose like hurry up guys," added another.
However, not all dogs react the same way. A third user wrote: "Imagine bringing home twin newborns … when you & your husband are generally pretty quiet people. My dog would run [and] get in his crate every time they would cry. He was so over it."
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