When this older pooch saw another, far younger dog hesitating to go down the slide at the park, she quickly and confidently took charge of the situation.
23-year-old Emily O’Brien took the two goldens — Lilly, 9, and Layla, 2 — to a park in Naperville, Illinois. There, Lilly went down the slide with no fear.
Layla, who is being fostered by the O’Brien family, wasn’t as sure of herself, though. When she got to the top of the tube slide, she hesitated. O’Brien tried to coax the pup down to no avail. That’s when Lilly stepped in.
A video shows the older dog nimbly climbing into the chute, grabbing Layla’s trailing leash and pulling her down by her side. The smaller dog arrives safely, and Lilly continues to tug on Layla’s leash before delivering it to O’Brien.
“Lil, such a good girl!” O’Brien can be heard saying in the video. “Oh my gosh, Lil. You’re so sweet!”
Emily’s father, Pat O’Brien, told ABC News that he couldn’t believe how Lilly stepped in. Pat said Lilly gets along well with the other dogs he’s fostered.
“And once she comes in she’s kind of like the mom. It helps us a lot,” he said. “She gets along really, really well with all of them.”
The video was posted to YouTube on June 29. As of Wednesday morning, it had been viewed more than 228,000 times.
O’Brien said Layla is available for adoption through As Good as Gold, a golden retriever rescue group based in Wheeling, Illinois. Robin Sweeney, the executive director of As Good as Gold, said Layla will be available for adoption in about a week. The dog came to her organization as a rescue from Love Puerto Rico Goldens, a group in Puerto Rico that rescues golden retrievers and transfers them to homes in the United States, Sweeney said.
Layla is on medication for epilepsy, but she hasn’t had a seizure in the two months she’s been staying with As Good as Gold, Sweeney said.
People interested in adopting Layla can visit As Good as Gold’s website to learn more about the process.
ABC News contributed to this report.
