Pets - Koda

Labradoodle Who Loves Ambushing His Owners Wins Pet of the Week.

Senior Internet Culture & Trends Reporter

From a dog who responds to Harry Potter spells to a cat’s adorable greeting for its owner every morning, we’ve seen a series of fun viral pet stories this week. But alongside Internet-famous pets, we’ve been enjoying seeing our readers’ cats, dogs, and other pets submitted for our weekly Pet of the Week.

If you want your pet to be part of next week’s Pet of the Week line-up, be sure to follow the instructions at the end of this story to get involved.

Pictures of 4-year-old Squirrel the dog who loves to jump out on his owners and canine friends. Archi Lamont

This week’s Pet of the Week is Squirrel, a Labradoodle who loves to ambush her owners and fellow canine friends.

From Perth, Scotland, Squirrel was named so because of her resemblance to a squirrel when she was just 8 weeks old.

Now almost five years old, she has a gentle nature and a serious love of playtime.

“[She] loves to hide from us and surprise us by leaping out,” owner Archi Lamont told Newsweek. “I assumed we were the target on the beach but she had targeted other victims, who were, fortunately, very tolerant of her behavior.”

When she isn’t causing mischief at the beach, she loves toys, especially her comfort teddy bear that she has had since she was a puppy.

“Her best feature is her gentle nature, but the lack of cast hair and minimal doggy smell is a bonus,” said Lamont.

Finalists

Max the dog — Pictures of Max and his loving owner Michael. Michael Garcia

Our first finalist this week is Max, a shelter dog who came from an abusive home with anxiety and PTSD.

Now living in Colorado with owner Michael Garcia, he is living his best life with an owner who truly understands him.

Almost four years old, he and his owner have an extra special bond and are barely ever apart.

Next up this week are London and Sunny, rescue dogs aged four and three.

“They are the sweetest babies ever,” said owner Misty Donaldson.

“I’ve been around a lot of dogs,” she said. “But I’ve never seen two dogs that have to be constantly touching like these two.”

Despite not being siblings by blood, Donaldson says that their touching love for each other is a huge source of joy.

Last but not least is Ollie the cat. Just 18 months ago, Ollie and his friend showed up on Emily Robinson’s porch in Michigan.

“His friend Billy was not very friendly, but Ollie was very clingy. He wanted so much love. My husband and I would feed both boys,” Robinson told Newsweek. “We noticed that Ollie’s eye was very swollen and milky. We brought him in to take him to the vet.”

Ollie was diagnosed with glaucoma and the specialist vet told them he would need his eye removed.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to afford it so we put eye drops in and are doing our best to save up,” she said.

Since the trip to the vet, Ollie hasn’t left their side, staying in the house ever since.

And Billy is always nearby too, with his own insulated and heated home on the deck outside.

“They chose us, and we couldn’t be happier,” said the loving owner.

People love their pets. So it makes sense musicians with pets would put their love of their animals into their songs about pets or inspired by pets. Whether it’s a ballad to fuzzy felines or golden harmonies for goldfish, it seems there’s been a song written about every creature humans have domesticated. So the next time you and Mr. Cuddles want to spend some quality music listening time together, throw on one of these pet-inclined tracks. Both your pets and your ears will purr.

Some refer to animals right in their titles, but not all of these pet songs are obvious. “Martha My Dear,” by the Beatles, for example, seems to be about a woman but was actually written for Paul McCartney’s pet dog. Norah Jones, meanwhile, wrote “Man of the Hour” for her poodle. The song comes from her album The Fall, on the cover of which she is depicted with a Saint Bernard (not her actual dog).