West Midlands (England) - This golden retriever clip has been causing a stir since the beginning of the month: in it, Joey from the English West Midlands is just about to eat his food. But then the dog suddenly interrupts his meal and sits in front of the half-empty bowl. What's going on?

In the curious video, Joey's owner Olivia Bamford (25) and her boyfriend are whirling around in the kitchen in the background. Meanwhile, their dog stares at them waiting.

But the couple take no notice of the poor golden retriever. Joey doesn't seem to want to bark either, but instead pulls himself together.

After an almost agonizingly long wait, the owner comes to the eight-month-old four-legged friend and looks at him in amazement. She quickly asks him to finish his food.

As the video was recorded by an animal camera, Bamford was able to explain the situation afterwards. The audience also learns what happened thanks to a subtitle.

Joey had misunderstood one of his owners' words and thought he had to stop eating immediately. He dutifully did just that, hoping to be allowed to continue eating.

The whole situation broke her heart, the young British woman said in an interview with Newsweek this week. "I felt terrible when I noticed him [...] He looked so cute while he was waiting to be allowed to eat."

The TikTok audience also reacted emotionally to the video, often using tear-jerking emojis in the comments section.

5.5 million clicks were accumulated in just three days, plus more than 800,000 likes. Even her mistress is still affected by the moment: "I still felt bad when I watched the footage again and saw how he sat up straight to attract attention."

But with a little distance, the 25-year-old can now be happy about the happy ending and her viral hit.