Wholesome dog content? Yes please!

2 good puppies from Guide Dogs of America

Raise your hand if you spend too much time on TikTok! Yup, me too! 

TikTok videos are like chips - we can never have just one. Pretty soon, we find ourselves spiraling down the different themed areas of content on the app. Through #TheatreTok, to #HarryPotterTikTok, over to #DIYTikTok, down and down the spiral we go, where we'll stop nobody knows. 

I'm not going to pretend to fully understand the algorithm on TikTok, but I vaguely get that in order to see the content you want, you'll need to interact with videos you like so TikTok sends you more. 

I like dogs. I want to see wholesome dog content when I log onto the app to make my day better. So every wholesome video that comes across my feed that has a puppy or a dog on it gets a like. Maybe that's how Guide Dogs of America's TikTok video about Juno training made its way onto my screen.

And the caption on the video?

"Follow us to learn more about Guide Dogs"

with a guide dog emoji included. Um, I didn't even know that emoji existed??? 

Honestly though, how cool is this?! A family friend of ours is blind and went through this process, so I'd heard a bit about it from her, but seeing it from the perspective of someone who goes through this training is on another level entirely.

It's also extra awesome because the organization is a nonprofit that trains and places service dogs and guide dogs with humans who need them throughout the United States and Canada for FREE.

Guide Dogs of America's mission statement on their website states: 

Our mission is to transform lives through partnerships with service dogs.

According to their website: 

At Guide Dogs of America, we transform lives through partnerships with service dogs. We breed, raise, and train guide dogs for individuals who are blind/visually impaired and service dogs for veterans and children with autism. We also place facility dogs with professionals in hospitals, schools, and courtrooms. Our highly skilled canines become trusted companions that increase people’s confidence, mobility, and independence. All programs and services, including transportation, personalized training, room/board, and postgraduate support, are provided at no cost to the recipient.

Good boys and girls being trained to improve the quality of life for people who need them? I'm not crying, I just have something in my eye. Never mind, I'm totally sobbing.

Guide Dogs of America's TikTok account addresses a niche that everyone loves: dogs! One of the reasons we love seeing puppies (and let's be real - no matter how old they are, they're all puppies) on our social media feeds is because we see our dogs as members of our families. NBC News breaks down our obsession with dogs on social media.

The genius of this TikTok account is that Guide Dogs of America create videos showing you how the puppies are raised and trained, how the humans bond with the animals, and offer lots of beautiful dog-breath cuteness. All videos are themed to be family-friendly and show what a loving environment the dogs grow up in.

Many of their videos are also set to trending music which helps the algorithm get them noticed and keeps them up to date with what people on the social network want to see. 

Check out this video for addicting puppy content set to trending music. 

Check out another one with the cutest puppy you'll see all day also set to trending music, but warning: the video will make you want to smush a puppy. Badly.

This TikTok account is an amazing example of an organization utilizing the groundswell to its advantage. It brings people together to fawn over puppies (check the comments - they're so heartwarming), and enables relationships by focusing its content on relationships between humans and our best friends. It gives us a sneak peek into something we all know about, but few of us will ever have the opportunity to interact with personally. Because the organization is a nonprofit, this account can help inspire new donors who see a cute puppy on their feed and are inspired to support the organization to continue producing cute puppy content.

What are your thoughts on Guide Dogs of America's TikTok account? Let me know in the comments below!