When a member of the military is deployed, the whole family feels their absence.
This includes the household dog.
So when Indus’ father returned home for the holidays, the husky malamute/timber wolf mix almost went insane.
Devin Ekstrom, who was born and raised in Northwood, New Hampshire, joined the U.S. Army in 2018 and came back 10 months later.
Morgan, Ekstrom’s girlfriend, recorded the reunion of Ekstrom and his dog.
She expected it to be emotional, and 2-year-old Indus did not disappoint.
“When Indus discovered it was him, he was so pleased and blown away by the love he offered him,” Morgan added. “I, like the rest of the family, was sobbing.”
The Husky can be seen barking at the guy with huge boots and an army outfit in the footage. Indus doesn’t know his father in all of this weird attire and is terrified of him.
But then dad gets down on his knees to be on the same level as his dog. When they are face to face, Indus quickly recognizes his father.
“Who is he?” Morgan inquires about Indus.
Indus rushes over to hug his father. and lavishes him with kisses and hugs. Then he becomes very happy and needs to rush around a little to let everyone know his father has returned home.
He has to expel all of his exuberant energy, so he sprints back and forth for a while.
Then it’s back to his father for more kisses, embraces, and petting. Indus is so thrilled to see his father that he can’t stop wiggling and leaping up to embrace him.
The reunion of Ekstrom and Indus went viral and was picked up by various news outlets. People were just stunned by Indus’ love and devotion for his father.
“There’s no question that dogs have highly detailed memories,” says Marc Bekoff, author of “Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed.” “They recognize people.” There’s a lot tied up in that caring, loving, and affectionate connection. ”
According to Pacific Standard, dogs have varying emotions when their “human” returns from deployment.
Some will run about in circles, while others may climb or assault their soldiers. In this instance, Indus accomplished both.
Dogs tend to correlate emotions such as love, fear, and fury with human senses such as what their owners smell, sound, and seem like.
“They essentially analyze this complex of stimuli, which is really a person, and that will activate the emotion,” says Stanley Coren, retired professor at the University of British Columbia and author of “The Wisdom of Dogs.”
When their caregiver leaves them, dogs often experience grief.
“It’s a loss—an unexpected loss—because the individual can’t say, ‘I’ll be back in two weeks,'” Bekoff says. “Nobody understands much about the dog’s memory in terms of when the dog falls into that condition of wondering whether a human will return.”
Indus’ father, on the other hand, returned for more fun and adventure. More photographs and videos of Indus may be seen on his Instagram feed.
