Every dog owner knows the struggle of keeping their pets clean. Dogs tend to be pretty playful and adventurous and see no problem running around in the rain and rolling in mud—but then it’s impossible to get them in the bath.
So it’s no surprise that this amazing before-and-after pic of a dog’s very eventful playdate went viral online:
The photo was spread widely on social media sites. A Reddit post has 112,000 upvotes.
Pet owners related hard—and had a good laugh at how absurdly perfect the photo was. How did guy manage to get so dirty, yet still keep his face clean? Dogs are a mystery.
While many people loved the photo, others thought it was faked or photoshopped. When we posted it to our own Facebook page some fans thought the “dirty” photo was actually a doll.
But now this dirty dog’s owner is confirming that yes, the photos are very much real.
That now-famous dog is named Onni, and he’s a five-month-old Samoyed who lives with his owner Lotta Alajoki in Helsinki, Finland.
He’s got a beautiful white coat, but has no trouble getting it a little dirty. On a walk in the park a few weeks ago, Onni got a little rambunctious with some other dogs in the park.
“It was a wet and muddy day and Onni was playing with his sister and one of our breeder’s dogs, wrestling around in the mud,” Lotta told LAD Bible.
The dog ended up coated in mud that somehow missed his face, and despite the mess his owner couldn’t help but laugh.
“At first we were worried about how we were going to get him clean but when we kept looking at him all we could do was laugh, he just looked so funny that we had to take a picture.”
It was a great pic—one seemingly too perfect to be real.
“So many people think the mud is wiped off or it’s photoshopped,” Lotta said. “But it’s not, he looks like that after every muddy walk or play date.”
In fact, there’s a pretty reasonable explanation: the hairs on his face are shorter, so mud doesn’t stick to them as much.
And don’t worry—it isn’t actually that much of a nightmare to clean Onni up. The breed is self-cleaning and has a protective outer-layer of fur that makes it easier to get the dirt out.
So Onni can keep playing in the mud to his heart’s delight.
“Onni is a very sociable and happy pup,” Lotta said. “His name in Finnish even translates as ‘luck or happiness.'”
What an adorable dog! We are glad to see him having so much fun, even if it means getting a little messy. Share this funny story!
