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Rescued dog strangely looks like legendary El Chupacabra causing scientists to study her

She's naked with a face only a mother could love.

Photo credit: Canva

Scientists are studying adorable "el chupacabra" rescue dog.

Dogs, like people, have a variety of features and personalities that help identify them from others. The combination of identifiable features becomes more vast among dogs as they breed with different types of dogs. Depending on the dog combination, you either get an expensive crossbreed like the golden doodle or what is typically classified as a mutt. But one dog named Nina may win the strange genetics award.

Nina was a rescue from Puerto Rico who was found abandoned. The poor pooch had no hair, but that wasn't because of a tragic accident; she is simply a bald dog. Nina's teeth are also...interesting. They jut out from her mouth making it look as if she might be part piranha. Her teeth make it nearly impossible for her mouth to fully close and, yet, somehow, she's simultaneously cute and terrifying.

Nina's not terrifying because she's done anything to warrant that label, but because she eerily resembles the mythical El Chupacabra. You know, the legendary animal at the center of Latin American folklore who allegedly kills livestock and drinks their blood. The description from people who claim to have seen the infamous Chupacabra varies. Some say the likely fictional creature stands on two legs and is huge while others say the animal is small and stands on four legs. But there's a strong theme that's developed between the sightings: the creatures looks dog-like, is bald or balding, and has sharp teeth seemingly placed wildly in its mouth.

Nina, of course, is neither fictional nor infamous; she's just a dog that looks kinda weird and no one knows why. DNA tests reveal she's 100% dog, but she's mixed with a lot of different breeds: Doberman Pinscher, Collie, Mountain Cur, Pomeranian, Chihuahua, Boxer, Chow Chow, Pit Bull Terrier, small Poodle, Labrador Retriever and German Shepherd. Maybe that's where she gets her unique looks from?

The problem is, all the breeds that show up in her DNA have hair, normal teeth, and eyes that close properly—all things Nina is lacking. In fact, her owners have to put artificial tears in her eyes due to the way her eyelids have grown. Scientists are fascinated by the unconventional way her genes have expressed, leading them to study the dog, with her humans' permission of course.

"Nina's health seems to be perfectly normal. We've gotten her tested for everything that we can imagine. She had a surgery called entropion and basically it means the eyelid hair, her eyelashes are digging into her eyes so they create these little ulcers on her eyes. So we got those fixed," Nina's mom tells GeoBeats Animals. "We have artificial tears that we have to put in her eyes because her eyes are, they don't shut. They just constantly stay open so we have to put those in a couple times a day."

While her owners joke with the vet that Nina is a Chupacabra, the truth is that she's just a weird looking mutt that scientists at Cornell University are trying to figure out, which requires bloodwork every six months. They're not sure if she has a congenital defect that causes her unique looks or if she simply lost the genetic jackpot. Either way, her adorably odd mug is stealing hearts all over the Internet. Her dog siblings also think she's pretty neat, giving her lots of extra kisses and snuggles.

Her owner added a last adorable detail, saying, "I feel like the other dogs kind of sense that she's a little different. They love to clean her, they treat her like a baby almost."

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Doggo loses his mind with joy when he finds out he's going to visit Grandma and Grandpa

Sound up for this one because Nosh REALLY loves his grandparents.

@sky.q/TikTok

Nosh freaked when he found out they were going to see Safta and Boppa.

Eagerly anticipating a trip to the fun and doting grandparents' house is something we think of children doing, but one couple's doggo proves that visiting the "grandpawrents" is just as exciting.

In a TikTok video that's been viewed nearly 30 million times, dog owners Skylar and Deko are nearing the end of a 20-hour drive from Phoenix to Kansas City, Missouri. Their good doggo named Nosh, sits in the backseat, looking out the front window.

Suddenly, Skylar asks Nosh if he wants to go visit Safta and Boppa, the nicknames of his grandparents, and he immediately reacts. You can practically hear him say, "Whut? Grandma and Grandpa? Are you serious?!? OMG, I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!! When are we gonna get there?!?" only it comes out as a series of squeals and whimpers and sneezy woofs of joy.

Seriously, what did Safta and Boppa do to earn this kind of reaction to their names being spoken?

Watch:

@sky.q

The other video got a “sensitive content warning” because of the end… but why?? 😂 #repost #dogsofttiktok #dogs #australiancattledog #blueheeler #acd #heeler #cattledog

That flop for the belly rub immediately upon seeing Grandpa? And the "I'm so excited to see you I gotta pee" moment? Too much.

"He always reacts like this to his grandparents," Skylar told Newsweek, "whether it's been months or only a few hours since he has seen them last."

She said they waited until they were five minutes away to tell him, and he acted like this for the full five minutes until they arrived. It's no wonder they waited until they were almost there to tell Nosh where they were going. Can you imagine making him wait any longer?

Skylar shared another video that demonstrates the love between Nosh and his favorite people.

@sky.q

Anyone else’s dog love grandma and grandpa more than anyone else? 😂❤️ #blueheeler #australiancattledog #acd #dog #heeler #cattledog

In case you're wondering what kind of dog Nosh is, he's an Australian Cattle Dog, also known as a Blue Heeler. (A real-life Bluey, if you will.) You can see even more videos of his excitement over going to the grandparents' house on Skylar's TikTok channel here.


This article originally appeared on 12.16.23

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Joy

Woman's choreographed dance with her dog is a jaw-dropping testament to border collie smarts

Wow. What? How?!?

@petland111/TikTok

Never underestimate what a border collie can do.

Border collies may not officially have the title of the smartest dog breed, but no one can deny their intelligence. While some dogs are lovable oafs with seemingly few marble rolling around in their heads, border collies will amaze you with what they can do.

Recently, a video of a border collie creating its own ball fetching game by dropping a ball repeatedly at the top of the stairs and then running down to catch it at the bottom had people impressed. But another video of a border collie shows a whole other level of brain power—and jaw-dropping ability to dance.

That's right. Dance. With specific choreography and everything.

A video shared by petland111 on TikTok shows a woman in a dance in a starting position while Irene Cara's "Flashdance…What a Feeling" plays. A border collie begins to step towards her, and quickly we can see that it's stepping across its body in a deliberate…well, dance.

Watching the rest of the dance unfold, it's clear the dog has had an amazing trainer. But also, what? How?!?

Watch:

@petland111

#animalsoftiktok #dog #foryou #viral #fyp #tiktok #talent #wow

"Brilliant! Only a border collie. Best dogs ever," wrote one commenter.

"I think this is the most extraordinary thing I have ever seen," wrote another.

"Well, if you don't have sheep, a choreographed dance will do," someone quipped.

"Beautiful, both the human and the pup. Love that jump!" wrote another.

Oh, right, there was a human dancer in there as well. She's gorgeous and graceful, but it's hard to keep your eyes off the dancing doggo.

Never underestimate what you can train a border collie to do.

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Joy

A Golden Retriever mistook his owner's cherished coat for a toy and pure chaos ensued

"This is not how I want to go out, Grissom!"

@justttmakayla/Tiktok (via Upworthy Instagram)

Grissom was in ful-on tug-of-war mode.

Golden Retrievers have a reputation for being good-natured, friendly, reliable dogs, making them ideal family pets. But even the most affable of good doggos turns into a die-hard tug-of-war warrior when presented with a furry pull toy.

That's a bit of an issue when they mistake the fur lining of a coat hood for a toy—and even more of an issue when the coat is attached to a human.

Dog owner and TikTok user @justttmakayla shared a hilarious encounter with Grissom, her Golden Retriever, that was captured on her Ring camera. In the video, Grissom grabs hold of her coat hood, perhaps heroically saving her from the squirrel that was clearly attacking her, or perhaps assuming she was offering it to him as a toy (because why else would fur exist?). Once he had a hold of it, the tug-of-war began.

"No one prepares you for what to do if this happens!" the woman exclaims as Grissom takes hold of her hood. "This is not how I want to go out, Grissom!"

She tries to wrestle the hood away from the dog, but as anyone who has played with a dog could anticipate, that just makes him pull back. It doesn't take long before she collapses into peals of laughter as her tail-wagging pup takes her for a ride around her deck.

Watch:

People in the comments, for the most part, were in stitches right along with her.

"Grissom was really doing all of this just to hear the laugh," wrote one commenter on Instagram. "He succeeded 😂😂😂😂."

"Her laughter is so infectious, it's hard not to smile hearing it 🥰," shared another."

"I just couldn’t stop laughing once she started," added another. "I think it’s her ability to see the absurdity and humour in the situation maybe? Whatever it is ❤️❤️."

Someone else wrote a brief ending to the story: "😂 …..And she died laughing with her best friend…"

But a few expressed concern that the dog wasn't going to let go, citing bad behavior and dangerous habits. However, as others pointed out, at no point did he appear to be aggressive. His body language is playful, and he even lay down to take a break from what he apparently thought was a pretty fun game right in the middle of it. She clearly wasn't afraid, and if she hadn't been laughing hysterically, she probably would have thought to take the jacket off to free herself.

Most people, however, simply delighted in the joy of a human enjoying a silly moment with her dog. And the woman herself addressed some of the concerns in a follow-up video in which she shared some terrible comments people have left calling for her to be violent with Grissom, writing, "Owning a reactive dog isn’t easy. It requires a lot of patience and a lot of training. But we are a team and Grissom is the best dog with the most loving heart."

She also shared how she has been working with Grissom with a great deal of love and patience to work through his reactive tendencies:

@justttmakayla

Replying to @katiejohnson7862 I am so thankful that I get to be Grissom’s owner🤍 #reactivedogawareness #reactivedogtraining #leashreactivedog #leashreactivity #positivereinforcementdogtraining #clickertraining #goldenretrieverlifestyle #goldenretrieversrule #goldenretrieversoftiktok #reactivedogsaregooddogs #englishcreamgolden #womansbestfriend

She and Grissom do make a good team, and if her laughter is any indicator, there's plenty more fun to be had for these two.

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