Coming home after weeks of travel is always a whirlwind of luggage and laundry. But for Emma Bryan, a flight instructor, the best part of landing is seeing her senior dog, Coconut. Because Emma is often away for work, these reunions are a regular highlight of her life. However, since Coconut is both half deaf and partially blind, she doesn’t always notice the front door opening right away. This gorgeous girl needs a few extra moments to process that her mom is actually standing in the room. This video from the Instagram account, @emma.the.pilot. makes for a slow but incredibly sweet greeting.
Senior dog, half blind and deaf, needs time to realize mom’s finally home after weeks
The video opens in a cozy bedroom, where Coconut is curled up beside a sleeping human. Emma is filming as she quietly approaches the bed after two weeks away from home. The on-screen text tells us that this senior dog is half blind and quite hard of hearing, so she stays totally still at first. The actual process of waking her up took about five minutes in real time. As Emma mentioned in the comments, she had to try several times to get the pup to hear her.
Finally, the sweet rescue dog lifts her head, looking a bit confused. But once Emma gets close enough for a sniff, the recognition finally kicks in. You can see the excitement start to vibrate through Coconut’s entire body as her tail starts wagging.
She does a massive body-shake to wake herself up before jumping out of bed. She even stops to do a quick “bag check” on the pilot’s gear in the hallway. This adorable reunion has gone completely viral with over 252,000 likes. One viewer mentioned she looks like a well-loved childhood stuffed animal, which is honestly the perfect description.
The celebration moves into the living room for what Emma calls “happy dance time.” Coconut starts doing “happy taps” on the floor, which Emma says helps her avoid post-trip sadness. Despite being deaf, she lets out some very vocal happy whines while jumping on the sofa for belly rubs. She eventually takes a seat and looks at her mom, clearly thrilled that the wait is over.
