Dog’s startled reactions to hedgehog pal take over the Japanese Internet【Monday Kickstart】

We can’t really blame the doggo for wanting to stay on guard around the walking pincushion.

Japanese Twitter user @harikai_chiri has some rather unusual taste in pets. While most people are content with a cat or a dog, her house is home to not only a dog, but two prickly hedgehogs as well.

Our first experience with the little guys wasn’t much more than watching a particularly speedy one with a penchant for gold rings zoom across our computer screens over two decades ago. But after seeing these two up close, even our stone cold hearts, which became jaded following the trendy cuteness of hamster butts a couple of years ago, melted just a tad:

 ▼ Meet Hana-chan on the left and Tawashi-kun on the right (Tawashi is albino).

可愛く撮れてたから雑コラだけどツーショットにしてみたで🙆💯 https://t.co/PhQbmWAzLK

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ちり子 (@harikai_chiri) November 17, 2016

▼ Here they are in an adorable formation:

整列！ https://t.co/yvnwizKVBT

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ちり子 (@harikai_chiri) April 18, 2017

While @harikai_chiri’s tweets about her spiny friends usually rack up a decent number of likes on any given day, a single video post from last week has since gone viral over the Japanese Internet, propelling its number of likes to over 105,000 as of this writing. This particular video co-stars her pet dog Guu-chan comically bouncing away every time Hana-chan approaches her. Guu-chan must have some unpleasant memories of getting poked!

Check out the clip below for a few laughs to start your week:

▼ “I uploaded this to Instagram but it was cut off in the middle, so here’s a slightly longer version. The scaredy-dog and the chill hedgehog”

インスタにあげたの途中でぶつ切れだったからちょい長めバージョン びびり犬とマイペースはりねずみ https://t.co/gtDbHD74n4

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ちり子 (@harikai_chiri) April 26, 2017

Japanese net users couldn’t contain their giggles and took to the comments section as below:

“It’s so cute how the dog is super interested but is too scared to get any closer!”
“The balance of power was dog < hedgehog from the start, LOL”
“[dog’s voice] What is this thing?! It’s coming closer…GAH! Stay away!! But I can’t help myself…!”
“The video’s funniest with the sound on so you can hear the dog’s movements on the tatami mat.”
“Ahh…watching this is therapeutic. Even the sound of the tatami is soothing.”

If that adorable scene makes you want to go out and cuddle (er, whatever the proper term is) a hedgehog, you’ll definitely want to check out the Hedgehog Cafe in Roppongi, Tokyo. Just don’t take your pupper along for the ride!

Source, featured image: Twitter/@harikai_chiri

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