Golden retriever’s reaction to owners’ first dance practice melts hearts

A couple’s preparation for their big day had a heartwarming witness.

A video posted to TikTok by Ali Iwai (@ali.iwai) has gone viral after revealing the moment they practiced the first dance for their wedding in front of their senior golden retriever, who watched them with rapt attention. Since the clip was posted, it has received over 3.6 million views and more than 903,000 likes.

“Practicing our first dance, but all I notice in the video is Marley watching us,” Iwai captioned the video. “Crying watching this back. My heart.”

In the video, Marley watches her owners while lying on the couch. At one point, she moves to her bed, still just as transfixed.

“This girl has been watching me since I was 13,” Iwai wrote over the footage. “She watched us the entire 30 minutes like this. Love this girl.”

The clip inspired different interpretations of Marley’s fascination, but they all had a common thread: the dog seemed genuinely happy for her longtime companion.

“The way I know she was thinking, ‘I have done my job, she has someone to take care of her,'” @jenna_schampers wrote.

“She was watching her little girl practicing her first dance in case she doesn’t get to see the real thing in person,” @kiefiresword commented.

“She looks so proud of you in this happy moment,” @youngotterwoman posted. “Her moving is like, you’ve got this, but I’ll be right here if you need. Like always. Forever a love like Marley’s!”

Others wrote about their own personal stories about the heartwarming loyalty of their pups.

“My childhood dog died at 17 years,” @christinemarie_x wrote. “Two days after I moved out of my abusive home. He waited for me to be safe and free. I miss my little man.”

“My chocolate lab was given 2 to 3 months to live after his cancer diagnosis at 14.5 [years]. I had to move back in with my dad unexpectedly,” @rel2017 posted. “My lab outlived his cancer diagnosis by eight months. I’m convinced he stayed with me all those extra months to make sure my dad and I would be okay, since he and I didn’t have the best relationship.”

While many in the comments were crossing their fingers that Marley would make it to the wedding, Iwai told them it would likely not happen—but not for the reason they think.

In the comments, Iwai said that the couple were having a destination wedding, so wouldn’t be able to bring Marley.

Newsweek reached out to @ali.iwai for comment via TikTok.