Golden retriever suddenly refuses to walk any further—and no one blames him

A golden retriever has determined never to walk a certain route in the neighborhood, as he is terrified of a Halloween decoration.

Gus the golden lives in North Carolina with his owner, Liv, 28, who described him to Newsweek as having “always had a big personality.”

“This is his second Halloween,” Liv said, adding that “he has never been a fan of yard decorations.”

But, while Gus has “been very suspicious of them in the past, [he] hasn’t refused to walk past on before this. He definitely drew the line at massive werewolves!”

In a video to Liv’s TikTok account, @livpaige593, which has been viewed more than 3 million times, Liv showcased the neighborhood’s Halloween decorations, with an enormous werewolf statue standing pride of place in one yard.

Several feet tall, wearing ripped clothing, baring its teeth and stretching out its claws, the werewolf looked as if it was about to pounce. And Gus clearly thought so, too, as the camera then panned back to the golden, who was refusing to move any further along the path.

Gus was keeping both eyes on the scary statue, pulling back on the lead, and even clamping his mouth on it to prevent his owner from pulling it along. Liv wrote in the caption: “That’s gonna be a no from Gus.”

TikTok users were in stitches, with one commenter joking that Gus was thinking: “How am I the only one with any survival instincts in this family?”

Another posted that the dog was following his “Gus instinct,” while a third wrote: “You want him to walk by his version of the boogeyman.”

And as a fourth put it: “I am a golden retriever, not a demon slayer.”

Liv described her pup as “such a funny dog,” who prefers “air conditioning [and] being inside with his toys” to going on strolls, and “will often get annoyed by us taking him on walks and try to pull us back inside!”

“We love him so much, and we were sure to not make him walk by the werewolf. He won, and we turned around and walked the other direction!” Liv said.

Golden retrievers have long been among America’s most-popular dog breeds, known for their friendly, easygoing nature, and getting along well with small kids and other canines. In 2024, goldens landed in third place in the American Kennel Club’s annual list of the most-popular breeds in the U.S.

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