Mini Dachshund Standing Guard With His Stuffie Is The Cutest Little Protector
Witnessing dogs with their absolute favorite toys is truly a treat, but sometimes, our fur babies can go a bit overboard with them. Just take a look at Wilbur, a mini dachshund with a serious hold on his fave stuffie, in this viral TikTok video that's been watched over 240,000 times.
@wilbur_minidox Beware of Wilbur and his QUASO #dachshund #dachshundsoftiktok #dog #dogsoftiktok #fyp
It's fitting that little Wilbur has long blondish hair, almost like a lion, as the TikToker plays a perfectly harrowing song from the classic Disney movie "The Lion King." The resident protector stares deep into the camera, holding a croissant plush toy between his fierce little teeth. How menacing (see: adorable)!
His dog parents joke in the video that, "This is who we chose to protect our house." But, gotta say, his death stare and monster grip on that toy are pretty tough, after all. So maybe it's best to leave him to it. Like one fan said about Wilbur's protection tactics in the comments, "He's staring daggers into my soul, so I think it's working."
Why does Wilbur love this stuffie so much?
When it comes to croissant-shaped plush toys, Wilbur is obviously a fierce protector. But what could it be about this particular stuffie that's turned the dachshund into a little knight? Well, several factors like breed, size, age, and even hunting instincts might affect how dogs choose their favorite toy. But as it turns out, an item's novelty may play a role as well. It's called neophilia, and a 2008 study in Animal Cognition suggests that dogs adopting a love for new things have helped them co-exist with humans.
It's possible that Wilbur's favorite toy might be one of his newest. Yet even more fascinating is that dogs could potentially experience something similar to addiction to their fave plushie. Like behavior scientist Alja Mazzini and her co-authors mentioned in a 2025 Scientific Reports study, "Dogs that appear obsessed with toys cannot be easily distracted from their fixation on the preferred object – demonstrating the high salience of the toy."
Other scientists note that we still need more information beyond this research before we can start self-diagnosing our toy-obsessed pups. So, while we can't confirm that Wilbur's actions are those of an addict, he's definitely a croissant plush toy super fan. At the end of the day, finding what kinds of toys your dog loves is a good thing, so long as your canine is healthy and happy.