Sometimes our dogs are incredibly observant, and other times they miss even the most obvious things. In the case of Emily Frowen’s Golden Retriever, he somehow overlooked a few very big details that had been living in their barn for the past year.

Emily shared a clip of her Golden in the barn as he suddenly notices the Highland cows in their stalls. Completely intrigued, he starts barking to alert his mom that there are “things” living in there, then goes in for a closer look. It’s clear he thinks he’s just discovered some brand-new friends, and he really wants to play!

Emily joked in the caption, “They’ve only been up here a year, and now he’s noticed LOL!” At least he finally noticed!

Like us, people got a kick out of the Golden’s reaction to learning that there were fluffy cows living right under his nose. @jodiebowendavies said what the dog was probably thinking when he realized it, “‘When did you get here?!’ LOL!” Emily replied, “Him whenever anyone’s been around for a few hours, days, or years…”

@marcellatreb joked, “Classic 2 brain cell golden behaviour LOL!”

Related: Fluffy Cow Says ‘Nope’ When Baby Calls to Her Looking for Attention

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Do Cows and Dogs Get Along?

We love seeing videos of cows and dog besties, and hope that Emily lets her Golden out to play with those Highland cows someday; something tells us that they’d all have fun!

In an article on the Wag! website, they listed ten commands that the American Kennel Club has identified that every dog needs to know to stay safe around livestock:

1. Come, even when there are distractions.

2. Stay, you need for the dog to stay put to allow you to work and to keep him at a safe distance.

3. Drop It, you need to keep your dog from carrying off something he should not have!

4. Leave It, teaches your dog to not bother something in the first place.

5. Down, this calm position is important to not agitate the cows

6. Go to Mat, teach your dog to know his spot to go sit to be safe

7. Sit, every good dog needs to sit on command

8. Leash Manners, helps you to keep the dog under control and introduces your dog to environments

9. Crate, teach your dog to use his crate and be safe

10. Quiet, barking can irritate the cow and cause a harmful reaction

We bet that Emily’s Golden knows all or most of these already!

This story was originally published by PetHelpful on Feb 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.