Buddy the German Shepherd
Buddy the German Shepherd is on a journey
By Parsa Faramarzi and Buddy the Gsd
Editor: Anjali Golecha and Robert Hudson
When you get a dog, it starts to become your child, and one of the hardest things to do is to let it go.
On May 8th, 2020, a German shepherd puppy named Buddy got on my Facebook feed. When I saw him, I made an appointment with the breeder right away because I knew he was the perfect dog for me! I got him during the pandemic so I could have a distraction from everything that was going on. Buddy was patient, dramatic, and VERY photogenic, just like me! That was what led me to an amazing idea.
The Amazing Idea for Buddy the German Shepherd
When you get an amazing idea, you don’t want to forget it, so you try to make your idea happen right away. Well, that was the situation I was in. I immediately started a TikTok account!
I was in a hurry, so I quickly posted a video of Buddy. In the video, he was skating when he was a puppy (he doesn’t know how to skate now.)
When I posted the video, I went off of TikTok and forgot about it. A day or two later, I went on his TikTok profile to check on him. I was completely dumbfounded by what I was seeing on my phone. The video got over 700 VIEWS! I know it isn’t a lot, but back then, for me, it was like Buddy went viral.
The Disappointing Stage
The first video back then wasn’t the only video that got a lot of views (for me). Buddy’s second video got 400 views, but after each video I was posting, they kept getting fewer and fewer views! I was posting videos every day because I wanted one of those videos to get as many (or even more) views as my first video.
As I mentioned before, I kept getting more and more eager for views, likes, and followers. But as I looked back at the videos, I could see how bad the video quality was and how unprofessional they seemed.
I decided to take a break when I found out that I was getting addicted to posting videos of Buddy the German shepherd on the internet
Getting Back
After 4 months, I decided to get back to it. I was looking at other videos on the internet to get ideas for what to post about Buddy, and as I was scrolling through, I saw a dog sitting in front of the camera.
He was telling an extremely funny story that was in his point of view using a voice-over feature on TikTok!
I was laughing so hard; I started to cry. After laughing for 10 minutes straight, I realized that Buddy also has funny stories, like when he brought a dead rat inside the house, or when he pulled me to a group of kids to say hi! I realized that I could do the same thing with Buddy!
So I made my first video using the voice-over feature, talking about one of Buddy’s vet appointments! Then I posted it and went to sleep. When I woke up, I went to give breakfast to Buddy.
Suddenly, I remembered to check the video I posted. I wasn’t expecting it to get any views at all, but when I checked the video; it got over 2,000 views!
I was in shock and Buddy was just staring at me. After I finally recovered, I got Buddy ready for another video. This time I used someone else’s story, which was similar to what I experienced with Buddy. I filmed the video and posted it! After I posted, I put my phone down and went to reward Buddy!
Buddy the German Shepherd- Succeeding in Life
As soon as I I woke up the next morning, I picked up my phone and checked Buddy’s video. When I clicked on Buddy’s page 12.3k followers and 617.8k views! I was speechless when I found out, and I was also super excited about posting another video, but even though I was getting viral, I wasn’t getting addicted.
My goal is to post 2-4 videos every week, not too much, and not too little. It was just right. Even though I wasn’t posting every day, Buddy was still getting thousands of views!
When I reached 25k followers, I started an Instagram page for him! The only thing I regretted about the Instagram page was that I didn’t start it sooner.
Now Buddy the German shepherd is almost 2 years old with 26.9k followers on TikTok and he continues being a cute doggo in front of the camera and continues being a destructive doggo behind the camera. On the other hand, it’s been months since the viral video, but Buddy’s views just keep growing! Just like my love for Buddy.
One thing that I learned from this journey is to not forget what’s important: the people you love, and that social media should be something to do in your free time! I also learned to take a break from things that can stress you out and get back to it with a positive attitude.
TikTok: Link
Instagram: Link
