--- description: Is it because the feather smells like a bird? title: Watch This Very Large Dog Confront His Greatest Fear image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch This Very Large Dog Confront His Greatest Fear by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 11, 2015 9:31 PM CUT by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 11, 2015 9:31 PM CUT Lots of people would be intimidated by this dog. He’s a large, sturdy, muscular Boxer who’s probably got a sharp set of teeth. But you don’t have to be scared of him. _He’s_ actually the one who is terrified. Of a feather, it turns out. But this dog doesn’t just cower and walk away from this scary, mysterious object. He approaches it with curiosity—but with a healthy dose of restraint. It’s quite admirable, in fact. When another video of a dog freaking out over a feather went viral a few months ago, Gawker [asked ](http://gawker.com/is-this-dog-afraid-of-this-feather-because-it-smells-li-1717008521 "undefined")if the dog was afraid of the feather because it smelled like a bird. It’s a valid question that remains relevant today. ([h/t Mashable](http://mashable.com/2015/11/11/big-dog-tiny-feather/#DrXI3WVhEaqg "undefined")) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4109112/dog-scared-of-feather/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4109112/dog-scared-of-feather/"},"headline":"Watch This Very Large Dog Confront His Greatest Fear","datePublished":"2015-11-11T21:31:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:26:51.641Z","description":"See? Everybody gets scared sometimes","url":"https://time.com/4109112/dog-scared-of-feather/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4109112/dog-scared-of-feather/","name":"Watch This Very Large Dog Confront His Greatest Fear"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Inside the Canine Mind","description":"Professor Brian Hare at Duke University studies people's pet dogs to understand how canines think","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dTemQHb7/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-09-11T01:23:04.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dTemQHb7.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4109112/dog-scared-of-feather/","duration":"PT2M8S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4109112/dog-scared-of-feather/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```