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Dog Nicknamed Big Poppa Goes Viral For Being Sad During Lockdown

Dog Nicknamed Big Poppa Goes Viral For Being Sad During Lockdown

Big Poppa is all of us.

Mary-Jane Wiltsher

Mary-Jane Wiltsher

A dog has become a viral sensation for being lonely and sad during lockdown.

The pooch's nickname is Big Poppa - and frankly, he is all of us.

With the world cooped up indoors, our pets are having to social distance too, and Big Poppa is clearly feeling the strain of quarantine.

The adorable three-year-old English bulldog, Pop (for short) was snapped by owner Rashida Ellis looking rather downhearted on the balcony.

Its 38-year-old owner Rashida tweeted the image with the caption: "Big Poppa has been so sad today, I think he miss playing with the kids in the building. He just watches them from the patio. [sic]"


Oh, Big Poppa. We are so here for you.

Rashida - who works as a costume designer - believes her beloved pupper is craving his usual activities, which include walkies, being the centre of attention on bustling film sets, and hanging out with families in his building.

Sharing the same image to her Instagram account, Rashida wrote: "All I want to do is play with the kids in my building but due to Covid-19... I can't. I just watch them from the patio. Flatten The Curve please."

The designer's posts promptly went viral. At the time of writing, Big Poppa's image has clocked up a whopping 633K likes on Twitter.


Celebrities have gone wild for Pop, too, with A-listers like Ellen DeGeneres and Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams retweeting his image to show the dejected bulldog some loving support.

"Not being dramatic but I would literally die for big poppa," tweeted Maisie. Same, tbh.

While Ellen called on the public to: "Stay inside. Flatten this curve. Do it for Big Poppa."

Meanwhile, another Big Poppa super fan wrote: "Big Poppa is the #1 reason we need to flatten the curve and I am 1000% ready to sacrifice my life to him."


Speaking to Buzzfeed news, Rashida said: "When [Big Poppa's] inside, he just walks out to the patio looking for people. He's sleeping more. He's a little sluggish. I can tell he's not as happy and excited as he usually is. He's probably tired of just me playing with him."

Same, Big Poppa, same.

Rashida continued: "He loves children and then other dogs and then adults - in that order."


The costume designer believes her posts went viral because the world finds Big Poppa's mood so, well, relatable.

"I think when people look at that photo, we can all relate right now," she said.

"We can't do the things that we used to do, we can't hang out with our friends.

"I think it just happened to be this dog - and not only is he so sad and cute and you want everything to change for him, but you want everything to change for yourself, too, because we're all in this situation."


Stay home. Stay safe. Do it for Big Poppa.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram / @PopTheBulldog

Topics: Dog, Life News, lockdown, Cute, Life, Coronavirus