Brookland, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Feb. 28, 2025 – An autistic teen from Brookland faced his fear of dogs with a Labrador-mix named Gunner, with the video of the interaction amassing over 1.9 million views on TikTok.
The teenager, 17-year-old Brodey Herman, has always been terrified of dogs, according to his mother, Cheyenne Godding. Even though the family has had two other dogs, Herman still can’t be in the same room with them because of his special needs. She explained that he cannot handle their barking and hyperactivity.
So, when the new canine sneaked into his room, Godding didn’t know what to expect.
“Gunner just showed up at our house one day,” Godding said. “Around here we didn’t really think much about it. We have a community of dogs. They all hang out and come and go, and it’s not really a big deal. So, we really didn’t think that much about it and we just let him hang out.”
Despite Godding telling the dog to go home, he remained outside their home for three days and nights. Godding said Herman noticed the dog but never interacted with him.
Godding searched the neighborhood to find the dog’s owner, who seemed “less than enthusiastic” when she met with them. The owner did tell Godding the dog’s name, Gunner. After that, Gunner followed Godding back home and has remained there since.
“The thing is he goes out. He can go back home anytime he wants because they live in this vicinity. He just doesn’t. He just stays here with us,” Godding said. “So, we slowly started letting him in the house at that point.”
That’s when Gunner decided he wanted to be friends with Herman, she said, noting how she watched from the kitchen as the dog made his way down the hall and into Herman’s room.
“I was on my phone and I saw him go into Brodey’s room,” Godding said. “I was afraid Brodey was going to get really upset because he will not let the other dogs in his room. The thing was that we don’t know this dog yet and this dog really doesn’t know us. So, he went into Brodey’s room, I ran down the hall because I was like, ‘Oh God’, but I looked in there and Brodey was sitting on his bed like listening to music and he wasn’t freaking out at all. I was like, ‘This is different. Like this is very different.’”
Godding said she decided to record the moment to “see what happens.” She describes the beginning of the interaction as the two being a bit unsure of each other, but that Gunner was calm and patient with Herman.
“In the beginning of the video, Brodey’s arms are kind of crossed. He’s working through it, but then Brodey does a little boop [on Gunner’s nose] and you see him smile,” Godding said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ Because this is not a kid that voluntarily or willingly wants anything to do with dogs. And of course, as they kind of just kept the interaction going, you just see Brodey’s walls come down. Then, at the end when he finally places his hand [on Gunner’s head] and leaves it, you can see his body language. You just see the calm come over him.”
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Godding said she decided to post the video to Herman’s TikTok page on Feb. 2, which she created to spread autism awareness. When she first posted the video, Godding said the page had about 80 followers and there were only a few videos.
“I wasn’t taking it very seriously. It was just if I caught a cool video of us doing something or of him doing something funny, I’d post it,” she said.
The video “blew up,” Godding said. At the time of publication, Herman’s TikTok page, chroniclesofbrodey, grew to 4,484 followers and the video had over 1.9 million views.
Godding said the video spread all over the world, and she’s received messages from so across the globe, including the United States, Norway, Malaysia, South Africa, Ireland, Australia, Russia and Canada.
“This is a minute and 40 seconds for people to feel something really good, just like two pure souls coming together,” she stated. “I feel like we’re bombarded from everywhere you look, every angle with negativity in this world and in this life. So, I had no idea it was going to touch the number of people that it has.”