Viral Video a Hit For Pharmacy Students and Dog

This hilarious video clip on Facebook recently caught my eye, but what caught my attention even more was the description: “Just in case you were wondering how pharmacy school is going...we may be a little brain dead already!”

After watching this video too many times, I reached out to its star.

Ashlynn Dacus, a P1 student at Harding University College of Pharmacy in Arkansas, was attempting to do a 'What the Fluff' challenge with her Saint Bernard, Maggie. In these videos, dog owners trick their dogs by hiding behind a large blanket, moving the blanket up and down a few times, and on the final move, the owner ducks into another room, and the confused dog looks for the owner.

On her attempted escape, Dacus instead slammed forcefully into the wall, missing the doorway by a few inches, and falls to the floor. How did this all happen?

Dacus was sitting on her couch, journaling, when her roommate, Jerri Mathis, a P2 student, saw a 'What the Fluff' video online. She begged Dacus to make a video. Distracted by Maggie moving around, Dacus didn’t realize she had moved a few steps. When she went to make her getaway, she instead crashed into the wall.

While Mathis fell over from laughing hard, little Maggie hid for 10 minutes, and the only way the roommates could get her to come out was by giving her chicken jerky and her favorite toy, Lamb.

Dacus is having a blast with the whole experience, receiving messages of positivity and encouragement on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Her classmates felt they had a “duty” to share the video. They enjoyed the video, and her professors also joined in the fun.

“The video was absolutely hysterical. I literally laughed so hard I cried the few times I saw it. The video going viral is extremely exciting. Ashlynn is an excellent student - hard working, intelligent, and dedicated. The fact that she can enjoy a potentially embarrassing moment as much as her peers do is laudable," said Jim Tarrant, PhD, a professor a Harding University.

“I began watching the video with full expectations that Ashlynn was about to completely astonish her dog with her disappearing act, and she certainly did astonish her poor dog! I couldn’t stop watching it over and over again. I’m glad that she can laugh at herself and share it with others so that we can all have a little more laughter in our lives," said Courtney Selby, PharmD, a professor at Harding University.

Dacus did not suffer any pain or bruising (besides her ego) and just had a little elbow/shoulder soreness and headache the next day. But, the video, which now has more than 20 million views, has brought Dacus fame, as well as requests to try the challenge again. However, any time Maggie sees the blanket, she runs.