New York - In a viral video, a woman introduced her newborn puppies to several horses, and while she was simply looking to educate the young , the footage has become a total hit online!

The puppies met horses for the first time in order to develop their sense of smell in the best possible way. © Collage: Screenshots/TikTok/@twistedshoefarm

In mid-April, the owner of the Twisted Shoe farm welcomed a whole litter of adorable golden retriever babies into her home.

Since then, the nine mini-dogs have been keeping her on her toes.

In order to support the puppies' development in the best possible way, their owner decided to go on a very special trip just eleven days after the pups were born.

With three puppies each in a sling, they went to the farm paddock, where a few horses were already waiting for the cute visitors.

The dog owner captured the moment on and explained: "By exposing puppies to various scents during their critical early stages (days 3-16), researchers believe this stimulation can increase the number of olfactory bulb cells, leading to improved scent detection and processing later in life."

So, she took the puppies, whose eyes hadn't even opened yet, to smell the horses.

How does early smell introduction help puppies? According to researchers, puppies should be exposed to as many different smells as possible in the first 3 to 16 days. © Collage: Screenshots/TikTok/@twistedshoefarm

The horses were remarkably gentle with the dogs during the introduction and sniffed curiously with their large nostrils.

"During a puppy's early development, their brains are highly adaptable, with the ability to form new connections and strengthen existing ones based on various sensory experiences," the farm owner wrote.

A doctor named Gayle Watkins spent seven years studying the development of golden retrievers and found that puppies who experienced early scent introduction not only had better olfactory ability but also showed more confidence and awareness of their surroundings.

The researcher also assumes that the exercises in puppyhood contribute to improved stress tolerance and a lower risk of illness later on.

Even though the video of the horse-dog encounter delighted thousands of users online, according to their owner, the puppies have a completely different favorite smell so far: her slippers!