Hermosa Beach (USA) - So young and already so successful: golden retriever Zebby from Hermosa Beach in California is unstoppable on TikTok. Although the dog is only 13 months old, he already has a large fan base (120,000 followers) behind him. His latest "stroke of genius" only takes a few days to amuse an audience of millions. The reason for this is a tennis ball.

Four million clicks in four days is something to be proud of. The golden retriever doesn't even have to do much for that. First, he stares upwards into the crown of a tree in the curious clip. Then he looks dazedly into his owner's camera.

What's going on? The subtitles explain: Zebby discovered a tennis ball in the treetop months ago. He was able to capture it. Since then, the golden retriever has consistently stopped every time he passes the tree again.

His owner suspects that her beloved dog seems to believe that tennis balls are growing there, which he now wants to harvest. The four-legged friend looks correspondingly frustrated at his owner's camera when he is unlucky again.

In an interview with Newsweek, Sophie Fogelson (28) said that Zebby initially clung to the tree with his paws and refused to leave it.

Eventually, she and her partner Anson came up with an idea - but it backfired.

"I tried to put his own ball in there. But he knows it's his and he's not interested," the Californian told the US magazine .

So at 13 months old, Zebby is already quite demanding and picky. But his mistress still has an ace up her sleeve, or rather a ball in the tree.

The 28-year-old revealed that there really is a tennis ball in the treetop from time to time: "I think someone leaves it there to play with their dog."

She then sometimes takes this ball down for her furry friend, says Fogelson. But the other dog doesn't have to worry. To be on the safe side, she always puts a spare ball in the crown for him.