Surrey (England) - Talk is silver, bark is gold... Freddie has been extremely silent all these years. The golden retriever from the English county of Surrey didn't even seem to suspect that he could bark. But at the proud age of thirteen, the dog has discovered a whole new side to himself. And now he's also putting everyone in a good mood on TikTok .

Since last week, the corresponding video has been going viral, in which the senior dog doesn't want to stop barking. Freddy is lying in a meadow, deeply relaxed, where he barks and barks and barks in peace.

Half amused, half annoyed, his owner tries to get him to stop in the background. "We're all happy for you. But you have to stop doing that all the time," says Amanda.

Freddie doesn't mind, he just carries on with his barking program. His barking doesn't sound particularly voluminous, but more like a cry for help, as some TikTok users joke.

Freddie is no longer the youngest - and still has to train his new talent.

But where does this extremely late change of heart come from? Amanda and some users have their suspicions.

"A lot of commentators say he's probably going deaf because their dogs have done the same," the British woman recently speculated in an interview with Newsweek.

One thing is certain: Freddie, who turns 14 on June 3, has racked up more than 640,000 clicks with the clip. Plus a good 100,000 likes. There are also lots of hearts and teary-eyed emojis in the comments column.

Meanwhile, the exact reason for his late "Bell awakening" is likely to remain Freddie's secret.

It is unusual in any case. Dogs rarely start barking at such an advanced age.

But perhaps the furry friend simply said to himself: it's never too late to start something new.