They say man’s best friend is the dog. But for Dave Durham, man’s best friend is the iguana.

However, Durham’s iguanas aren’t like most other iguanas. They are actually more like dogs.

His iguanas love to greet their dad when he comes home enthusiastically. They can even complete an obstacle course like a trained show dog.

Durham has an entire YouTube page of videos filled with all of the dog-like feats of his iguanas.

“This is not a reptile forum. This is just to show people that lizards learn and can even do tricks just like a dog would. I have even been able to train them to do an ‘obstacle course made for one of my Cayman Brac rock iguanas, the smartest reptile species I have ever trained,” Durham said of his YouTube page.

Durham, who has been breeding and raising reptiles for more than 50 years, says he hopes his videos will “stimulate your mind on the possibilities on what reptiles can do.”

Those possibilities are made quite clear in a video of one of his iguanas greeting him when he arrives home, just as an excited dog would.

The video begins with Durham calling out to one of his iguanas off-camera.

Then we focus in on his iguana, who is a big chunky healthy boi.

It’s unknown how big this iguana is, but iguanas, in general, are some of the largest lizards found in America.

They can grow to be 5 to 7 ft. long and weigh up to 30 lbs, according to the San Diego Zoo.

They get that big by eating a steady diet of fruits, flower buds, and young leaves.

They are also known to eat mealworms or wax worms. Marine iguanas will dive into the ocean to eat algae off rocks. Durham’s iguana looks like it is very well fed.

“Come here buddy! Aren’t you gonna here and see me?” Durham asks in his video..

That’s when the iguana takes a few steps forward and then stops. And then does it again.

His daddy keeps coaxing hin, which launches the lizard into full speed, waddling his way over.

The iguana’s mouth is wide open, and it looks like he’s giving off a huge grin.

Just like a dog who is super happy to greet its owner.

“Are you glad I’m home? Huh? Are you?” Durham asks as he pets his lizard and gives him pats as you would a dog.

The iguana nods his head up and down. Dad then asks if he’s hungry. The lizard nods his head again.

The iguana gets some more pats before his dad tells him to tell the camera “goodbye.”

That video has gotten a whopping 43.4 million views on YouTube.

“Great to see you demonstrating something I have known for a long time. Reptiles and amphibians are far more intelligent and interactive than most people realize. I have had decades of experience and seen frogs, toads, and lizards all exhibit behaviors unheard of in the literature. Many amazing intelligent actions that were astounding,” wrote one YouTube commenter.

Check out this dog-like iguana in the video below.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Dave Durham, San Diego Zoo