GREENFIELD — Inspired by the bravery of Dan, a blind, 10-year-old shih tzu owned by his daughter and her husband, Greenfield resident Chris Morgan worked with the team at Silver Screen Design to help give Dan a brand.

Eliza Morgan and her husband Tony Householder Rivera live in San Francisco with Dan, who has garnered a social media following because of his story, but they had a chance to visit Silver Screen Design on Wells Street earlier this week to meet the staff members who are creating Dan-inspired merchandise. T-shirts, sweatshirts and pet bandanas depicting Dan’s likeness with the caption “Be Brave Like Dan” are being sold, with proceeds supporting San Francisco’s Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, where Dan was adopted in 2021.

Before the couple adopted Dan, he was rescued after having been neglected by his previous owners. He was left tied up outside where he developed an infection in both of his eyes, requiring doctors to remove them. Once he found his new home, friends and family members wanted to keep up with Dan, so Eliza Morgan started using social media to casually post pictures and videos of Dan.

Eventually, some of Dan’s videos went viral on his no.eyed.dan TikTok page, garnering a following there and on Instagram, with a combined 43,800 followers. He now has 4.1 million total video views on TikTok.

“At some point I discovered these things and realized that he had some amount of a following,” Chris Morgan said. “I made the comment to my daughter Eliza that Dan was an influencer and that he needed a merch page.”

As his daughter and her husband are both focused on their careers, and Eliza is pursuing her PhD, Chris Morgan took it upon himself to spearhead the merchandise effort.

These viral videos of Dan were unexpected for the couple. A video posted in March 2023 was one of the first viral videos of Dan. In it, Rivera is holding a piece of chicken in an echoey room that Dan wants, and Dan can’t find Rivera because of his voice bouncing off the walls. Dan begs at the wall for the chicken, as Rivera stands behind him with the tasty treat.

“I posted that video and it just kind of happened within a day that [the video] started going viral,” Eliza Morgan recounted. “And we have no experience with that and it was just kind of wild.”

Another video of Dan that has 15.5 million views shows Dan following a voice command of “incoming,” which his owners use to alert Dan when another dog is running toward him at the dog park, where he likes to play with other dogs. In the video, Dan drops to the ground suddenly as a Boston terrier zips over him, avoiding Dan completely.

With Dan gaining an online following, Eliza Morgan said people have reached out feeling inspired by Dan’s story, and sharing their own stories about pets or loved ones who are blind or who have another physical difference.

“Almost immediately, I had people messaging me saying, ‘Oh, my dog just lost his eye,’ or “My dog can’t hear, can’t see,’ or they would talk about how helpful it was to see a dog that was endlessly joyful,” Eliza Morgan said, with Chris Morgan adding that this is where the idea for “Be Brave Like Dan” came from.

To start getting merchandise ready for Dan, Chris Morgan created some early sketches and brought them to Silver Screen Design General Manager Ivan Benjamin, where the team was inspired by Dan’s story. The staff worked to create the design, print the merchandise and create an online storefront where people can purchase the merchandise.

Benjamin said the process required the designers to create an image of Dan that was printable and recognizable, “and get Dan on brand.”

“Every now and again I get a special customer like Dan, where I get to connect with new customers through this merch site service, which we really like, because it just brings us into closer connection with more people in the community and then beyond,” Benjamin said.

With “Be Brave Like Dan” merchandise available for sale, Eliza Morgan said she hopes people can come away with the message of bravery while also giving back to the Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, allowing the organization to help other dogs like Dan.

“With the merch, I think the message is the most meaningful part, and of course, being able to give back,” Eliza Morgan said. “But what people seem to love most is that he, for some reason, is incredibly confident and inexplicably brave — nothing seems to hold him back. And I think that is something that we often don’t see a lot.”

To purchase “Be Brave Like Dan” merchandise, visit silverscreendesign.chipply.com/no_eyed_dan. To keep up with Dan, search for No.Eyed.Dan on both Instagram and TikTok.

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.