The phrase plays on Sonic, the fast blue hedgehog from the long running game series, and on dawg as slang for a close friend or dog. Online, the clip circulates as a reaction sound alongside other goofy ahh sounds, shared in short edits where someone loses a pet, an item or a teammate. Its humour comes from treating that loss with mock serious grief, so it keeps being reused for new fails and disappearances rather than one specific scene or moment.