Dog mom was warned that her expensive pup is a target for thieves — so she came up with clever tag that would scare anyone off

A dog owner received a word of warning from a pet store about her German Shepherd pup becoming a target for thieves. Clueless about why someone would steal her dog, Kate Smith, who goes by @katelivingoutloud on TikTok, soon realized it could happen in the future. A worker at the store enlightened her with precious advice that Smith was immediately up for. She shared the clever hack that involved her pet’s dog tag in a viral video with 12.5 million views. 

Smith sat with her now-grown dog, Mace, to retell the eye-opening conversation that changed her opinion about her pet’s safety. She was visiting a local pet store to update Mace’s dog tag. Only a puppy then, the dog mom filled out all the necessary information to be included on the tag so the pet could be returned safely. Upon handing over the paperwork, the pet store staff was not convinced. His questionable reaction left Smith wondering if she had made errors. “He said, ‘Well, the thing about your dog is, if somebody found him, they might want to keep him,” the owner remembered. 

The dog mom was not surprised, thinking it was Mace’s “amazing” personality that attracted people towards him. Taking it as a compliment, she thanked the store worker but was not prepared for his revelation. The staff clarified that her dog was prone to thieves because he looked expensive. “People might see him and think that it’s more worth it to sell him and make money off of him than to return him to you,” he explained. Instead of basic information, the pet store worker advised Smith to put down certain needs of the dog or anything that would urge the person to return Mace to her. “What you need to do is put needs meds, or a reward, or something on his dog tag that will motivate the finder to return him to you as quickly as possible.” 

On board with his suggestion, the pet owner took up the task a bit too seriously. Now, Mace’s dog tag reads a clever note that is likely to become a problem, rather than a good fortune, for the finder. “Needs meds or he’ll sh*t everywhere,” the dog tag states. Smith is quite impressed by her smart hack and hopes it will be more than enough to get Mace off the thief radar. She mused in the caption that her pup does have a “sensitive tummy,” so it’s not a complete bluff. The post was liked by 2.4 million people. 

The comments were brimming with amusing insights from fellow pet owners. “My dog has three legs and pees if he sees a stranger, I’m good,” noted @hecateshandmaiden and @corgnis shared, “My neighbor just puts ‘seizures’ on every pet tag over the years.” “That’s actually so smart,” supported @misstoriinc. A pet owner (@renata6101) shared their unfortunate experience. “I wish I had done this sooner. My dog was never returned. He was 16 years old.” 

You can follow @katelivingoutloud on TikTok for more videos.