Dog's Oscar-worthy acting for a treat will make you question everything your pet has ever done
Most parents would relate to kids faking illness to avoid school, but it turns out that not only children but dogs, too, can emotionally manipulate owners to get what they want. Maia McCann, a pet owner from New York who goes by @smokeyandmaia on TikTok, experienced this firsthand when her cunning dog, Smokey, staged an Oscar-worthy performance to trick her into buying him his favorite treat — cheesy bread.
"We are playing a little game called 'Is Smokey sick, or is he emotionally manipulating me so that I take him for cheesy bread?'" Maia said, explaining how the dog had refused breakfast again, noting that this wasn't unusual, as Smokey had pulled off this dramatic trick multiple times before. So before taking him to the vet, Maia decided to take her dog to the cheesy bread shop, and at every step, Smokey's excitement doubled, as if he was taking pride in fooling his mommy-dearest once again. "It is looking pretty likely Smokey was faking sick to emotionally manipulate me into going and getting him a cheesy bread," Maia said as they got closer to their regular café. And as expected, once they got inside the shop and placed an order for his favorite treat, Smokey looked just fine, as if he had forgotten that he was supposed to be pretending to be sick.
"It is such a miracle that you made a full recovery. We must have discovered the cure for the cheesy bread disease, thank goodness," Maia said sarcastically, taunting Smokey for being such a drama queen. Just like Smokey, most dogs use their puppy eyes to literally blackmail their owners. Well, astonishing research published in the journal Animal Cognition has revealed that dogs can very well deceive us to get something they desire. "They really have the capacity from the cognitive aspect to use such a strategy to have a benefit in their lives. It's tactical deception, basically," Marianne Heberlein, the lead author of the study, shared.
The hilarious video went viral on social media with over a million views online. For instance, a user, @soypegah, commented, "Vet here… Pets can 100% manipulate you into feeding them their favorite snacks. They can go on hunger strikes because they know they’ll get offered something they like. They’re smarter than we think!" @kai said, "Never trust a pug that knows of the existence of cheesy bread." Similarly, another user who goes by @christy on TikTok revealed, "I had a pitbull that convinced his grandparents that he wouldn't eat his food without scrambled egg mixed into it when he stayed with them."
Meanwhile, @alexander shared, "My chihuahua acts sick until I pull the cat food out, then suddenly he’s cured and hungry." @megan joked, "Wait, all I have to do is pretend to be sick to get cheesy bread? This information has changed my life!" On the other hand, @tiqueybeb, a pet parent, shared, "Our 15-year-old Boston terrier shakes to his bones each morning as if he’s in crisis and starved so he can get his breakfast early, and he’s miraculously cured as soon as I pick up his bowl." A person, @sampire, on the platform said, "Oh my gosh, he’s so cute!" His little face reminds me of a sock puppet. Precious boys, get the cheesy bread!" @erinlasslett revealed, "My pug will see me making scrambled eggs and refuse her breakfast. She then cries the biggest crocodile tears till she gets an 'eggy.'"
You can follow Smokey & Maia (@smokeyandmaia) on Instagram for more dog-related content.