A dog owner from the United Kingdom left her puppy at day care thinking that he would behave like a good boy, but then she received a few pictures of him that she wasn’t ready to see.
In a hilarious TikTok video shared on Thursday by the woman, under the username @whiskey_the_vizsla, the puppy, Whiskey, can initially be seen sitting down like a good boy while she films him. In the next shot, however, the photos from day care don’t seem to paint the same picture of him.
As the clip goes on, a carousel of images shows the puppy playing rough with his friends, flaunting his full set of pearly white teeth in every single shot. “Landshark at it again,” says a caption shared with the viral post. Newsweek reached out to @whiskey_the_vizsla for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the case.
Dogs use their mouth a lot while playing, but they do so in a soft manner to avoid hurting the other pups involved in play. However, when they are overstimulated, playtime may escalate, and bites may not be that soft anymore.
But how do you know when two dogs are playing comfortably and when playtime has turned into an actual fight? Dog behavior consultant Cathy Madson says in an article published by Preventive Vet that, when dogs play their body language is loose and relaxed, they usually bow at each other to invite play.
Moreover, playful dogs will reverse roles while wrestling and chasing each other, and will take brief pauses, short enough for their owners to barely notice.
If one of the dogs seems submissive to the other, or if you can see any changes in vocalizations and body language, it means that they are no longer playing, and at least one of the pups is no longer feeling comfortable.
Just like they play-bite other dogs, sometimes our pups will try to do the same to us, too, but this behavior can easily be avoided by taking some general precautions when playing with your pet.
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The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says that you should avoid waving your fingers or toes in your dog’s face or slapping them to entice play, because that will actually encourage them to bite.
It is also important never to slap or hit your dog when trying to teach them a lesson, because it does not work and only makes them more aggressive and afraid of you. They may even stop trusting you all together.
Punishments are never the way forward with pets. That’s why experts suggest training them with positive reinforcement. It simply takes rewarding them when they do something right, and ignoring their mistakes.
The video quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 4.2 million views and more than 397,000 likes on the platform.
One user, Buzz419, commented: “When parents tell the teachers ‘My kid would never do anything like that.”
Dominique posted: “I don’t believe it. This is photo shopped. Do you see that sweet face in the beginning? Nope. Not believing it.”
HHHunter added: “OMG [oh my God] his tail wag at the beginning, ‘I’m the bestest boy!’ … Cut to him mauling that Golden!”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
