Try not to laugh while watching this video of a mischievous golden retriever refusing to look at her owner.
Racking up over 553,000 views, the clip shows Oakley closing her eyes as her owner taps her mouth. The dog quickly opens them a few times but refuses to give in for almost a minute, despite her owner holding out her hand in an attempt to retrieve the scrunched-up paper from her mouth. Newsweek reached out to @katyehight for comment via TikTok. We could not verify the details of the case.
Oakley, however, isn't willing to give it up easily. Instead, she appears to tease her owner with a smile on her face. The text overlaid on the TikTok video reads: "When your dog won't look at you [because] she is being naughty."
Newsweek reached out to United Kingdom-based, Kennel Club-accredited dog trainer Joe Nutkins to find out if dogs understand when they are misbehaving.
She said: "I do believe there are some dogs who understand the concept of being naughty, and it's a way of playing and interacting with us. It's all fun and shows a cheeky personality!"
Nutkins, a co-director at U.K.-based Dog Training for Essex and Suffolk, said that dogs view their behaviors differently than humans. Most of the time, they aren't doing something to intentionally upset their owner, but that can sometimes be the result.
In this instance, Oakley is intentionally trying to get her owner's attention, Nutkins said, adding that it isn't uncommon for dogs to pick up something they shouldn't as a way to encourage their owners to play.
"Sometimes, they run and want us to chase them," Nutkins added. "Sometimes, they run but come back to tease us!"
Nutkins said that dogs may take their owner's belongings to provoke a reaction, but when they do it without expecting a response, this can be interpreted as being deliberately naughty.
"Dogs that don't realize what they are doing is 'naughty' will just turn their back, get comfy, and chew. Then, they'll either get bored and leave it or keep going until they are discovered," Nutkins said.
"They might growl or become defensive when the item is taken away, so it isn't a game," she added. "Dogs that know they are being naughty tend to give us eye contact, wag their tails in various ways—ranging from slow to ultrafast—or run and pause, waiting for us to catch up before running and pausing again."
TikTok Reacts
The January 6 video has already garnered over 54,000 likes and numerous comments.
"It's like my 3-year-old niece when she does something she wasn't supposed to but immediately rats herself out. The eyes are a dead giveaway," one user wrote.
Another commented: "The fact that they know to do this blows my mind!!"
A third commenter added: "She looks pleased with herself."
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