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Pet owners usually spend hours and hours trying to teach their furry friends any number of basic tricks like sit, stay and fetch, but sometimes something a little less traditional ends up sticking instead.
And we’re not just talking quirks or things they’ve learned on their own, either.
These 15 animals learned a behavior because of the person they share space with every day.
Based on that, some of these people need to take a long, hard look at their life choices.
#15. Plagued by boops
“I’ve been booping my tiny tabby since she was a kitten.
She sits beside me on the arm of the sofa whenever I watch TV, as this usually results in treats.
One day, to my joyful surprise, she gently booped my nose with her hand.
This overwhelming display of cuteness naturally earned her a treat, so now I’m plagued by boops on the regular.”
#14. I have no idea how long she was there
“My dog Blue is a hunting dog, but is also a huge couch hound and loves cuddling. She sleeps with me a lot but if she gets in bed before me, she takes up the entire bed. I usually make her sit, let me get in bed and get comfy, and then she can come up.
The other night I was in bed earlier than usual because I wasn’t feeling well, and all the sudden had a horrible feeling I was being watched. Creeped out, I was looking around for my phone when I heard this weird groaning noise.
I immediately grabbed my phone and shone my flashlight towards the noise, only to see just Blue’s eyes peeking at me over the edge of my bed.
I accidentally trained her to wait until I gave her the OK to come up with me. I have no idea how long she was there, and I was cracking up when I realized what was happening.”
#13. Every door in the house
“Alright this may be a bit hard to describe, but I’ll do my best.
Growing up my family had a dog named Jock, along with some other dogs that came and went. The back door of our house led into our kitchen, and we had a wooden dog door in the back door.
Sometimes, when the dogs were outside for whatever reason, and my mother was cooking, Jock would put his snout right up to the crack in the dog door and inhale as deeply as possible, trying to get whiffs of the food. My mom found this so annoying she would open the door to shut him up.
I guess this happened enough times that he learned to do this loud slow inhalation routine whenever he wanted to be let inside, but then he also extended his method to every door in the house. Whenever he wanted a door open, he would stick his nose right up to the crack under the door and inhale deeply. Repeatedly.
He did this for at least 5 years, until the day he died. And it worked, because the sound of something sucking air through your door for several minutes was incredibly annoying.”
#12. Whenever I’m seen in pants
“A little bit of preface….I hate pants, I’m more of a skirt or dress type of person.
My energetic Sheepherder Husky mix knows if I have pants on it means I’m taking her for a hike.
Now whenever I’m seen in pants she freaks out, jumping up and down and running to the front door.”
#11. Cat retriever
“After watching me retrieve the incoming mail from the letter slot over time, our cat – a big, male Maine Coon – delivers it to me.
As I noted some time ago, he grabs each letter in his teeth and brings it to where I’m sitting. Bigger pieces get batted with his strong paws.
(If there’s a piece too heavy, he sits at my feet, looking back to the letter slot, and “MROW’s” loudly till I go fetch.)”
#10. He stood by the Xbox
“When my old cat was a kitten he would get in your face when you were eating and try to steal stuff off your plate/fork/mouth.
Squirt bottle came into play and after a few days he realized if he stood by the xbox we would not squirt him and he could plan an attack.”
#9. He only does it for me
“When I put my dog’s harness on him, he jumps up with his front feet. He started this because I lift his front two feet up to make him “step in” to it.
He only does it for me, not for my girlfriend.”
#8. When I put on lipstick
“When i put on lipstick the dog goes in his crate. I can do all sorts of things in the bathroom, but that last step of lipstick and he knows its time to get going.”
#7. Bless you
“I had a budgie who was impossible to train, but he chirped twice after anyone in the house sneezed. It was his form of “Bless You.”
Edit: changed “tweeted” to “chirped”. No, my bird did not know how to use Twitter :).”
#6. A Pavolvian response to Bob’s Burgers
“My roommate’s dog now barks at the door any time Bob’s Burgers comes on because a different roommate has the theme as her ringtone and often orders food. He now has a Pavlovian response thinking there is a delivery person at the door every time he hears that jingle.
My cat will instinctively close her eyes, tuck in her chin, and put her head out as much as she can anytime I make a kissy noise since I typically follow it up with a “kiss” on the forehead. It’s this cute lil’ boop she does. I guess that counts?”
#5. The change of perspective
“I’ve accidentally trained my mother-in-law’s terrier to sit on my shoulder like a parrot.
He lets me walk around like that.
I think he enjoys being carried and the change of perspective.”
#4. To be fair, he usually is
“The noise of the Xbox turning off.
When the dog hears that ‘boo boo bing’ noise he goes f**king apes**t thinking he’s getting taken on a walk.
To be fair, he usually is.”
#3. Go upstairs!
“My wife and I lived in a condo and whenever one of us went upstairs we announced it. Like “I’m going upstairs.” Then go.
So one day my wife is trying to snack on something and our dog was bothering her and she got fed up and scoldingly said “Go upstairs!”
Up the stairs he went! Where he sat and stared at her as if nobody ever feeds him and one little bite would mean the world.”
#2. Look both ways
“There’s a lot of crosswalks around my neighborhood and I always stop at them and look both ways (some reckless a** drivers in my neighborhood too).
My dog has adopted this technique too, she’ll sit and either look down the street or at me at every cross walk until I go to walk.”
#1. Do your bean, Layla
“I get really excited when my boxer, Layla, bends herself like a kidney bean when I get home.
She’s really excited, I’m really excited, so when I squeal, “do your bean, Layla!” it just perpetuates itself.
I love Layla.”
So, I’m convinced. I’m off to try to make my dog more awesome!
Did you ever teach your pet something awesome on accident?
Let us know in the comments!
