Owners Accidentally Teach Labrador Hilarious Skill

A dog owner has shared an unusual trick that she accidentally taught her Labrador retriever.

When her dog Bella picked up a single sneaker while her owner was looking the other way, it inadvertently became a lesson in the art of trade. In a video on TikTok with more than 600,000 views, user @bellalab20 shared the moment she was asking her dog: "Drop the shoe, Bella." However, as any pet owner knows, it isn't always that easy. Instead of simply dropping the sneaker, Bella had her own plans.

"Alright. Trade negotiation," the owner said, realizing that Bella had a plan. So she reached for a dried sweet-potato piece, and quickly the pup dropped the sneaker in exchange. Sitting in her bed enjoying the treat, the owner said: "Alright. She's pretty smart though. I'll give her that."

Bella's owner told Newsweek: "We got sick of her stealing our slippers and socks...so we would just say as a joke trade and negotiation and eventually it stuck where she knew she would get food after when we said those words."

Teaching your dog to "drop it" on command is an essential skill, especially to stop them from ingesting potentially harmful objects or damaging household items.

In canine training, swapping one thing for another is a well-known technique. Giving a dog an item as a reward for giving up something they shouldn't have is a good way to ensure they drop the first item.

Trading an object your dog shouldn't have with a high-value treat, and immediately pairing with the command "drop it" teaches pets to drop the item. Repeat this process gradually with different objects until the treat isn't necessary.

The video caption read, "I can't with this diva," while hundreds of commenters shared their reactions to the trade-off.

"You didn't train her. She trained you. Good girl," wrote ginhick360, while viewer Abhorrent Housewife added: "Ah, you taught her the proper way to collect a ransom."

Others had similar stories from their own pets. Amy Anderson-Gaber posted: "Yeah, we accidentally taught June about bartering. Sometimes she tries to trade the cat."

Sprits0561 commented: "I do 'toys for treats.' My lab immediately drops whatever she has and waits for her treats."

Pet owner Dani wrote: "More often than not, our lab has to be bribed to come back inside. She'll just stand at the back door even when it's open."

"I thought it would be funny to share this and to see if anyone has a similar thing with their dog," Bella's owner said. "I'm actually really surprised that a lot of others have similar things with their dogs."

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.

Update 5/9/24, 11:35 a.m. ET: This story was updated with new images and video and comment from the poster.