‘World’s Bossiest’ Golden Retriever Hates Waiting–and He’s Not Shy About It

A woman has given TikTok an insight into her life as the owner of a demanding golden retriever called Sammy.

In a post to an account dedicated to the dog, @goldenlifeofsammy, he can be seen sitting staring and occasionally barking at his owner, who can be heard behind the camera.

The woman said: “We are going for a walk but you have to wait,” and then explained that he must digest his food first. Understandably, Sammy doesn’t like the sound of that, as no dog wants to hear the words “walk” and “wait” in the same sentence.

Racking up 610,000 views already, the owner refers to him as the “world’s bossiest golden retriever” in the text.

How To Deal With a Demanding Dog

Dog trainer, Diane Kasperowicz shared the following tips with Newsweek about how to deal with a demanding dog.

1. Demand barking – “If your dog barks for attention, to play, get food or petted etc. don’t engage with them and avoid eye contact. Get up and pick up a book, turn a tap on – it’s irrelevant what you do. This is all about operant conditioning i.e. teaching the dog that actions have consequences. What happens when I bark? She gets up and leaves. That’s a negative consequence for the dog and so with time, they’ll know that behavior isn’t effective and will stop doing it.”
2. Jumping up – “Always think about what you want the dog to do instead of the negative behavior…. and teach that! Avoid rewarding the jumping up, instead teach the dog to approach and sit or lie down. Don’t tell her off when she jumps up, think about how you can best set her up to not jump up.”
3. Neutral training – “Most of the time we actually want our dogs to do ‘nothing’, but we don’t teach it as a behavior. When your dog lies down and relaxes, calmly give them praise, just a simple “good’. Less is always more when it comes to teaching this.”
4. Settle/mat training – “Teach your dog to go to a mat and settle and essentially switch off. This is hugely beneficial when you take your dog to bars, restaurants, even at the vets.”

TikTok Reacts

So far, the clip, captioned: “It’s the huffing and puffing for me,” has had 73,700 likes since it was posted yesterday.

“I’ve never seen an angry Golden. This is a discovery,” said one user. Another owner disagreed, writing: “These new generation of goldens have so much attitude! Mine is so moody and bossy.”

“That’s the silent, but intense look of judgment and disappointment in you,” said a third.

A fourth comment said: “Actually walking speeds up digestion,” but Kasperowicz, the author of Beyond the Bowl told Newsweek that owners should “allow an hour after feeding before exercising your dog.”

Newsweek reached out to @goldenlifeofsammy for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.

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