A dog’s “upside-down” way of begging has left the internet in stitches, racking up millions of views.
Teddy, the charming dog whose owners post under the social media account @the_fishing_mutts, has become a sensation with his unique head-tilting technique to get his pawrents’ attention.
“One minute straight of Teddy ‘begging,” Halie Endicott, 32, wrote over the video compilation shared on TikTok. Teddy’s adorable antics have earned him 480,000 likes and 3.1 million views.
What makes Teddy’s begging so special is that it wasn’t taught—it was a behavior he developed on his own more than seven years ago.
Teddy’s upside down begging. The dog’s hilarious head tilting captured the hearts of the internet.
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“Back then, Teddy didn’t do this very often, it was mostly random or a special surprise when we’d see him do this,” Endicott, an environmental scientist from Missoula, Montana, told Newsweek.
Naturally, this new “trick” was met with plenty of encouragement.
“Of course, we rewarded him each time with a little bite of food because we thought it was funny and we were impressed with the extra effort he put into begging. So, he learned to keep begging like this, and he started doing it more and more,” she said.
What started as an occasional quirk quickly became Teddy’s signature move—now his go-to strategy for grabbing attention.
“Nobody trained him to do this (intentionally), but we think it might be related to the ‘spin’ command.”
Teddy’s strong motivation for food drives him to perform all his tricks in rapid succession whenever he sees a treat, according to his owner.
“We think he might have tried a lazy/half version of the ‘spin’ trick to get our attention while we were eating, and it worked. Then it morphed into this.”
For years, the owner and her partner didn’t even have a specific command for this upside-down look. Endicott said they would simply point it out, saying: “Look, he’s doing the thing!”
Now, Teddy recognizes the phrase “do the thing” as his cue to flash the hilarious pose.
“Some people are concerned that Teddy has a neurological condition, but we can reassure them that there is nothing medically wrong with him! He’s just a little different,” she added.
Teddy’s upside down begging. The rescue dog has picked up a peculiar habit.
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As Purina states, begging is a behavior dogs often learn from a young age by observing their humans eating and hoping for a snack. Although it’s natural for dogs to try a variety of tactics—whining, pawing, or even barking to get food.
The response from TikTok users has been overwhelmingly positive, with fans showering the video with comments.
“YOU BETTER GIVE HIM A BITE,” urged one user.
“How can you say no to that??” asked another dog lover, while Kloie admitted: “The way he would terrify me every time he was begging.”
“Bombastic upside-down eye. Criminal offensive upside-down eye,” a fourth TikTok user joked.
“Om I saw him going nuts over fish already. I didn’t put it together that upside down dog and fish dog are the same dog…,” said a different viewer, referring to another compilation TikTok where Teddy gets extremely excited on fishing trips.
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