Be it a dog, cat, goldfish, or even tarantula, pets are the comfort we all need when we come home at the end of the day.
Indeed, little makes us happier than when they come to greet us at the door or when we peek into their tank or enclosure and say hello.
What often goes unnoticed, however, is how perceptive animals are.
They tend to know when we are happy or sad and act accordingly.
Most surprising, however, is when, without realizing it, pet owners succeed in conditioning their pets to do certain things... or behave a certain way.
Much to our delight, frustration, or, on rare occasions, our disgust.
Redditor shoonpo was curious to hear the funniest cases of inadvertent pet conditioning, leading them to ask:
"What have you accidentally conditioned your pet to do?"
We've All Got Our Dirty Laundry...
"Bring me dirty laundry."
"One day my cat brought me a sock and it was so cute so I petted him and praised him."
"That started a cycle of it and now he’s constantly bringing dirty laundry to me."- ijflwe42
The Bell Tolls...
"Upon hearing the Windows 7 sonata log-off sound, she jumps up and starts running around the room since I always locked my computer before leaving."
"And when I'm leaving, that usually means she's going to daycare, i.e. my Mom's house."
"It's been 3 or so years since I switched to Windows 10, but just playing the sound on YouTube still gets a reaction out of her."- TheMidnightScorpion
They Know What's Coming...
"Fear rubber gloves."
"We live in a place with lots of fleas and ticks so we goo them every month."
"I figure the stuff goes through cat skin readily so it'll probably go through mine, so I use surgical gloves."
"Whenever I pull out the box, the smarter of our two immediately bolts for the deepest recesses of the the house."
"The dumber one just looks at me even though he finds the process distasteful too."- Kevin_Uxbridge
Shocked Scaredy Cat GIF by TikTokGiphyLife On The Farm
"I accidentally made it so when you whistle 'this is the song that never ends', frequently stuck in my and my SOs head, the cows come running for grain."
"If i don't have grain I get mooed at until i go get some."
"The chickens know that I get excited about eggs and when they lay, they get the good scratch and will sometimes wait until I'm in the barn, squawk and lay an egg in front of me."
"If the cat is thirsty, he will knock over every drink container/cup he finds while meowing and then pitifully throw himself in front of me pretending to die."
"He started doing that after i faked my death for a Dr pepper that my SO was holding."
"Terrible animals."- witchyage
Come On, You Know You Want To...
"The budgie had a broken leg in a little splint."
"He would climb to the roof of his cage with just his beak and good leg, then let go of his beak and hang by one leg then just stare at me."
"He knew I would stick my hand in and he could just fall off into my hand."
"He only did this when I was around because I was the only one who would stick my hand in."- spaceship4parakeet
Party!!!
"Changing the sheets on the bed means play time."
"My cat likes to sit on the bed as I throw on the sheets likes that rainbow parachute elementary game."
"She tries to attack my hand if I straighten the edges while she's there too."- unoriginal_or_sumin
Do I Need To Spell It Out?!?
"My wife and I have pretty set sleep schedules during the week."
"If we stay up later on the weekend or w/e, our dog gets VERY huffy/offended and will sigh passive-aggressively at us until we go upstairs to bed."
"Oh, and if one of his bowls is empty he licks it, also passive-aggressively, and then makes direct eye contact."- FretfulMemo7
Food.Now.
"My tortoise stands on my foot when he is hungry."- LizardPossum
Say Cheese!!!
"My dogs know the sound of the drawer the cheese is kept in the fridge."
"They could be asleep in a completely different area, but if you open the cheese drawer they come running and sit like good boys for their cheese."
"They are herding dogs and will also herd the cat away if she won't stop meowing at me when I'm busy or if she tries to scratch anything."- Meggs8bacon
Friends Dogs GIF by MOODMANGiphyIce Ice Baby!
"My dog knew he would always get some ice to chew when I went to the fridge so any time he heard the ice machine on the fridge start he would come running in."
"Once he became deaf he would feel the vibrations in the floor from it and knew it was ice time!"- tstock415
It's easy to see how pets associate certain actions with certain things.
And they'll only become more attuned to certain behavior the more they get to know you.
Forcing us to be much more careful about what we say and do while our pets are watching.
You think your dog isn't judging you when you reach for your third beer?
Think again...
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
