In a hilarious new video on TikTok, a mom proves that her darling English Bulldog isn’t really listening to what she’s asking of her, she’s only paying attention to the tone of her voice and what command *typically* follows it.

The video starts out with the mom saying “sit” and the English Bulldog complying beautifully. Mom then goes on to say a list of other ridiculous things, and the Bulldog carries out the “sit” command each and every time, with complete obliviousness to any of the things she’s actually saying. These things include: “Spongebob Squarepants”, “flesh-eating virus”, “five dollar footlong”, “imitation crab”, and others.

Each time the Bulldog looks at mom expectantly like “Did you see? I totally nailed it.” And she absolutely expects a treat, LOL. Take a look at this adorable little space case who is probably thinking about the taste of the treat rather than the actual command:

No one in the comment section was bothered by the fact that the Bulldog wasn’t listening to mom. “I don’t see anything wrong here, it’s the absolute SAME difference,” replied one watcher, while another thought, “Bulldogs never have to be coerced to sit.”

Viewers were more concerned that perhaps this pretty girl wasn’t getting enough of a reward for her efforts. “Give her some treats right now!” replied one. Another thought, “She thinks those are all the names of snacks you’re offering.” Mmmm, flesh-eating virus, LOL.

So, Is My Dog Actually Listening to Me?

Yes and no. Through a lot of repetition, dogs come to associate certain words with certain actions. When asking a dog to “sit” and moving your hand over their head with a treat in your hand, they instinctively will typically sit. Do this enough, and they understand: when I do this, I get that. Usually we use the same tone when requesting this of them, and have that same look of expectation on our face, they’re able to string all of these cues together and figure it all out.

So, it’s not exclusively words, but also our body language and tone that play a part in communicating with our pups. They’re just being little detectives and adding it all up to form a clear picture.

Related: Older Australian Shepherd Sees the Puppy Training and Starts Doing the Commands Too

Does this cute Bulldog really want to eat a five-dollar footlong? Oh yes, she does, but that’s not what she’s responding to. Mom’s just asking in such a nice way that she’s all, “Oh, I know this one! Check this out, mom!” and completing the sequence. And does it really matter what mom’s saying? If the end result is the same, it’s all pretty amusing, anyway.

This story was originally published by PetHelpful on Dec 7, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.