A boxer named Poppy insists on showing her owners her empty bowl every time she’s done with dinner—the reason why has melted hearts on social media.
In a viral TikTok video shared on Saturday under the username @poppytheboxer1, the pup, described by her owners as “slightly unhinged,” can be seen running toward them after dinner, leading them to her empty bowl, to show that she ate everything.
But the reason why she keeps doing this is what has captured the hearts of social media users. Every night after dinner, the pup gets a special treat for being a “good girl,” but only after showing off her empty bowl.
“Every night without fail… and they say dogs aren’t clever,” the caption says. “She likes to show dad she’s finished all her dinner so she gets a treat.”
All dogs love food above everything else, but have you ever wondered if they can actually taste what they’re eating?
Pet MD explains that while dogs do have taste buds, they’re far fewer than ours, about 1,700 compared with roughly 9,000 in people, so their sense of taste is less refined.
Puppies develop taste early in life, and as dogs age, their taste buds and sense of smell decline, which can affect appetite. Each taste bud can sense basic tastes, and those for bitter and sour tend to be toward the back of the tongue, while salty and sweet are toward the front.
Dogs are especially tuned to meat, fats, and related flavors because of their carnivorous ancestry, and they also have special taste buds that respond to water, helping encourage drinking.
Taste and smell are closely linked, and smell plays a much larger role in how dogs experience food. Dogs can detect the same basic taste categories as humans—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and even spicy—but their salt receptors are less sensitive since ancestral diets were naturally salty.
Dogs tend to prefer sweet flavors, likely from evolutionary exposure to fruits, but sugary human foods should be limited. They generally avoid bitter, sour, salty, or spicy tastes—many of which are unpleasant or signal unsafe food—and combine smell and taste to judge something’s safety and appeal.
Choosing and maintaining the right pet food and water bowls affects both pet and human health.
Different materials have pros and cons: plastic is cheap and light but prone to scratches that harbor bacteria and may contain harmful chemicals; stainless steel is durable and hygienic if high-quality but may dent and isn’t ideal for heavy chewers; ceramic and stoneware are heavy and attractive but can leach lead or cadmium if glazed improperly; silicone is portable but not suited to everyday use; glass is nonporous and easy to clean but fragile.
Special feeding needs—like elevated dishes for pets with neck issues or shallow bowls for brachycephalic breeds—should be considered. Moreover, proper cleaning is critical to reduce microbial contamination and protect health.
The video quickly went viral on social media and it has so far received over 1.3 million views and 74,500 likes on the platform.
One user, Joselyn, commented: “She needed a lil something sweet after dinner.”
Emmahunterxx said: “Boxers are 10,000 percent the smartest breed the looks are so deceiving.”
Niamh added: “Best girly eating all her din dins, deserving a wee treaty afterwards, plus she’s so polite.”
Newsweek reached out to @poppytheboxer1 for comment via email. We could not verify the details of the case.
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