A woman who adopted a Chihuahua quickly learned that he had an unusual personality–in that he’s smart enough to learn plenty of tricks, but will put as little effort into them as possible.
Mina Tobias, 32 and from Los Angeles, rescued Taco the Chihuahua seven years ago, and estimates he’s now around 9 years old.
While he’s been a pampered and adored pet for most of his life, Tobias told Newsweek that when she first started the process to adopt him, “he was very sick” and “had to keep visiting him at the rescue for a few weeks until he was ready to come home.”
But from the moment she got him, she says, “it’s been amazing.”
Describing Taco as the “sweetest dog in the world,” she explained that he has an adorable quirk: “Doing tricks with the least amount of effort possible.”
Taco loves fetch, she said, but brings “back the ball 50 percent of the time.”
“He knows sit, paw, roll over, and speak. He gets rewarded for trying!”
Taco’s unusual trick performances have now led him to go viral, after Tobias shared a montage to her TikTok account, @minatobias, on March 15, where she wrote: “Watch my chihuahua do every trick at the lowest effort possible.”
She then showed Taco doing his tricks, and rated them with the percentage of effort he put in—like “Paw,” where he slowly raised his front paw slightly before dropping it back down, without ever touching her own hand, which she rated at 27 percent.
Eventually, she took his paw in her own hand and shook it, praising him: “Good job.”
With “Speak,” rated at 34 percent effort, he made a low, gruff, short bark, as she teased him: “That’s all you got?” But she still gave him a dog treat, which he ran for gratefully.
His first attempt at “Roll over” was given just 9 percent, as he essentially just lied on his side and looked at his owner expectantly for a treat—but after some persuasion, he eventually rolled onto his back. He was awarded 50 percent for effort.
TikTok users fell in love with Taco, awarding the video more than 150,000 likes, as one joked Taco was “quiet quitting” and another laughed: “This is weaponized incompetence.”
Another defended Taco: “Speak is 100 percent, if you want louder, you should request yell!”
One user shared their own story, racking up more than 13,000 likes of their own: “My dog does the opposite. The second I go near the treat tin he starts panic performing every trick he’s ever learned in rapid succession plus a few freestyle moves he makes up on the spot. He’s 99 percent action and 1 percent listening.”
And another made the tongue-in-cheek comment: “He don’t even know how to bark. You know chihuahuas—they’re the strong, silent types.”
Chihuahuas are far from silent, and are listed by pet food manufacturer Purina as among the most vocal dog breeds, being described as sassy, charming, and sporting “a big attitude in a petite body.”
The American Kennel Club lists the Chihuahua as having the highest barking level , labeling the breed “very vocal.”
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