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By Lucy Notarantonio
Senior Reporter
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A woman expecting a wholesome update from her dog sitter instead received a video that left her—and now thousands of others—crying with laughter.
It wasn’t her own cocker spaniel who stole the spotlight, but a boxer whose expression at the end of the clip has viewers convinced he is silently judging the entire situation.
Newsweek spoke to owner Kayleigh, who shared the TikTok video on January 18. It has already racked up more than 106,000 views, at the time of writing. "We just kept rewinding it because it was so funny," the 31-year-old from England said.
Read More on Pets
The footage shared to @crustypetal starts innocently enough: a black‑and‑white dog perches on the sofa, staring at the sitter filming the moment. Kayleigh’s 2‑year‑old cocker spaniel, Miko, wanders around the living room. Then, suddenly, the camera pans slightly, revealing a boxer sitting inches from the sitter, glaring with an intensity usually reserved for movie villains.
If looks could kill, the sitter would be long gone.
So far, the video has over 19,000 likes, and many users were quick to comment.
"They don’t seem to be amused," one person posted, and another added: "Whatever u do…[Don’t fall asleep]."
A third commented simply: "They judge you."
Are Dogs Secretly Judging Humans?
That last comment isn’t just a joke—it has scientific backing.
In 2022, a study from Kyoto University in Japan found that dogs may be far more observant of our abilities than we realize. Researchers wanted to know whether canines can judge human competence, not just kindness or selfishness.
Dogs watched two people try to open a clear container: one succeeded, the other didn’t. After seeing this twice, both humans attempted to open a third container—sometimes filled with food, sometimes empty.
- When food was involved, canines looked longer at the person who had succeeded earlier.
- Female dogs were especially likely to approach the "competent" human.
- When the container was empty, the canines didn’t bother choosing.
The study suggests dogs can tell the difference between someone who knows what they are doing and someone who doesn’t—and they adjust their behavior accordingly. It also hints that male and female pups may evaluate humans differently.
Whether or not the boxer in Kayleigh’s video was evaluating her dog sitter’s competence, his expression has certainly earned him a fan club.
For dog owners everywhere, the clip is a reminder of one universal truth: our pets are always watching and, sometimes, they are judging us more than we judge them.
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