The owner of the 14-year-old dog described him as “very demanding and vocal”
Zoey, a 14-year-old goldendoodle, is a picky eater — but her owners have a creative way of getting her to eat her kibble.
They pretend to “season” the dog’s food with salad dressing.
In a video posted on TikTok Sunday, Zoey can be seen refusing her bowl of food until a (closed) bottle of ranch dressing is waved over it, making the food in the bowl seem even more appetizing. .
“Senile dog problems,” dog owner Michelle Metrailler captioned the post, which has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
“Zoey is on prescription food for her sensitive stomach, so she usually needs wet food on top,” Metrailler, who lives in Toronto, tells PEOPLE.
“We ran out of his canned food, so we tried to trick him into eating his kibble without introducing anything that might cause him stomach problems,” she added of the ranch dressing trick.
When Zoey recently celebrated her 14th birthday, Michelle and her husband, Connor, pretended to sprinkle cake sprinkles on her food. However, the dog did not fall for it.
“He prefers the essence of the ranch,” says Michelle.
Michelle Metroiller via StoryFul
The hilarious video of Zoey wanting ranch dressing added to her food prompted hundreds of comments, many of which expressed delight at the dog’s food preferences. Commenters also shared their pets’ strange rituals. Michelle credits the video’s overwhelming response to its relevance.
Related: ‘Drama Queen’ Dog ‘Pretends to Die of Dehydration’ When Water Bowl Is Empty — Watch!
“I’m not bad today with my fussy Labrador,” one person wrote. “He won’t eat unless we sit with him like a candlelit dinner.”
Michelle Metroiller via StoryFul
“My dog just ate it I put shredded cheese on it,” read another comment. “I would literally put one shred, and he would eat. No shred, no eat.”
“Just thinking of directions to the dog sitter,” wrote another.
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Michelle said she found comments like the third particularly amusing.
“He’s my family dog, but my husband and I dog-sit him while my parents are away for the winter,” she said. “It’s funny how many answers say ‘How do you explain this to the dog sitter?’ and I’m laughing because we’re the dog sitters!”
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Michelle described Zoey as “very demanding and vocal.”
“We had company for a day, so we didn’t let him sit on the couch, and now every time he wants to go on the couch, he barks at us for permission,” he said. “She is very smart — she’s a quick learner — but at the same time, a little dumb because she doesn’t know the ranch trick yet.”
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