Rescue Dog Hatches Brilliant Scheme To Get Treats Off Owner: 'Very Cheeky'

A pet owner was amused to discover the lengths her rescue dog is willing to go to in order to land a treat.

Everyone knows that dogs love food. Aside from their owners, food represents a dog's most popular source of comfort, with one study conducted by the University of Florida finding nine out of 10 dogs would choose an edible treat over a toy.

Rebecca Tivey from York in the U.K. knows only too well how much her rescue greyhound, Burt, loves food. Adopted through Northern Greyhound Rescue in 2020, Burt was born in Ireland but brought over to race in England.

By the time he came into Tivey's care at age 4, he was struggling. "He was very shut down initially," Tivey told Newsweek. "The lady at the rescue center said he'd never been stroked properly, and it took him a while to get comfortable living in a house for the first time and learning to trust me. I even had to teach him to climb the stairs for the first time!"

Though it took time, Tivey said that Burt has come a long way since those difficult early days. "His favorite things to do are sleeping, napping, snoozing and having short bursts of crazy zooms," she said.

Burt has always loved his food too, especially one particular treat he had been receiving whenever nature called. "So when I first got him, I started a ritual of 'wee ham', where he gets ham for peeing outside because he used to spray up the kitchen cupboards," Tivey said. "Then once he'd got used to that, it was hard to stop it."

That was all fine enough until Tivey noticed something about Burt's pees. "So he'd go out for a pee, pretend to cock his leg, and glance around to check I'm watching, then scarper in for ham," she said. "I worked it out when he kept repeating it when he actually needed a pee. Very cheeky."

Despite the deception, Tivey found herself amused and also kind of impressed. "To be honest, I found it quite funny though not so much in winter though when I have to go out in the garden to check he's doing a real wee," she said. "He doesn't always appear to be the smartest boy, but he clearly has me wound around his finger."

After enduring such a difficult start to life, few would begrudge Burt the occasional extra slice of ham though.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.