There’s nothing dogs love more than chasing squirrels, even though more often than not, their chase is unsuccessful. According to behaviorist and animal expert Sue McCabe, dogs like to chase squirrels simply because they find it fun. And although it seems that dogs can sometimes have an unhealthy obsession with squirrels, it’s probably just down to the fact that they’re one of the most common wild animals in most parts of America and the UK.
“First of all, not all dogs have a chase instinct but those who do tend to get massive feel good chemicals when they chase.” Sue explains. “So the breed might dictate that they are chasers, it might be in their genetic make up to chase, chase, chase.”
Sue also adds that chasing is a self-rewarding behavior, so the dog is doing something that is highly rewarding. This means that the more they do it, the more of a thrill they get, and the more they want to keep on doing it.
Now that we’re well and truly clued up on squirrel chasing, it just so happens that we’ve come across an absolutely hilarious video that features a dog, and -you’ve guessed it- a squirrel. The short clip shows the poor dog becoming more and more confused as he’s outsmarted by a squirrel who leads him on a game of cat and mouse around a tree!
Unsurprisingly, once the squirrel had had his fun he was able to get away safely, and the silly dog went home empty-handed.
The hilarious clip was sent to ViralHog on Rumble by David Wagner, along with the short explanation:
“This video was taken during lunch while my dog Mela saw a squirrel on the tree. They started playing catch and continued over 5 minutes. No worries – the squirrel has survived on the top of tree.”
It really is the funniest thing we’ve seen today- so we’re not surprised that since being posted, the video has had over 12.4k views. The red squirrel only has an estimated population of only 140,000, so it’s something of a rarity to see one in a video!
And judging by the cat’s got the cream look on this dog’s face, he’s thinking that it’s his lucky day too!
But try as he might, the dog simply cannot catch the sneaky squirrel.
Every time he runs one way, the squirrel, who seems to be defying gravity as he crouches on the trunk of the tree, runs the other. The result is a hilarious game of cat and mouse as the squirrel runs this way and that, always two steps ahead of the dog.
Despite the outcome of this chase being pretty obvious, the dog is determined to not give up, and he barely even glances over when his owner calls him!
He must be enjoying this game of chase so much that he doesn’t want it to end.
These kinds of videos show that animals of all different kinds can play together! It’s clear that the squirrel is having some fun with the dog in this clip, which goes to show that different species can still get along (despite the risk of the squirrel getting eaten by the dog). Watch the hilarious video below.
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