...
By Melissa Fleur Afshar
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A dog's refusal to react after being repeatedly called has perplexed both her owner—and viewers on TikTok—after a video capturing the canine's lack of response was shared to the platform.
The poster, who affectionately goes by "Mabel's Owner" on TikTok, filmed Mabel's lack of response to being called her name several times. In the lighthearted clip he shared that he's unsure whether the dog is deaf, or just has a case of selective hearing, with many of the video's 313,000 viewers weighing in with their own opinions in the comments.
Viewers were able to see Mabel sitting peacefully in her garden, with her back facing her owner. Her owner was heard repeatedly calling her name, to which he received little acknowledgment, although her ears did twitch. "No, deaf as a stone," Mabel's owner said, as the dog continued to sit still and look out onto the garden.
Read More on Pets
"She is either deaf or has been faking it for five years, I'm still not sure," an overlaid text on the video read, while the caption added: "Is she faking it idk [I don't know]."
Spotting Deafness in Dogs
Patrik Holmboe, a head veterinarian at Cooper Pet Care, spoke with Newsweek about how deafness is spotted in canines like Mabel that may display signs of hearing difficulty, yet still leave their owners confused.
"How the deafness is spotted really comes down to the degree of deafness and the alertness of the observer," he said. "The obvious signs would be poor response to auditory cues, but this can be very difficult to assess, especially if an animal is only partially deaf and then it might come across as just being stubborn.
"The primary 'true' test of deafness is called the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response, in which noises are played to each ear, and the response of the brain is monitored via sensors attached to the skin of the head."
Since it was posted under the handle @jpb1478 on August 22, the clip has drawn a range of comments from viewers who shared what they think could be behind Mabel's unresponsiveness.
...
But it's not the only video where the owner questions his pet's hearing, including one captioned "day 1827 of is she deaf or faking it," shared last month, where the owner speaks in "Pennsylvania Dutch" to see if it elicited a response, to no avail.
"Maybe her name isn't Mabel," one viewer commented on the viral video, to which Mabel's owner replied: "I did rescue her and never asked her name..."
"I bet she doesn't like her name," another added.
A different viewer had a more hopeful message for Mabel's owner.
"Her ears move. She hears you," they commented. "You're just not saying anything she wants to hear...Say TREAT!!! Watch her come running."
"Grab a bag a chips, she will hear you immediately," another viewer said, in much agreement.
Newsweek reached out to @jpb1478 for more information via TikTok.
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.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines