Puppy Stops Stealing Dish Towels Thanks To The Quaker Oats Man

Opal is a pretty brave puppy. But there’s one thing even she is scared of: The Quaker Oats man.

The little basset hound was first introduced to the white-haired mascot when her mom tried playing a new game with her. “My mom thought Opal would think it was a fun game to chase the rolling can,” Addie Crawford told The Dodo. “But as it rolled toward her, she bolted in the other direction and barked her scariest bark!”

Since then, the family has kept the canister of oats hidden in a cupboard so their pup feels more comfortable. But when Opal’s mom recently left on a short trip, the puppy decided to take advantage of the situation and act out. 

“I stayed with my sister, dad and Opal to help out while [Mom] was out of town,” Crawford said. “Opal was NOT happy that my mom ‘abandoned’ us, so she started some questionable new quirks to show us that she was less than content that Mom left.”

Opal began stealing the dish towels off the handle of the dishwasher and hiding them in her dog bed. To protect the dish towels, Opal’s family brought out their secret weapon — and it worked.

“[The Quaker Oats can] stays in front of the dishwasher where the dish towel is,” Crawford said. “She goes out of her way to not walk right next to it and if she’s feeling extra feisty, she’ll sit and bark at it!”

Now the Quaker stands guard in front of the dish towel, and all Opal can do is wait for him to move.

When Opal walks by the can, testing out how close she can get to the tasty dish towel, Opal's mom teases the puppy, saying, "The Quaker is going to get you!"

With the dish towel safely out of Opal's reach, the pup has formed a new habit: stealing dirty laundry and hiding it under the kitchen table where she thinks it's "invisible."

Seems like Opal's family needs to buy more oatmeal.