Clever Dog Pretends She's Lost To Trick People Into Giving Her Pets

Alyson Aguerrebere was out for a run in Long Beach, California, when she saw a small white dog ahead of her on the sidewalk. Then she noticed that the dog wasn’t on a leash, and began to worry.

“She just looked lost,” Aguerrebere told The Dodo. “She was staring at me from, like, 40 feet away as I approached her, and it wasn't until I reached her that I saw the sign.”

The dog walked towards Aguerrebere calmly, and that’s when she noticed the large lawn sign warning passersby of the dog’s scheme. A piece of board with the dog’s photo and Instagram handle read: “I’m Harper. I live here. I pretend to be lost so you’ll stop and pet me.”

Aguerrebere realized that Harper was running a scam for pets, and she was just the latest sucker to fall for it.

“The sign was hilarious, and I realized she does this to everyone,” Aguerrebere said. “So I sat down and was just petting her and rubbing her belly for probably 25 minutes.”

Since being adopted by a loving family, the 3-year-old rescue dog can’t seem to get enough attention. The little dog is allowed to spend time in the front yard getting pets from neighbors, but her owners are always nearby to make sure she doesn’t get into trouble.

“Her owner came out 25 minutes into it and was like, ‘Oh, did she trick you into giving her love?’” Aguerrebere said. “She said she does it constantly, like several times a day, and that she never wants to go inside because she gets so much attention.”

And Harper really loves attention:

Harper immediately rolled over to get belly rubs from Aguerrebere and, at one point, crawled into her lap. Aguerrebere loved their unexpected playtime just as much as Harper did.

“I love her so much,” Aguerrebere said. “She completely made my day.”