Man hilariously mimics his Golden Retriever for a day, and the dog’s reactions steal the show

Ever wondered what life would look like if you took cues from your dog—especially a bouncy, loveable Golden Retriever? One man decided to try it out, and the results were nothing short of comedy gold, as captured in a viral Instagram reel shared by @pawbrey_.

The star of the video is Aubrey, a gorgeous Golden Retriever with a big personality and even bigger reactions. The premise? Her owner spent a day behaving exactly like her—from bed antics to awkward food interruptions—and documented every hilarious second.

When the human becomes the dog

Representative Image: You can try to compete with a doggo on antics, but you can't compete with that face. Canva

It begins with a peaceful scene: Aubrey sleeping soundly on a cozy bed. Then, chaos. Her owner leaps onto the mattress in full retriever mode, startling her out of her nap. The caption on screen reads, "Behaving like my dog for a day." From there, it only gets funnier.

Next comes a moment of karmic justice. The man sneezes—right on his dog. If you’re a pet owner, you probably know this pain. Dogs don’t exactly respect personal space, especially during cold and flu season. Aubrey, however, handles it with dignity (and some drooly kisses). She retaliates by slobbering all over her human’s face, as if to say, “Two can play this game!”

"Bless you!"

— @debasmitalahiri

Revenge is a dish best served slobbery

But the real showdown happened at mealtime. As Aubrey dug into her food, her owner tried a classic Golden Retriever move—staring at her intently and just… looming. The tables had turned. Aubrey shot a glare at the camera, giving what can only be described as "The Office" look. Her patience? Wearing thin.

"I think she understands now," the man wrote in the caption, clearly amused. But commenters couldn’t get enough of Aubrey’s side-eye game.

"You traumatized her so hard."

— @xasmovingcastle

The video struck a chord with dog lovers across Instagram, racking up more than 800,000 views. Fans flooded the comments with their own takes. @tamalabaldwin summed up the chaos with, “It was all fun and games until mealtime was involved.”

"She's got an existential crisis."

— @a_warnerbros_production

Others couldn’t help but imagine how their own dogs might react. @belle.so.chic wrote, “I would love to do this to my dog, but I don’t think she’d get it.” @tony.fraser chimed in with some breed appreciation: “Girl goldens are the best! Got one. My best friend!”

And then there were those who truly understood the dog's perspective. @karolnathalie219 nailed it with: "Why is the hooman being so annoying?"

Meet Sirius, the dog who acts like a human

This isn’t the first time dogs have taken social media by storm simply by being themselves (or, in this case, having humans act like them). Over on TikTok, another Golden Retriever named Sirius—known as @Siriuslysalem—is going viral for doing the exact opposite: acting like a human.

Sirius can mimic animals and perform “human” tasks on command. In one clip, his owner asks, “Sirius, what does a lion do?” and the pup lets out a fierce roar. When prompted to act like a rabbit, Sirius hops adorably across the room. “Decided to try something different with Sirius. Look how cute he is,” reads the caption.

So whether it’s humans acting like dogs or dogs acting like lions, one thing’s clear: Golden Retrievers really do rule the internet—and our hearts.

If you want to keep up with Aubrey’s antics, give her a follow on Instagram at @pawbrey_. And if you're feeling brave, try spending a day living like your dog. Just maybe give them some space at mealtime.