Golden Retriever egg challenge

In February 2018, the ‘Golden retriever egg challenge ’ was among the trends that took over the internet that month. How did this trend begin? Well, it started when one Twitter user discovered that the golden retriever’s mouth was so gentle and soft that it could hold an egg without crushing it. The trend seemed adorable but according to one Doctor Paula Parker, the president of the Australian Veterinary Association, that activity could be dangerous to the point of killing your pet.

Dog egg challenge

The trend started when a 17-year old girl from Michigan, Haley Bowers tried putting an egg in the mouth of her aunt’s Golden Retriever. She recorded the entire process and after people on Twitter saw the video of the retriever’s super cute success, they began sharing unfortunate- though hilarious- attempts at making their Goldens do the same thing.

Golden Retriever soft mouth

However, for some people, the video was not quite a risk. Haley’s aunt earlier read online that a Golden Retriever’s mouth was very soft and that it could hold an egg with the mouth without cracking it. Sookie, as her aunt’s dog was called, was well known for her tactful and obedient nature. She was the perfect candidate to test her theory. Holding the egg in the mouth would be a very easy task for Sookie like many of her other tricks.

The videos were, without doubt, adorable and funny. For some dogs, it was downright hysterical. For other dogs, when they were given the egg, most of them realized it was not food, so they were not interested at all and left the egg behind.

Is it dangerous for my retriever to hold an egg in his mouth?

In case your were wondering, Dr. Paula Parker, the president of the Australian Veterinary Association went on and gave her comments to Buzz Feed saying that placing a raw egg with a shell in a dog’s mouth was a health risk and that, it was a choking hazard since the egg could become lodged in the dog’s throat. The sharp fragments of the eggshells were not the only danger. Most likely, Salmonella was present both outside and inside the shell such that even if the egg did not break, the bacteria present on both sides of the shell could have led to health concerns like vomiting and diarrhea. That was Dr. Parker’s additional thought on the issue.

Generally, almost all dogs love to play fetch, tug of war and any other game that does not involve sitting still. For the Golden Retriever Egg Challenge, it all depended on the dog and its temperament. Some Goldens were not capable of taking part in the challenge. For others, they were super patient and did the challenge while the rest opened their mouths and spat out the eggs.

Moreover, the video also had some backlash from dog owners who thought it was unsafe to put an egg in a dog’s mouth just in case they crunched it down. But for Carrie who had more than 20 years working in a veterinary clinic, she was not worried about the challenge at all. I wonder what do peta think of this challenge ?