A man has revealed the unexpected reason his dog seems unusually sociable with strangers during park walks.
A leisurely stroll or a brisk winter walk can be greatly enhanced by a chance encounter with an affable dog, eager for a pat or a hug from passersby, leaving a lasting positive impression on animal enthusiasts.
However, the apparent friendliness of some dogs may not be as heartfelt or charming as it initially seems, as one dog owner’s astonishing admission on social media demonstrates. The well-followed Fesshole account, active on X – formerly known as Twitter – and Threads, has garnered more than a million followers by offering a platform for users to share anonymous confessions for public scrutiny.
These submissions vary from cunning ways to earn extra cash to recollections of naive childhood beliefs. It’s a space filled with humorous or startling revelations from various individuals, but a particular confession has recently drawn widespread attention.
The individual wrote: “If you happen to meet my dog behaving ‘friendly’ to you in the park or somewhere by sitting down next and staring at you, she’s not actually being friendly. She can smell your drugs on you. She lives with me, but she’s also my drug detection dog for work at the nearby airport.”
The post sparked a flurry of comments, with many sharing their own experiences and anecdotes. One person revealed: “My dog is a cancer service animal who works in hospitals. I cringe when he smells people on the street because I don’t want him to detect a positive.
“I wouldn’t know what to say to someone when he gives the signal. It’s only happened once but thankfully they already knew.”
Another commenter shared a remarkable encounter: “I met a very friendly dog once and she kept sitting so pretty right in front of me. Her handler was so confused why she was so interested in me. Then he said ‘she’s my service dog, she helps me with my diabetes’. It all clicked. I’m diabetic. And had just eaten a dessert, my blood sugar was probably high!”
A third person chimed in with a humorous tale: “My retired drug sniffing dog actually stole some dope from some guy on the street and brought it to me”, while a fourth commenter claimed: “I think I might [have been] a dog in my past life, drug detection dogs at airport would come wagging to me and dogs with bad temperament would let me pet them. Sorry, hate drugs of any kind”.
The conversation took a lighthearted turn with one user quipping: “Only snitch to not get stitches”, prompting a witty response: “Snitches get scritches”. Another impressed commenter said: “That is so, so awesome! I used to be a handler for corrections. I’d be out walking my dog and he’d just decide to search random cars”.
Another shared their experience with: “And she will carry on doing that even when retired – my friends in [New Zealand] have a retired very large long haired alsatian…she vets visitors”.