Adorable labrador refuses to touch food until mom says a prayer with him: 'Very cutesy, very demure'

Pets are often smarter and more emotionally aware than we give them credit for, with unique likes and dislikes that go beyond what they can easily express. For example, prayer is meaningful to this dog, who won’t touch his food until his mom has prayed for him. Dog mom Haley Buckland, known as @sykotic_girl on TikTok, shared an adorable video showing how her labrador insists on "a prayer" before eating. The labrador’s gentle refusal to eat without this ritual is truly heartwarming.

At the start of the video, Buckland brought a bowl of food for her dog, Buddy. But Buddy didn't move from his place even after she placed the food at its designated spot. "Go eat it. As a matter of fact, because you all don't believe," she said while trying to push the dog towards the food, but he refused to budge from his place. "What are you doing?" Buckland wrote from the dog's point of view (POV). "Ma'am, we need to pray." The dog refused to touch his food even though his mom kept insisting, "Go, go eat it." She added, "You need to pray, right, you need to pray." The text overlay read, "Yes, please," as the dog started coming towards Buckland to pray.

"Let's pray," the overlay text read, as the dog tapped his paw on the floor. "I am trying to tell them that, but you gotta let them know. Look, I am going to try one more time," Buckland remarked. "Go eat it, amen." She went on, "Go crazy. Look, I can push him." The text disclosed, "I am not going to move until we pray," as the dog laid down on his stomach, not wanting to eat until he had prayed. "Please, let's pray." Buckland expressed, "Hold on, have some patience, okay? We are going to pray." The text continued, "Now, thank you." Finally, the woman took the labrador's paw and said, "God is good, God is great. Let us thank him for our food. By his hands, we all are fed. Thank you, Lord, for our daily bread. Amen."

As soon as she finished the prayer, the dog ran towards his food and started eating it. The caption read, "I literally can't make this up." The video received more than 36 million views and over 7.2 million likes. People admire the adorable dog's persistence in the comments. @phrydaegames wrote, "Him to the other dogs at the daycare: 'And what is dog spelled backward? Y'all are not hearing me!'" @mabastaa commented, "Mine eats ONLY after I explained the composition of the bowl. Like, sir, today I’m serving chicken tenders, pumpkins and kibbles."

@motheroeagles remarked, "See the way he wants to eat only blessed food? Very respectful, very considerate, see how he patiently waits for the Amen? Very cutesy, very demure." @itbelikethatsumtime shared, "Lol, I couldn't get my dog to stop acting crazy for food, so I started making him pray and now he's calm before he eats." @india_0813 expressed, "I love this so much, but it scares me. God forbid if someone else gets him for whatever reason and they don’t know he prays before eating."

You can follow Haley Buckland (@sykotic_girl) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.