Dog's Priceless Reaction After Being Caught Stealing Food Off Counter Goes Viral

A golden retriever's impressive attempt at stealing some of his owner's food has gone viral thanks to the dog's adorable reaction to getting caught in the act.

The clever canine's efforts were chronicled in a video uploaded to Twitter by his owner, beckx28, who posted the clip alongside a caption that simply reads: "Caught ya." At the time of writing, the clip, which can be seen here, had been viewed more than 700,000 times.

It chronicles a scenario familiar to anyone who has ever owned a dog and committed the cardinal sin of leaving food out around an unchecked canine companion.

In the video, the dog can be seen, standing on his hind legs, pawing at a pair of food containers resting on a work surface next to a microwave.

After several failed attempts, the pet pooch succeeds in toppling the containers over, with the smaller of the two boxes moving closer to the edge of the counter in the process.

The dog is then able to pick the tub up using his mouth and bring it back down to the ground, where he no doubt intends to somehow open it up and feast on the food inside.

Unfortunately, those plans are quickly put on ice when he becomes aware of the fact his human owner has been watching him all along.

"Unbelievable," the woman filming the clip can be heard to say as her dog takes the container down onto the floor. For a moment, the dog stands defiantly in front of her with the food box in his mouth seemingly hoping—against all hope—that she will allow him to continue on.

But she does not. "No," the woman is heard to say. "What do you think you are doing?" The magnitude of his actions appear to suddenly take hold, with the dog's expression changing from one of excitement to one of apparent remorse and sadness.

He looks to the ground, as she continues: "So now I can't put stuff up there?" For a split second, the dog appears to be considering a quick escape with the food box and starts to very slowly turn away from his owner.

She is not about to accept that though, telling the canine: "I'm looking right at you." Finally accepting defeat, the dog slowly drops the food to the floor and the video ends.

The video generated a huge response from fellow dog lovers.

Judy McDowell commented: "Dogs are so clever but they hate being caught in the act!" Geri Jones agreed: "He looked so torn between wanting to be good and wanting to snack!" Anne Saville PK said: "He looks so sad. Please can you let him have it."

The dog's adorable reaction was the biggest talking point from the video. AllAboutSteve wrote: "With a look like that.......I would just have to give this dog EVERYTHING it wants and some. They'd have me wrapped around their little paw."

Hardie said: "The look on his face when he knew he was rumbled is brilliant" to which the original poster beckx28 replied: "Yeah, that bit really made me laugh." Atomic Strength described it as "the shameful look that he knows he's been busted" while Mark T called it "The look of 'aah. Caught. Meh.'"

Newsweek has reached out to beckx28 for comment.

Liz Palika, a certified dog trainer and animal behavior consultant, believes that stopping incidents like this involving dogs stealing food begins with "prevention."

"It's going to be important to make sure there is nothing your dog can steal," she explained to the Honest Kitchen.

"Put away the groceries when you come home from the store; don't leave food out to put away later. After meals, put away all leftovers and rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Don't store foods on the counter. Don't let dogs lick dirty dishes."

She explained: "When you practice prevention you reduce the chances to steal food. His habit then is not constantly being reinforced."

The challenges faced by dog owners go beyond the kitchen though, as two recent viral videos demonstrate.

Earlier this week, a fellow canine owner was left upset after discovering that their freshly drawn bath had been invaded by their beloved bulldog.

In another example of a dog refusing to play by the rules, one woman in New York took to TikTok to share her experience of trying to take her pet pooch for a walk despite the animal flat out refusing to even move its paws.