Golden Retriever Walks ‘Forgetful’ Mom to the Treat Jar Like a Real Gentleman

Golden Retrievers are often revered as the sweetest, most wholesome pups in the world. For the most part, that is definitely true: Golden Retrievers are super sweet. They love their humans more than anything!

Theres one other thing, though... Golden Retrievers are smart and hungry, not only for knowledge, but for treats. On Monday, July 1st, a Golden Retriever showed his mom his intelligence and hunger skills at the same time. Whether she wants to come or not, he's headed for the treats:

Even though Kimber is a total sweetie, @assleysmashley definitely has her hands full with him. He's too smart!

Related: Golden Retriever Siblings Have a Snack Race and It's Actually Quite Smart

Kimber is just his mom's favorite thing in the world. He has tons of toys, goes on long walks with his mom, and gets spoiled with enough treats to know where the treats are. He's a smart boy, and apparently, he's been known to howl when he's not getting what he wants!

Of course, Ash absolutely knows where the treats are - she put them there. But Kimber knows, too, and she needs to make sure he remembers just in case. You never know when someone is pet-sitting and needs to be bamboozled! He was nice about it, though; he doesn't bark or whine. That's treat-worthy behavior if nothing else is.

Should You Give in When Dogs 'Ask' For Treats?

Kimber is prompted to take mom to the treat jar in this video, but odds are, he sometimes leads her there on his own. It qualifies as a trick in my book, but even so... how often are we doing it, and is he getting a treat every single time?

A dog's diet should only be about 10% treats per day , so the number of treats they get depends on their caloric needs. An active male Golden Retriever needs an average of  1,500 calories per day, which means about 150 of those calories can be devoted to treats.

You should not reinforce begging behavior or reward a dog for doing a trick you didn't ask for, otherwise they'll just do it all the time and expect a treat. If they're being extra sweet about it and you know they have some space left for treats, go for it, but make sure they do a trick first!

There are also some low-calorie options you can toss their way in place of "real" treats if you're concerned they've had too many , like:

1. Pieces of celery or carrots
2. Blueberries
3. Apple slices
4. Ice (dogs love ice!)

Kimber is a leader at heart, and he's getting older - of course he gets to have a couple extra treats. What a sweet boy!