- There is a challenge
online where there are dogs
that are holding eggs in their mouth.
Like, their mouths are so soft
and they're such sweet puppies
that they will hold an
egg without breaking it.
Basically, you're challenging
your dog to hold a raw egg
to see if they have a gentle mouth.
So, then you start seeing
a lot of golden retrievers
doing this egg challenge and passing it.
But then a bunch of other
dog breeds were doing it.
There are a lot of gentle pups out there.
Are you one of them?
(barking)
(rock music)
Alright, Lucy, we're gonna try this.
This is an egg, can you
take it in your mouth?
She's just licking it, okay.
Open your mouth, aah.
No, you're not gonna do it, okay.
Maybe we need to practice
with something else.
Get the lemon.
Okay.
No, you're gonna crack it.
Ready, open your mouth.
(barking)
Can you be gentle and pick it up?
No, don't bite.
No, it's not gonna happen.
Obviously my dog's not gonna be the one
that's gonna be picking
up an egg any time soon.
(screams)
Lucy!
Why are certain dogs able to
do this and does it really mean
that they're just nicer more gentle dogs?
A lot of dogs fail it.
(laughing)
- [Man] He won't take it.
He wants nothing to do with the egg.
- [Woman] Here you go.
Ah, ah, ow, ow, no.
- I still wanna know why Lucy can't do it
while all these other dogs can.
So, I decided to sit
down with a veterinarian
to find out what's going
on with this egg challenge
and what does it really mean?
- The egg challenge is
owners trying to find out
if their dogs are capable of holding eggs
in their mouths without breaking them.
- It started with golden retrievers.
- [Man] What's this, how about an egg?
- They have what's called a soft mouth.
Take the egg.
- Golden retrievers are amazing.
That's what made me become a vet.
They are just known to be gentle dogs.
Your structure should
determine your function,
and if you just look at the
structure of their body,
their mouths are kind of
shaped in what we call
a dolicephalic shape.
It's basically an elongated mouth.
So, it's bigger and longer
and it's more capable,
I guess, of holding eggs.
- There are so many Instagrams
of all these different types
of dogs being able to do it.
- But how you look isn't gonna determine
whether you're a gentle
personality or not.
I think a pitbull could totally do this.
They're super gentle.
- But if your dog can't do this...
- A dog can be the gentlest,
most amazing dog ever
and still not be able to
hold an egg in her mouth.
They might not be as intelligent, perhaps.
(record scratching)
- Oh my God.
- Because it might be a matter
of just general training.
- I could train.
- Yeah.
- He can be trained to do it.
- There could be potential
for anything, don't worry.
- I just don't want you
to call my dog stupid.
Because I wanna prove
that she is a smart puppy and also gentle,
I wanna try the egg
challenge again with Lucy.
I have to sanitize the egg because...
- Salmonella can live
outside or inside the egg.
I've seen videos of an
owner washing the egg
three seconds under running water.
I don't know if that would do anything.
If you put poop under running water,
it's probably still dirty.
This is what will get me
the most likes on Instagram,
I'm gonna wash it with soap
before giving it to my dog.
- So, I'm gonna clean it with
sanitizer and rinse it off.
I've got a sanitized egg
and now we're gonna try it on Lucy.
Take.
(growling)
Take, take.
This isn't gonna help.
Lucy, do you wanna try holding the egg?
I don't think she wants
to do this anymore.
I've been having a lot of trouble.
It's not because she's stupid,
it's because I'm stupid
and I'm bad at training.
Do you want it? (gasps)
Oh, (bleep).
I don't need to prove that
Lucy's a gentle and smart dog
because I know she is,
but I'm going to prove
that I'm smart enough
to teach her to do the egg challenge.
Why won't you take my egg?
So, training is not going so well.
She's like frenemies
with the egg right now
and I need to make her just friends.
- Start with treats.
I feel like if you can't
do it with a treat,
they probably can't do it with an egg.
- So, see if they can just
hold a treat without eating it?
I'm spreading doggy
peanut butter on the egg.
Lucy, you interested in it now?
You gonna lick it?
Don't you wanna pick up the egg?
Lucy, take the egg.
She just licked the peanut
butter, so my plan didn't work.
She's avoiding me and
hiding in her doggy teepee.
New strategy, I am going to
try to get her used to the egg.
You feelin' better about the eggy?
So, we're getting close.
Can you take it and hold it?
You put it down right away, okay.
Yay, you did it kind of.
Lucy's now able to hold the egg,
but she drops it right away.
Oh, Lucy, you broke it immediately.
Getting the dog to hold it is one thing
and to keep it in their mouth is another,
probably because she doesn't
want an egg in her mouth
because who would want
an egg in their mouth?
Hold it, oh God.
Okay, alright, we're getting close.
Take.
Yes!
Yes!
Oh, that was so good.
We finally got Lucy to pass
the egg challenge, like barely.
She heard a sound outside
and got distracted,
so she got too distracted to drop it.
You did it.
I'm proud of you, you actually
did the egg challenge.
You know what, Lucy's not
good at the egg challenge,
and if she's dropping it it's because
she's doing it on purpose
'cause she's smart.
And we know Lucy likes to play basketball,
so we're gonna see if Lucy
can basketball with the egg.
She can win her own challenges.
Take it.
Basket.
Oh, that was all so perfect.
Alright, Lucy just...
Whoa, whoa, whoa, no,
no, no, that's raw egg.
Maybe she couldn't quite
pass the egg challenge,
but she (bleep) nailed
the egg basket challenge.
Look how perfectly that split in half.
I still can't believe it.
We're gonna celebrate
by giving Lucy some eggs
because she deserves it
because she cracked it
and she's so smart and
I'm so good at training.
Take that, vet.
