‘This is a real life Pixar short’: Balcony-bound pup does an Uno reverse and teaches humans how to fetch

All mammals engage in play to wire up their brain and develop socially and cognitively. In this way, humans are no different from other species. We assess intelligence through a human perspective, which sometimes leads people to dismiss animals, like cats and dogs, as less worthy of moral consideration.

However, depending on the context, dogs can express their smarts in unique ways that testify to their active minds and emotional range. After watching this TikTok video, you’d be inclined to think that dogs are much cleverer than we give them credit for.

This pup is eager to play, and if there is no one at home who’s available, he’ll still find a way.

Waiting for the right moment and the right human

The adorableness of this video is twofold: it’s in the dog who attentively observes the street below him, waiting for his next play partner to pass by before dropping the tennis ball like an invitation, but it is also in each person who stops, picks up the ball and gives the puppy a few meaningful seconds of their day.

With less than 2 minutes of video being way too short for some people’s liking, a few netizens requested part 2, and the Ukranian TikTok user, ona.clay.ring, did not fail to deliver:

One commenter wrote: “I would cancel my plans and play ball all day. 🥰”

If it were me, I would also gladly be stuck under that balcony for the remainder of the day. It would be too difficult to walk away from such a cute, smart pup who wants nothing more than someone to play inverse fetch with.