What Is The 'Shrinking Dog Syndrome' Prank? The Viral Meme Explained

A prank that you can pull on your dog is going viral across social media. The prank, which involves Googling "shrinking dog syndrome" in front of your beloved pet, is being spread through image macros, memes and other posts, but some people are a bit confused as to how to pull the prank off. Here's what you need to know.

What Is The 'Shrinking Dog Syndrome' Prank?

Back in 2017, X / Twitter user @AndrewChamings posted about a prank you can pull on your dog. In the post, he wrote, "Prank your dog by loosening his collar a bit everyday and googling 'shrinking dog syndrome' while he's on your lap." The post garnered over 15,000 likes and 5,400 reposts over the next seven years.

The prank suggests that, by increasingly loosening your dog's collar day by day, the dog might get confused. Then, by Googling, "shrinking dog syndrome" in front of your pet, which is not a real syndrome, the dog may believe they are shrinking, which is why their collar is getting looser every day.

Of course, your dog can't actually read what you've Googled, meaning the prank won't work. It's just a silly idea rather than a real prank you can pull on your pet.

How Is 'Shrinking Dog Syndrome' Used In Memes?

Ever since 2017, the post by Andrew Chamings has spread online, making the "shrinking dog syndrome" prank go viral. It has mainly spread through reposted screenshots of the post and through further memes sharing the prank, including image macros. It's even inspired a piece of fan art or two.

In 2024, the prank has reached Facebook and is also going viral on Reddit.
Recently, it was posted to the /r/ExplainTheJoke subreddit by a confused user, where it gained over 2,400 upvotes in about a day, suggesting there are some people who are a bit confused about "shrinking dog syndrome."

Unless, of course, the post was made by a dog who just got pranked. Really makes you think.

For the full history of pranking, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.