Senior Dachshund Goes Into 'Maximum Overdrive' When Owner Says Magic Word

A dog owner has revealed the one special word that gets their senior dachshund moving quickly when out walking in the park.

Carwyn Sussex from London, England, told Newsweek he and his partner Rosie Diss had noticed recently that their wiener dog Oreo, who has been a part of Sussex's family for 11 years, didn't have quite as much of a spring in his step.

"He's getting old so we've noticed him slowing down on walks at the park," Sussex said. "Knowing he's so food oriented though we thought we'd try seeing if he'd pick up the pace if we said his favorite word—and it worked like a charm!"

In a video posted to TikTok under the Oreo.BoyBoy, the senior dachshund can be seen walking along at a steady, if slightly slow, pace.

However, his speed picks up dramatically the moment he hears Sussex utter his favorite word: "dinner." Suddenly, it's like Oreo is rolling back the years, moving at pace down the path with one thing on his mind. "He goes from 1 to maximum overdrive," Sussex wrote alongside the clip.

It's not uncommon for dogs to comprehend human language. Psychologist and canine researcher Stanley Coren, told the American Psychological Association that the average dog is capable of learning 165 human words, while some especially intelligent canines can grasp up to 250.

Sussex isn't surprised at Oreo being able to grasp what the word "dinner" means. "He loves food," he said. "He's a very vocal and animated dog so 99 percent of the time if he's in his hyper wiggly mood it's got something to do with food."

If there's anyone who knows that Oreo's thinking, it's Sussex. He's shared a special bond with Oreo ever since he was brought home as a puppy.

"I was still living at home with my mom so at that time he was the family's pet," Sussex said.

Oreo was the third dachshund to join the family after his sister Cookie and his brother Stroodle and might have struggled had it not been for Sussex.

"The rest of my family didn't seem to bond with Oreo much as a puppy as the other two dogs took up most of their attention," he explained. "But I instantly bonded with him and was like my little shadow following me everywhere."

Though Sussex eventually left home to attend university, he always considered Oreo to be his dog and, eventually, after graduating and landing a job, organized it so that Oreo came to live with him and Diss.

While there were some concerns that Oreo might struggle being away from his mom and the other dogs, Sussex found that he thrived in his new environment alongside his human best friend.

"Oreo has always been an independent dog who liked to be in his own space," Sussex said. "In fact, he didn't seem to care at all when he was officially left with me, he was just finally home."

They have been living together happily ever since with Oreo finding social media fame thanks to his owner's TikTok videos of his antics. The clip of Oreo speeding up upon utterance of the magic word has been watched over 1.1 million times and counting.

That doesn't mean Sussex is going to be using it all the time though. "It's a funny trick to see him sprint on command but we don't like to do it too often as he's getting older we don't want to push his little legs more than he wants to," he said.

Although he is keen to stress that that doesn't mean he's retiring use of it just yet. "Sometimes we can tell when he's just being a bit lazy or cheeky on a walk so we may use the secret word to get him moving faster!"

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