'Incredibly risky': Horrifying TikTok trend involving dogs prompts urgent warning from vet

A vet has issued an urgent warning to dog owners not to participate in the latest social media trend involving dogs.

Dr Katrina Warren is horrified by the videos of pet owners lip syncing part of the Taylor Swift song Ready For It in their dog's faces while the pooch is sleeping or resting.

She shared her concerns and the potential risks involved with doing this to your pet in an Instagram reel.

Watch the video above.

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"Oh, just when I thought TikTok pet trends couldn't get any worse… I can't believe how dangerous this is and it's hard to watch," she said.

"Startling a sleeping dog is not just unkind, it's incredibly risky. These dogs may be tolerating this but they are clearly very uncomfortable."

Dr Katrina explained that when a dog is woken suddenly they'll "react instinctively" and this could result in being bitten.

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"That reaction might involve their teeth, especially if they're confused or frightened," she said.

Doing things like this to your pet also damages their trust in you and makes them feel unsafe.

"I've spent my career trying to teach respectful, safe, and kind interactions with animals and startling a sleeping for laughs is not harmless and certainly not what we want to teach children to do," Dr Katrina added.

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This TikTok trend is the latest in a long list involving pets in bizarre stunts to film their reactions.

Other recent trends include throwing a bucket of ice water on unsuspecting dogs and pet owners spinning in circles with their phone in their mouth while holding their cat or dog.

While both are dangerous, the spinning trend is particularly worrying as it poses injury risks to the pets.

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"When you lift up an animal by their front legs, they're then carrying all of the weight of their body on those front legs so it's very easy to damage their shoulders," Dr Katrina told 9honey Pets.

"They're used to being on four legs. They're not like people, they have different shoulders to us so it's easy to damage their ligaments and their muscles and injure them."

The risk of injury from this TikTok trend increases for some breeds, including larger dog breeds that owners struggle to pick up and end up dropping. Another dog breed at risk is the dachshund because they have a long spine and are prone to back problems.

Like humans, animals can get dizzy from being spun around and become disoriented.

"It's a very unnatural movement for them, and it can be very scary for a pet to suddenly not have their balance, and I've seen a couple of cats, they've been sound asleep and the person has picked them up and just started spinning them around," Dr Katrina explained.

Even more concerning is the possibility that the pet owners participating in these trends are doing these things repeatedly to get the perfect shot.

"What worries me also is I know how many takes people take to do videos, because I make videos myself. So they're probably doing this a number of times for some of them just to get what looks like a very cute video," Dr Katrina added.

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