He suddenly found himself laughing and feeling a bit astonished. He was a major animal lover, and he particularly loved dogs, as they’re so similar to us humans. But never in a million years did he imagine he’d witness a dog pull a stunt like that. He didn’t know if the dog was trained to do that, or if he had learned that trick all on his own. It was still remarkable, and he was glad he was able to record the entire thing. But he could’ve never predicted how popular his video would become.
When Sergio Vazquez headed off to work that morning, he wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen. He worked as a supervisor at a water distributor in Mexico City. Being out on the streets doesn’t happen all that often, but every now and then, he gets called in to take care of a situation outside the office. When that happens, Vazquez is forced to make his way through a traffic-jammed Mexico city. To say his routine is a bit chaotic is an understatement, but he loves every minute of it. Without these little runs, he would’ve completely missed what he saw that day.
Vazquez decided to jump on one of the company’s vehicles and join the driver on his delivery routine that day. He was prone to doing this every now and then to make sure that the routes selected were efficient, and drivers were following company procedures. He was well acquainted with most drivers, so there was this sense of camaraderie between them. Everything went according to plan all morning, but now they were feeling hungry, so Vazquez and the driver decided they needed to pull over to eat.
The driver’s route would take him that morning to Tezoyuca, which is not technically located in Mexico city, but it belonged to the metropolitan area. Tezoyuca is a small town in the state of Mexico, and it’s located right up north from Texcoco, a historical city. Ranching and agriculture are the main economic activities. And despite it’s proximity to Mexico city, the small town of Tezoyuca has a rural vibe to it. The men stopped at a small food joint where they sell food through a window.
Vazquez spotted the food joint and quickly realized the food must be really great, as there was a long line of hungry people waiting in line outside the window. So they quickly got in line too and waited for their turn to order food. Suddenly, they spotted a medium-sized black and brown dog who was making his way towards the food stand. But stray dogs are a common occurrence, so Vazquez didn’t pay much attention to him. Soon, he discovered this was not your run-of-the-mill pup.
The pup started pawing at Vazquez’ leg, trying to catch his attention, which made him really confused. But this wasn’t the driver’s first time at the food stand, and he already knew what the stray pup wanted. But instead of letting Vazquez in on the joke, he decided to play along and let him figure it out on his own. “The driver told me to give him a peso to see what he does with it,” said Vazquez, and he complied.
Mexico’s currency is the peso, which is roughly equivalent to 5 U.S. cents. So Vazquez didn’t think twice and gave the pup a peso to see what he was up to. He pulled out a coin and held it in front of the pup. He suddenly stood up on his hind legs, and proceeded to gently grab the coin off of Vazquez’ hand. He was seriously impressed with the canine, but he would’ve never imagined what he was about to do next.
The smart pup made his way towards the food stand, and placed his snout on the metal bars, placing the coin on the counter. Vazquez laughingly joked, “He wants to know what he can buy with that.” But he quickly realized that this wasn’t a stunt. One of the men working at the food stand grabbed the coin while the dog patiently waited for something. He was still standing with his front legs placed on the window ledge. Finally, they brought him what he was waiting for.
Soon, another employee showed up with a hot dog in his hand. The dog quickly proceeded to grab it, and turned around, chewing it up in a mere seconds. Vazquez was stunned. “Who taught him how to shop?” he asked himself. Clearly, the dog had pulled this stunt before, as none of the staff at the food joint seemed to be surprised by it. Still, he’s not the only dog who’s been known for its bizarre antics.
A school is Monterrey, Colombia, has been lucky enough to be safeguarded by a heroic dog named Negro. He’s been living at school premises for the past five years. The faculty staff feeds him, and in return, he protects the school grounds. But Negro’s not a one-trick-pony, or should we say, a one-trick-dog? It all begun when he realized that students were buying snacks at a small kiosk on campus.
“Then one day, spontaneous, he appeared with a leaf in his mouth, wagging his tail and letting it be known that he wanted a cookie,” teacher Angela Garcia Bernal jokingly rekindled. From that day on, Negro attempts to purchase snacks with leaves. The staff limits his intake consumption, and only give him one treat per day. And the pup from Tezoyuca seems to share a few traits with Negro.
Later on, Vazquez found out that the stray dog’s name was “Cabrón,” which kind of translates to “scumbag.” The term can also be used affectionately. The fact that Cabrón is so good at manipulating customers to give him money so he can buy a delicious hot dog is how he probably got his nickname. But can anyone blame a hungry stray dog for using every trick in the book to get food? Of course not! But Cabrón isn’t as defenseless as Vazquez initially assumed.
Cabrón wasn’t left to fend for himself after all. As it turns out, the street-smart pup was adopted by the owner of the small food joint. Many believed she was the one who taught him that trick, so that customers would fall in love with the pup, and spent more money at the food joint. But if you think about it, it’s not like she’d be making any profits out of one-peso hot dogs! Vazquez quickly realized that there was something special about Cabrón.
“I celebrate all dogs, but this one is something very special,” he said. “It warmed my heart to see what he does. He does this to everyone who comes to the store.” Vazquez decided to post the hilarious video of Cabrón ordering food at a food joint on Facebook. He also dedicated the video to “those who think that small animals can neither feel, nor think.” But the video didn’t sit well with some folks.
Soon enough, the video was viewed by over 14 million people, and suddenly, comments started pouring in. The grand majority was fascinated by Cabrón’s stunt, while others felt that there was nothing funny about a dog learning tricks in order to feed himself. In all fairness, no one knows if Cabrón learned this trick all on his own, of he had actually been taught by someone else. But this wouldn’t be the first time that a dog would pick up such a strange habit!