STUBBORN DOG REFUSES TO EAT FOOD TILL OWNER SAYS CERTAIN WORD

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Stubborn Dog Continuously Refuses to Eat Food Until Owner Says This One Unexpected Word

By Tabitha Parent  Published on February 3, 2026 07:00PM EST

 

Sometimes, all it takes is the right word to get your pets to listen to you.

 

In a Jan. 26 video, "Ceili the Puppy," a viral Internet Shih Tzu can be seen repeatedly refusing her meal, as one of her owners tries in vain to feed her.

 

One of Ceili's owners, Albert Maloof Berdellans, sits on the floor with her, attempting to feed the small, 11-year old dog bits of "special" food.

 

"It'll help settle your tummy so you feel much better," Albert pleads with the dog in the video.

 

"We tried EVERYTHING... until one word settled it once and for all," read white text over the video, which was posted by Ceili's other owner, Meghan Maloof Berdellans, a content creator. Meghan's content documents her life as an American living in Dubai, as well as content with Ceili.

 

"Go ahead and try your food bubba," Meghan, who posts under the handle @megconnolly online, says in the video.

 

After about a minute of back-and-forthing with the dog, who sometimes comes close enough to eat the food before sniffing it and turning away, Albert and Meghan try one more tactic.

 

"You were sick, we have to get you better," Albert says to the dog, revealing that she had been sick earlier and they needed her to try the food in order to prove she could stomach it.

 

"Otherwise you're gonna have to go to the vet, yeah," Albert then says.

 

Almost immediately, Ceili changes her tune, trying a piece of the special food in Albert's outstretched hand.

 

"That's what I thought," Albert says.

 

"She understood exactly one word that ended the standoff. IYKYK," read the post's caption.

 

"Don't tell me this dog doesn't speak English ever again," Albert says, turning to Meghan behind the camera, who can be heard laughing hysterically.

 

In a pinned comment, Meghan explained the context behind the video, as many expressed worry for Ceili's health.

 

"[Ceili] does not normally have issues with food... in fact, she threw up twice that day, and wanted her normal food, but we needed to confirm she was well enough, so we fed her organic white rice and a little venison meat," she wrote.

 

"She wanted all meat like her usual carnivore dinner, so she was protesting. She was fine after 1 night and we resumed regular meals the next day," Meghan continued.

 

Meghan also addressed people's comments about the pee pad that the couple had put underneath Ceili's food.

 

"Secondly... Ceili does not pee on that pad," she said. "In fact, she doesn't pee on a pad at all unless it's an absolute emergency when she's left at home. She hates it. The pad under the water and plate is because she makes a mess when she eats (typical Shih Tzu) so it acts as a tablecloth."

 

"She knows this, and if we don't put one down, she asks for it. So no, she doesn't "sh!t where she eats" for people who don't pay attention. And the temporary pad at the back door was to wipe her paws from the snow in the back yard,"

 

Ceili has grown a significant following online over the years, and is particularly known because of her "tongue thrust," which is a constant protrusion of the tongue typically seen inbrachycephalic breeds of dogs, like Shih Tzus.

 

Ceili has even been featured in New York Fashion Week, walking the runway alongside a model for Anthony Rubio back in 2019.