‘Something was off’: Pet pawrent picks up pup from daycare, then are shocked to find out that the daycare sent them home with the wrong dog entirely after noticing “their dog” acting strangely

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
May 26, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Good morning and happy Monday, animal fam. We don't know about you, but one of our biggest fears as a dog pawrent is something happening to our doggo when we're not around. Maybe an accident happens with the dog walker, or they get sick while you're out of town, but not being able to be there for your baby is one of the worst feelings ever. That's why it's impawtant to leave your doggos with verified people that you trust, but even then, accidents happen…

Like what happened below. One owner picked up "their dog" from daycare one day and slowly started to realize that something was off. The dog was acting weird, and they started to question everything. It looked like their loving Labrador. It responded to the dog's name. Slowly, they started to question, "Is this really my dog?" Then it hit them - the daycare sent them home with the wrong doggo. Talk about a mutt mixup! Scroll down to see the impawster and the full story below!

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10509506560
    via u/Katybugfoster
  • 02
    I can laugh about it now. I was given a black lab that was not mine. When he got home I thought, why is my dog acting so weird? Then I started to question if he looked the same as my dog. He looked maybe 97% the same, but something
    via u/Katybugfoster
  • 03
    was off. As I started to question if I was having a mental breakdown, I remembered that my dog has a chipped tooth, so I checked this dog and ... no chipped tooth. The daycare was very apologetic but I did feel like an idiot calling them to tell them I had the wrong dog.
    via u/Katybugfoster
  • 04
    The imposter - his name is Billy:
    via u/Katybugfoster

  • We love labs, but they're not pupticularly known for their genetic diversity. Sure, some look a bit different than others, but a lot of labs look very similar.

  • 05
    Katybugfoster My dog did not go home with the other owners, they hadn't picked him up yet. He was excited and friendly but also anxious. He was shaking and I thought, did my dog get injured at camp today?!?
    via u/Katybugfoster
  • 06
    Liz_chinchilla I have so many questions lol. Did your dog go to the other dog's owners?? Did they notice? Was this dog such a Labrador that he just accepted his fate with a stranger?? Super cutie!
    via u/Liz_chinchilla
  • 07
    disdain7 This almost happened once. I have a chocolate lab and there was another one that looked similar. I'll never forget this happy dog jumping in the car like it was as natural as anything else and me being like "uh that's not my dog guys".
    via u/disdain7
  • 08
    cserskine Years ago I had a black lab that went to doggy daycare every day. The daycare would email one or two pictures of your pup each day. There were 4 other almost identical black labs and they ALL spent their entire day in the kiddy pool together
    via u/cserskine
  • 09
    AggressivNapkin This happened to my coworker. She was running late to pick up her daughter from school that she didn't notice it was the wrong black lab. This lab had the correct harness and collar on (day care removes them when playing). dog jumped right into the back seat and settled like a natural.
    via u/AggressivNapkin
  • 10
    She only noticed the dog wasn't her when she tried to climb into the front seat (which her dog doesn't do) and licked her in the ear multiple times.
    via u/AggressivNapkin
  • 11
    It was even funnier when she returned to the daycare and found that the other owner took her dog home. Other owner didn't even notice. Both black labs are just happy-go-lucky girls.
    via u/AggressivNapkin

  • This daycare is lucky the pawrent was chill about it. We would not have been chill. We might have gone full Karen on them. How could you send us home with the wrong doggo? It's literally their job to take care of our dog and return our pupper to us safely.

  • 12
    iladelph215 Don't feel bad. I had a similar incident with my black lab. When they brought her out she was wearing the right harness and she was very excited to see me. I started walking to the door when she suddenly
    via u/iladelph215
  • 13
    barked and I'm like "that doesn't sound right." My girl has several dark spots on her tongue so I opened the dog's mouth and it was all pink. I'm grateful she protested while we
    via u/iladelph215
  • 14
    were still on the premises so I didn't have to drive back. When I got her report card later, I saw 8 other black labs in the pictures with her so totally understand the mistake.
    via u/iladelph215
  • 15
    Significant_Skill205 Yes, I can see how that would happen...Black Lab, lamb chop toy...like looking in a mirror
    via u/Significant_Skill205
  • 16
    Cheezburger Image 10509508864
    via u/Significant_Skill205
  • 17
    Better_Raspberry_728 I worked at a dog daycare and one day we just had so many similar looking labs... got down to putting up the last two identical twins and they both responded to each others names because they were so
    via u/Better_Raspberry_728
  • 18
    similar! These guys are tricksters! Eventually it got down to analyzing the minute details in their tiny, low-quality profile photos and we were able to figure it out—but we weren't absolutely sure until they both went home!
    via u/Better_Raspberry_728
  • 19
    Lilacrespo82 It's so funny to me that all labs are always so happy happy happy that they'll go with strangers! Reading OPs post and the other messages below of other people who have experienced similar things
    via u/Lilacrespo82
  • 20
    reinforces to me my ongoing joke at home that if someone broke in to murder me, my chocolate lab would leave and be my murder's new pet!!!
    via u/Lilacrespo82
  • 21
    Hmasteringhamster Omg hilarious! And being labs they're probably all happy to see a person.
    via u/Hmasteringhamster
  • 22
    NoAverage1845 I did something similar when picking up our chocolate lab from a grooming appointment. I was almost out of the store thinking what an amazing job they did as he looked younger. My kid stopped me to let me know it wasn't ours.
    via u/NoAverage1845

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Tags

daycare dogs pets pupper dog owner wrong doggos doggo pawrents animals
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