# Sad Dog On The Phone Sad Dog on the Phone is a series of photos showing a dog looking increasingly sad while someone holds a phone up to its ear. First tweeted in January 2016, the images went viral as people imagined what terrible news the dog might be hearing, turning it into a popular reaction image for relatable bad-news scenarios. ## Origin On January 13, 2016, Twitter user @mvenzxx posted the series of photos with the caption "what the hell did they tell this dog?"[3]. The tweet picked up significant traction, pulling in over 3,400 retweets and 4,600 likes. The photos showed a dog appearing to listen to a phone conversation and growing visibly distressed, which immediately sparked jokes about what bad news the dog might be hearing. - **Platform:** Twitter (original post), Tumblr (viral spread) - **Creator:** @mvenzxx (original poster on Twitter) - **Date:** 2016 ## Overview The meme consists of a sequence of photos showing a dog with a phone held near its ear. Across the frames, the dog's expression appears to shift from neutral to visibly upset, as if receiving devastating news during a phone call. The humor comes from anthropomorphizing the dog and imagining what kind of bad news could make it look so heartbroken[3]. The format works because dogs frequently make facial expressions that humans read as emotional reactions. In this case, the progression from calm to sad creates a natural comedic arc that people can project almost any disappointing scenario onto. ## How It Spread Shortly after the tweet went viral, a four-panel version of the image started circulating on Tumblr, where it racked up over 78,000 notes[3]. The photos also made their way into multiple BuzzFeed listicles, including "29 Dog Pictures That Are Never Not Funny"[1] and "19 Things Your Mom Would Never Be Caught Dead Saying"[2]. The dog quickly found a second life as a standalone reaction image. On October 11, 2016, it appeared in an Imgur photodump[3]. A version captioned "When your mom forces you to speak to your relatives" picked up over 45,000 likes on the Instagram account nochill[3]. In August 2018, someone created a photoshopped edit that distorted the dog's eyes, paired with the caption "991 I have a emergenci"[3]. This warped version gained traction on Reddit over the following months. An edit posted to /r/MemeEconomy on March 15, 2019 earned over 240 points, and the distorted version spread to other subreddits including /r/memes[3]. ## How to Use The Sad Dog on the Phone format typically works in one of two ways: **Classic reaction use:** Post the image sequence (or a single frame) alongside a caption describing bad news or an uncomfortable phone situation. Common setups include being forced to talk to relatives, hearing disappointing news, or dealing with awkward phone calls. The caption usually goes above the image in a "When..." format. **Distorted/absurdist use:** Take the photoshopped version with warped eyes and pair it with intentionally misspelled or surreal captions, like the original "991 I have a emergenci." This plays into the ironic/deep-fried meme style where image degradation adds to the humor. ## Fun Facts - The original tweet's caption "what the hell did they tell this dog?" became almost as quotable as the image itself[3]. - The Tumblr four-panel version outperformed the original tweet by a wide margin, hitting 78,000 notes compared to the tweet's 4,600 likes[3]. - The meme got a second viral wave nearly two years after its origin when the distorted photoshop version appeared in 2018[3]. - The dog's breed and identity were never widely identified, keeping the focus on the universal relatability of the expression. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Sad Dog on the Phone? It's a series of photos showing a dog appearing to grow increasingly sad while someone holds a phone to its ear, used as a reaction image for bad-news scenarios[3]. ### Where did Sad Dog on the Phone come from? Twitter user @mvenzxx posted the original photos on January 13, 2016 with the caption "what the hell did they tell this dog?"[3]. ### What does Sad Dog on the Phone mean? The meme is used to represent the feeling of receiving bad or unwanted news, especially over the phone. People project their own relatable situations onto the dog's sad expression[3]. ### How do you use Sad Dog on the Phone? Pair the image with a "When..." caption describing a disappointing or awkward phone scenario, or use the distorted version with absurdist misspelled text[3]. ### Is Sad Dog on the Phone still popular? The meme saw its peak activity between 2016 and 2019, with a notable revival through the distorted photoshop version in 2018-2019. It still appears in reaction image collections and dog meme compilations[3]. ### Who is the dog in the meme? The dog's specific identity and breed were never widely documented. The focus stayed on the expression rather than the animal's background[3]. ### What is the "991 I have a emergenci" version? A photoshopped edit from August 2018 that distorted the dog's eyes and added intentionally misspelled text, which became popular on Reddit subreddits like /r/MemeEconomy and /r/memes in early 2019[3]. ### How many notes did it get on Tumblr? The four-panel Tumblr version gained over 78,000 notes, making Tumblr one of the meme's biggest platforms[3]. ## References 1. [Bunny Food]() 2. [19 Things Your Mom Would Never Be Caught Dead Saying]() 3. [29 Dog Pictures That Are Never Not Funny]() 4. [Sad Dog on the Phone - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Ed Miliband bacon sandwich photograph]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/sad-dog-on-the-phone Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library