What The Dog Doin

2014Catchphrase / viral videoclassic

Also known as: What da Dog Doin'

What the Dog Doin'" is a 2014 viral video meme originating from Tony Baker's Vine clip of a dog unexpectedly joining people eating mints, whose bewildered catchphrase became a TikTok-era reaction to any bizarre animal behavior.

"What the Dog Doin'" is a catchphrase meme originating from a 2014 Vine video by comedian Tony Baker, in which a group of people reach into a tin of mints and a dog unexpectedly joins them, prompting the bewildered question. The clip sat dormant for years until a viral 2019 Twitter repost brought it back to life, and by 2021 the phrase had spread across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube as a go-to reaction for any creature caught doing something inexplicable.

catchphrase memesanimal memesvine memesreaction memesdelayed virality memes

Overview

The meme centers on a short Vine skit where four people simultaneously reach into a small tin of Icebreakers mints. Then a dog's paw enters the frame, reaching for the mints just like the humans. Someone delivers the line "What the dog doin'?" with a mix of confusion and amusement4. That one line became the entire meme.

What gives it staying power is the simplicity. There's a brief buildup of hands converging on the tin, then the absurd payoff of the dog joining in3. The delivery hit a specific tone, half-genuine question, half-comedic punchline, that people found endlessly reusable1. Over time, the phrase detached from the original video and became a general-purpose reaction to anything strange or out of place8.

On April 9, 2014, Vine comedian Tony Baker (@TonyBakerComedy) tweeted a link to his Vine video titled "WHEN YOU PULL OUT MINTS IN PUBLIC," tagged with #WhatTheDogDoin3. The skit featured fellow Viners King Bach, Damaine Radcliff, MrNateJackson, Liane V, and Neli Mac4. Vine Activity archived the video the following day, April 10, 20144.

At the time, it was just another funny Vine. The short-form format gave it replay value, but the phrase didn't immediately spread as a standalone meme. It took years and a platform death before the clip found its second wind.

Origin & Background

Platform
Vine
Key People
Tony Baker, King Bach, Damaine Radcliff, MrNateJackson, Liane V, Neli Mac
Date
2014

On April 9, 2014, Vine comedian Tony Baker (@TonyBakerComedy) tweeted a link to his Vine video titled "WHEN YOU PULL OUT MINTS IN PUBLIC," tagged with #WhatTheDogDoin. The skit featured fellow Viners King Bach, Damaine Radcliff, MrNateJackson, Liane V, and Neli Mac. Vine Activity archived the video the following day, April 10, 2014.

At the time, it was just another funny Vine. The short-form format gave it replay value, but the phrase didn't immediately spread as a standalone meme. It took years and a platform death before the clip found its second wind.

How It Spread

The meme's revival started on February 1, 2019, when Twitter user @StacksBreadup posted the video with the caption "I've been looking for this video for YEARS". That tweet pulled in over 2.4 million views and 55,000 retweets over the next two years. Within days, the clip jumped to Instagram and iFunny. On February 3, iFunny user biged403 reposted it, picking up over 109,800 smiles. A YouTube reupload from August 14, 2019, added hundreds of thousands more views, and another iFunny repost by user N_2_O in September hit 126,400 smiles.

By early 2020, people started creating original memes around the phrase rather than just reposting the clip. Before March 19, 2020, an unknown user made the first known image macro using the video as a punchline. On April 29, 2020, YouTuber aitch uploaded a comedic "overexplaining" breakdown of the original clip.

The real explosion came in late 2020 and throughout 2021. On November 4, 2020, YouTuber twomad used the phrase in a vlog that drew 1.7 million views in seven months. Twomad doubled down on March 4, 2021, posting a photo of himself on a couch captioned "Still contemplating what the dog doin," which pulled 107,000 likes in three months.

TikTok accelerated things further. On April 23, 2021, TikToker @okcron posted a skit referencing the video that hit 1.2 million views in two months. The audio started circulating independently on TikTok, with creators using it as a punchline for any clip of animals acting weird. On May 8, Instagram user andrew_lastname spliced the audio with a SpongeBob SquarePants clip, reaching 321,000 views in a month. On May 21, @repostrandy's reference video pulled 231,000 views and 55,000 likes in three weeks.

Media

How to Use This Meme

The format is loose and adaptable. Common approaches include:

- Classic format: Find a photo or video of a dog doing something unusual (standing on furniture, staring at nothing, wearing a hat) and caption it "What the dog doin'?". - Reaction use: Drop the phrase in a comment section when something looks confusing or out of place. - Audio overlay: Use the original audio or a remixed version over footage of animals, people, or objects doing unexpected things. - Meta usage: Apply the phrase to things that aren't dogs at all. A car parked weirdly, a politician making a strange face, a cat sitting somewhere it shouldn't. The further from the original context, the funnier it tends to land.

The intentionally casual grammar is part of the appeal. "Doin'" not "doing." It signals you're in on the joke.

Cultural Impact

After Vine shut down in 2017, most of its memes faded into nostalgia. "What the Dog Doin'" was one of the few that successfully jumped platforms, moving to YouTube, Instagram, and eventually TikTok. The phrase became shorthand for expressing low-stakes confusion.

The meme shaped how people caption animal content across platforms. On TikTok, the audio became a standalone sound trend, with creators pairing it with increasingly bizarre or heavily edited visuals. The spirit of the phrase bled into gaming culture too. In *Elden Ring*, players leave messages near in-game animals (particularly turtles) that read "Dog?" or "Behold, Dog!" That deliberate misidentification carries the same energy.

Urban Dictionary entries define it as a general expression of confusion at any situation, extending far beyond actual canine behavior. The phrase also spawned bass-boosted and distorted audio remixes, feeding into the broader trend of chaotic, layered internet humor where the joke is partly that anyone is still saying the phrase at all.

Fun Facts

The original Vine specifically featured Icebreakers mints. The whole gag was about people helping themselves to your mints uninvited, with the dog being the absurd final escalation.

@StacksBreadup's 2019 Twitter repost is what rescued the meme from obscurity, a full five years after its creation.

YouTuber twomad was one of the biggest individual amplifiers of the phrase, using it in both video and photo content across late 2020 and early 2021.

The phrase functions as what linguists call a "snowclone," a formulaic structure where the words stay the same but the delivery and context shift each time.

Despite being over a decade old, the meme largely avoided corporate co-optation, which helped it keep credibility in online communities longer than most viral catchphrases.

Derivatives & Variations

TikTok sound edits:

The original audio was remixed into bass-boosted and distorted versions, widely used as punchline audio on TikTok[5].

SpongeBob splice:

Instagram user andrew_lastname combined the audio with SpongeBob SquarePants footage in May 2021, creating a popular crossover format[4].

Image macro variants:

The phrase was applied to still images of dogs in unusual situations, evolving into a standalone captioned-image format independent of the original video[2].

"Dog?" messages in Elden Ring:

Players adopted similar confusion-based animal humor in FromSoftware's game, leaving misidentifying messages near turtles and other creatures[1].

Frequently Asked Questions

What The Dog Doin

2014Catchphrase / viral videoclassic

Also known as: What da Dog Doin'

What the Dog Doin'" is a 2014 viral video meme originating from Tony Baker's Vine clip of a dog unexpectedly joining people eating mints, whose bewildered catchphrase became a TikTok-era reaction to any bizarre animal behavior.

"What the Dog Doin'" is a catchphrase meme originating from a 2014 Vine video by comedian Tony Baker, in which a group of people reach into a tin of mints and a dog unexpectedly joins them, prompting the bewildered question. The clip sat dormant for years until a viral 2019 Twitter repost brought it back to life, and by 2021 the phrase had spread across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube as a go-to reaction for any creature caught doing something inexplicable.

catchphrase memes animal memes vine memes reaction memes delayed virality memes

Overview

The meme centers on a short Vine skit where four people simultaneously reach into a small tin of Icebreakers mints. Then a dog's paw enters the frame, reaching for the mints just like the humans. Someone delivers the line "What the dog doin'?" with a mix of confusion and amusement. That one line became the entire meme.

What gives it staying power is the simplicity. There's a brief buildup of hands converging on the tin, then the absurd payoff of the dog joining in. The delivery hit a specific tone, half-genuine question, half-comedic punchline, that people found endlessly reusable. Over time, the phrase detached from the original video and became a general-purpose reaction to anything strange or out of place.

On April 9, 2014, Vine comedian Tony Baker (@TonyBakerComedy) tweeted a link to his Vine video titled "WHEN YOU PULL OUT MINTS IN PUBLIC," tagged with #WhatTheDogDoin. The skit featured fellow Viners King Bach, Damaine Radcliff, MrNateJackson, Liane V, and Neli Mac. Vine Activity archived the video the following day, April 10, 2014.

At the time, it was just another funny Vine. The short-form format gave it replay value, but the phrase didn't immediately spread as a standalone meme. It took years and a platform death before the clip found its second wind.

Origin & Background

Platform
Vine
Key People
Tony Baker, King Bach, Damaine Radcliff, MrNateJackson, Liane V, Neli Mac
Date
2014

On April 9, 2014, Vine comedian Tony Baker (@TonyBakerComedy) tweeted a link to his Vine video titled "WHEN YOU PULL OUT MINTS IN PUBLIC," tagged with #WhatTheDogDoin. The skit featured fellow Viners King Bach, Damaine Radcliff, MrNateJackson, Liane V, and Neli Mac. Vine Activity archived the video the following day, April 10, 2014.

At the time, it was just another funny Vine. The short-form format gave it replay value, but the phrase didn't immediately spread as a standalone meme. It took years and a platform death before the clip found its second wind.

How It Spread

The meme's revival started on February 1, 2019, when Twitter user @StacksBreadup posted the video with the caption "I've been looking for this video for YEARS". That tweet pulled in over 2.4 million views and 55,000 retweets over the next two years. Within days, the clip jumped to Instagram and iFunny. On February 3, iFunny user biged403 reposted it, picking up over 109,800 smiles. A YouTube reupload from August 14, 2019, added hundreds of thousands more views, and another iFunny repost by user N_2_O in September hit 126,400 smiles.

By early 2020, people started creating original memes around the phrase rather than just reposting the clip. Before March 19, 2020, an unknown user made the first known image macro using the video as a punchline. On April 29, 2020, YouTuber aitch uploaded a comedic "overexplaining" breakdown of the original clip.

The real explosion came in late 2020 and throughout 2021. On November 4, 2020, YouTuber twomad used the phrase in a vlog that drew 1.7 million views in seven months. Twomad doubled down on March 4, 2021, posting a photo of himself on a couch captioned "Still contemplating what the dog doin," which pulled 107,000 likes in three months.

TikTok accelerated things further. On April 23, 2021, TikToker @okcron posted a skit referencing the video that hit 1.2 million views in two months. The audio started circulating independently on TikTok, with creators using it as a punchline for any clip of animals acting weird. On May 8, Instagram user andrew_lastname spliced the audio with a SpongeBob SquarePants clip, reaching 321,000 views in a month. On May 21, @repostrandy's reference video pulled 231,000 views and 55,000 likes in three weeks.

Media

How to Use This Meme

The format is loose and adaptable. Common approaches include:

- Classic format: Find a photo or video of a dog doing something unusual (standing on furniture, staring at nothing, wearing a hat) and caption it "What the dog doin'?". - Reaction use: Drop the phrase in a comment section when something looks confusing or out of place. - Audio overlay: Use the original audio or a remixed version over footage of animals, people, or objects doing unexpected things. - Meta usage: Apply the phrase to things that aren't dogs at all. A car parked weirdly, a politician making a strange face, a cat sitting somewhere it shouldn't. The further from the original context, the funnier it tends to land.

The intentionally casual grammar is part of the appeal. "Doin'" not "doing." It signals you're in on the joke.

Cultural Impact

After Vine shut down in 2017, most of its memes faded into nostalgia. "What the Dog Doin'" was one of the few that successfully jumped platforms, moving to YouTube, Instagram, and eventually TikTok. The phrase became shorthand for expressing low-stakes confusion.

The meme shaped how people caption animal content across platforms. On TikTok, the audio became a standalone sound trend, with creators pairing it with increasingly bizarre or heavily edited visuals. The spirit of the phrase bled into gaming culture too. In *Elden Ring*, players leave messages near in-game animals (particularly turtles) that read "Dog?" or "Behold, Dog!" That deliberate misidentification carries the same energy.

Urban Dictionary entries define it as a general expression of confusion at any situation, extending far beyond actual canine behavior. The phrase also spawned bass-boosted and distorted audio remixes, feeding into the broader trend of chaotic, layered internet humor where the joke is partly that anyone is still saying the phrase at all.

Fun Facts

The original Vine specifically featured Icebreakers mints. The whole gag was about people helping themselves to your mints uninvited, with the dog being the absurd final escalation.

@StacksBreadup's 2019 Twitter repost is what rescued the meme from obscurity, a full five years after its creation.

YouTuber twomad was one of the biggest individual amplifiers of the phrase, using it in both video and photo content across late 2020 and early 2021.

The phrase functions as what linguists call a "snowclone," a formulaic structure where the words stay the same but the delivery and context shift each time.

Despite being over a decade old, the meme largely avoided corporate co-optation, which helped it keep credibility in online communities longer than most viral catchphrases.

Derivatives & Variations

TikTok sound edits:

The original audio was remixed into bass-boosted and distorted versions, widely used as punchline audio on TikTok[5].

SpongeBob splice:

Instagram user andrew_lastname combined the audio with SpongeBob SquarePants footage in May 2021, creating a popular crossover format[4].

Image macro variants:

The phrase was applied to still images of dogs in unusual situations, evolving into a standalone captioned-image format independent of the original video[2].

"Dog?" messages in Elden Ring:

Players adopted similar confusion-based animal humor in FromSoftware's game, leaving misidentifying messages near turtles and other creatures[1].

Frequently Asked Questions