Woman tells mom she’s getting dog christened, her reaction is everything

Many pet owners spoil their dogs, but one woman sent her mother into a spiral when she claimed she was getting her pup christened.

Lauren Pearce lives near Newcastle, England, and has a close relationship with her mother, Julie, telling Newsweek: “We aren’t just mother and daughter. We are best friends.”

Pearce and Julie regularly prank each other, and the daughter’s pranks often make their way to TikTok under her @laurenpearce30 account.

Recently, Pearce decided to pretend she was having a christening for her dog and film her mother’s reaction.

“She says it’s ridiculous how spoiled Joey our dog is, and she can’t get over it. So I knew she would fall for it,” she said.

In a video posted on September 19, Julie can be seen in the sitting room petting Joey, while Pearce tells her the dog has to go to the vet on Sunday, as “he’s getting christened.”

Julie’s reaction is immediate, staring open-mouthed at her daughter in disbelief before sitting down in shock and saying: “Are you honestly taking the—please don’t embarrass me by putting anything online. I can’t cope.”

Holding back laughter, Pearce tells Julie it’s a common thing now and that she’s even bought Joey a little bow tie for the ceremony. “It’s only a dog christening,” she added.

Julie falls into silence for a few moments, as though coming to terms with what she’s heard. She then asks, “Are you getting him a cake?” When Pearce says yes, Julie turns to Joey and says, “Your mum is nuts.”

Pearce asks if she would like to receive photographs of the ceremony, but Julie shuts it down straight away. “No, Lauren, I don’t. It’s too embarrassing,” she said.

TikTok users loved the clip, which has racked up more than 300,000 views. One commenter wrote, “I love how she has to go and sit down as soon as you’ve said it.”

“When she sat down in disbelief I broke,” another added, while one user said, “Ask her to be god mother, please.”

While dog christenings may not have taken off just yet, pet owners—particularly millennials—have been known to spoil their pets.

A recent survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek found that 63 percent of pet owners said they called themselves “mommy” or “daddy” when it comes to their animals.

Of the 1,046 participants, millennials—people born between 1981 and 1996—were the group most likely to give themselves those titles, with 69 percent within that age range declaring themselves mom or dad to their pets.

Pearce, a small-business owner, said that while she posts videos of herself pranking her mother, Julie isn’t without pranks of her own.

“What you don’t see is her pranking me just as much,” she said, adding, “She breaks into my house and pinches my food, hides stuff, all sorts.”

Julie went viral a few years ago when Pearce told her to poke her head through a hole cut into a piece of paper. After Julie struggled for a while to get her head through, Pearce showed her the trick was to touch her head with her finger through the hole.

After that, “everyone was asking for more pranks, as her reactions are just everything,” Pearce said.

She added that Julie, a regional manager, has even had people approach her to say they saw her on TikTok.

“We have some laughs while pranking each other,” Pearce said. “I must get more on camera, as everyone is loving her reactions.”

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