#Owner spends years building dog’s vocabulary just to trick her on social media

Lady, throw this poor dog a bone — really!

Dog experts agree that the most straightforward method of training a dog is through positive reinforcement — that is, instant gratification. The word “treat” usually means there’s a pig ear on the way. When mom or dad says “squirrel,” their ears perk up for a reason. And don’t even think about uttering the w-a-l-k word unless you’ve got your pants on and sneakers laced.

So when pet parent Lauren Blumenthal began telling her very charming miniature Australian shepherd, Hazel, a short story, packed with words that are synonymous with any pup’s passions, such as “squirrel” and “bone,” the doe-eyed dog appeared, understandably, bemused with her owner.

“Hazel, I have a story to tell you,” the 35-year-old New Yorker told the pooch, in a video reported by Caters News.

Hazel, with a tennis ball in her mouth, gives Blumenthal, situated outside the frame, all her attention. “So, yesterday I went outside, and outside I saw a squirrel.”

The ball drops at this point as Hazel tilts her head in confusion.

“And the squirrel had a bone in its mouth, and he was eating a treat! Can you believe it?,” the woman teased.

The dog, in fact, could not believe it. Here’s her ultimate provider and teacher, the one human in the world she trusts most, conjuring so many wondering things that never materialize as those words have faithfully done for all her dogs years.

What cruel fate! To rip away life’s simple pleasures — the freedom of outside play; the flavor endurance of rawhide — from a dog who studied so hard to learn human language, just to torture the poor pooch for social media.

“Hazel truly listens and head tilts to understand what I’m saying!” Blumenthal said of her very good girl, who recently graced the pages of the New York Times Kids edition in a fashion spread, sporting a maximalist look by canine couture brands Ware of the Dog and Charlie’s Backyard. In it, she claimed her dog was so exceptionally smart, “it’s ridiculous.”

Indeed, the mini Australian shepherd, which is actually an all-American breed, is slightly smaller than its full-size Australian progenitors, growing 13-18 inches and weighing 20-40 pounds, according to the American Kennel Club, who also called the herding dog “extremely bright.”

The thoroughbred has recently become the status dog de rigueur, Vox reported last year. Dog-walking service Rover told them that accounts for mini Aussie shepherds had spiked 50% on their app. Interested pet owners can expect to fork over between $2,000 and $10,000 for a show breed pup.