A dog owner was left in stitches when his German shepherd winked at him after chewing up his e-cigarette.
Owner Mr Zhao, from the city of Jining in Shandong province, eastern China, said he was looking for the vape kit in the house and was left horrified by the state of the device.
Video shared onto Douyin shows Mr Zhao picking up the silver cylinder, which shows multiple indentations and a hole at the bottom of the tube.
He then pans the camera to his dog who sits quietly by the wardrobe.
The pooch pulls an innocent face and looks at Mr Zhao for a few seconds before appearing to wink at him.
In an interview with local news outlet Sichuan Guancha, he said: “The e-cigarette was completely broken and I stared at him thinking that he must be feeling scared now.
“He must have known that he had made a mistake and he will get punishment for it.
“He just sat on the floor, looking up at me and suddenly gave me a wink!”
The clip went viral and has amassed more than one million likes since he posted it on March 4.
Viewers were impressed by the canine’s trick, saying he is the “sassiest German shepherd” they have ever seen.
One wrote: “He knew he messed up big time, I’m sure this is his last resort to get away from punishment.”
Another commented: “I wish my dog can learn his trick! He’s the sassiest dog I’ve ever seen on Douyin.”
But some worried of the potential danger if the dog bit off the e-cigarette.
“There’s batteries inside the e-cigarette,” a viewer warned. “Please don’t let your dog bite it. It’s dangerous.”
A second asked: “Wouldn’t it explode if you carry on letting the dog to chew on it?”
An expert explained that destructive biting could be a sign that dogs are seeking their owners’ attention.
Dr Jack Stephens, of Pets Best Insurance, said: “We must factor in our dogs’ unshakeable love and devotion they direct toward us.
“They notice how focused we are when we type messages on Facebook or other social media venues.
“So, if they can’t be in our laps or next to us, they turn to the objects emitting our scents.”
He also said pets can detect their owners’ scents on electronic gadgets.
“In our pets’ mind, these items must be checked out,” he added.
“They do so by biting them, tail swatting them off coffee tables, pawing them off countertops and marking them with urine or drool (or both).”