'Golden Retriever Egg Challenge' Could Kill Your Pet, Vets Warn

The trend began when Haley Bowers, a 17-year-old from Michigan, tried placing an egg in her aunt's golden retriever's mouth. After seeing the video of the retriever's super-cute success, people on Twitter everywhere have started sharing unfortunate — yet hilarious — attempts at getting their dogs to do the same thing.

But the video tweet might not be worth the risk.

Haley's aunt had read online that a golden retriever's mouth was so gentle that it could hold an egg without cracking it. Sookie, her aunt's dog, was known for her delicate obedience — the perfect dog to test her theory. Holding the egg would be old hat for Sookie, just like any of her other tricks.

But what if the egg had cracked? Haley's dog was mellow and well-trained — for lack of a better phrase, Sookie is a really good girl.

Other peoples' dogs, however, were not as prepared.

The videos are, without a doubt, adorable. Some of these dogs are downright hysterical. When offered the egg, most of them just realize it is not food, and therefore not interesting, and leave it behind.

But no matter how cute dogs are on camera, these videos are just not worth it.

"Placing a raw egg (in the shell) in a dog's mouth is a health risk," Dr. Paula Parker, the president of the Australian Veterinary Association, told BuzzFeed. "It is choking hazard as the egg may become lodged in the dog's throat."

The sharp shards of eggshell aren't the only dangers of the challenge. "Salmonella can be present both inside and outside the shell, so even if the egg does not break, if the bacteria are present on the outside of the shell it could lead to health concerns including diarrhea and vomiting," Parker concluded.

And if you know anything at all about dogs, you know they love to play tug of war. And fetch. And, well... Any game that doesn't involve sitting still.

If you really must try the challenge, be like these guys and try it on yourself.

You could get salmonella, too. But it's at least safer than the other dumb Twitter trends teens have tried lately.