‘What the fluff’ is happening? New challenge leaves dogs and cats so confused

At some point, perhaps in the not-so-distant future, dogs and cats around the world will arise and cry out as one.

“Enough with the blankets!”

A new viral challenge called “What the fluff” has pet owners using sleight-of-hand to confuse the heck out of their pets. All that’s needed is your dog or cat, and a blankie.

“As their pets look on, wannabe tricksters hold a blanket in front of them, then quickly run away as they drop it, leaving nothing behind,” explains Inside Edition. “From the unsuspecting dog’s point of view, it looks as if their owner disappeared.”

Videos of the trick are popping up all over Twitter and Instagram - more than 10,000 videos have been posted to #WhatTheFluffChallenge on Instagram.

Someone even tried it on a horse.

Already, a few truths have been revealed about “What the fluff.”

It only works if your dog loves you enough to care that you “disappeared.” Or loves you more than blankets.

And it may or may not work if your dog is a cat. Just saying.

Mashable believes it has traced the challenge to a video posted last week by the owner of a Siberian husky in the United Kingdom - ah, it’s international - named Jax who “encouraged followers to try the challenge, and it spread to people pranking their pets all over Twitter and Instagram.”

The Jax video has been viewed nearly 2 million times in the last week.

Poor, confused Jax. If his growl could be translated, it’s likely he told his owner, “that really wasn’t very nice.”

Maybe he’ll be the one to put this challenge on paws.

This story was originally published June 28, 2018 at 9:58 AM.