Dog's Genius Way of Bypassing Owner's Stair Gate Caught On Pet Cam

A pet owner has shared footage of the ingenious method her rescue dog has come up with for bypassing her stair gate.

In a video posted to TikTok under the handle loopylibrarian, a woman revealed what happened when she decided to set up a hidden camera in order to work out how her chihuahua Gracie had been getting through the gate.

In the clip, the pet owner can be seen walking up the stairs, leaving Gracie and her other dog, who is a pug, all alone. Once the coast is clear, Gracie wastes little time in revealing how she is able to get around the gate and quickly heads off to catch up with her human companion.

The footage of her daring breakthrough has been watched over 3.3 million times on social media and can be viewed here.

Dogs are surprisingly good problem solvers, but researchers have noticed distinct differences in the way male and female canines overcome challenges of this kind and it might go some way to explaining how Gracie has been able to keep getting around her owner's gate.

A 2015 study published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology identified a gender-based distinction in the way dogs are able to solve problems and their ability to learn or remember how to solve them.

As part of the study, a group of dogs smelled a food reward before watching the reward be placed inside a wooden box with a plastic lid. The dogs were then each given a limited amount of time to work out how to open the box.

During the first trial, researchers found that male dogs were more successful at opening the box than female dogs. However, when the same dogs were retested, researchers noted that female dogs were more successful than male dogs at opening the box.

The results indicated that while the male dogs were better problem solvers, female dogs were better at remembering how they did it and repeating the strategy.

Gracie has clearly developed an effective strategy for getting around the stair gate.

As the video shows, she quickly worked out that by walking around the side of the staircase and up onto a couch or other piece of furniture, she is able to squeeze through the gap in the banister before heading upstairs.

Despite her dog's act of wanton disobedience, Gracie's owner was evidently impressed, writing: "Our new rescue Chihuahua is very smart! She has to be with her people at ALL times!"

She wasn't alone in that respect either, with many fellow pet fans taking to the comments section on the clip to express similar sentiments. "I love that she waited until you were out of sight to put her plan into action," one user wrote.

"She wins. You better give her some good cuddles," another commented. A third said: "Chihuahuas get what they want," with a fourth adding: "Baby gates are no match for little rescue dogs."