Are videos showing dogs at a pet adoption event choosing which humans they want to go home with real? No, that's not true: The videos were made by artificial intelligence tools. A close examination of these videos reveals glitches, such as distorted hands and odd objects, that are typical of AI-generated videos. An AI content detection tool and AI disclosure labels on the original TikTok versions confirmed the videos are fake.
Several versions of the fake videos were first shared on the @babies.dogs.cats account on TikTok, including this video (archived here), posted on December 3, 2025, under a caption that opened:
Dogs Choose Humans🔥🔥🔥#dogs
#adoptme #adoptdontshop🐾 #viraltiktok #foryou
Why Dogs Choose Humans: Understanding the BondDogs have an innate capacity for forming bonds with humans, distinguishing them as one of our closest companions. This profound connection often leads dogs to select certain humans as their favorites, based on factors such as personality, behavior, and mutual affection. Understanding why dogs choose certain people can unravel the mysteries of the human-animal relationship.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Mar 16 02:34:38 2026 UTC)
This is what the first frame of the video looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of @babies.dogs.cats on TikTok)
The quality of AI-generated videos has dramatically improved in the months leading up to the writing of this fact check (March 2026), but close examination with a sharp eye can still often find details that are not natural in fake videos. A good place to start looking is the hands and fingers. This video includes distorted fingers in one segment.
(Image source: Lead Stories graphic from screenshot of @babies.dogs.cats on TikTok)
AI video creation tools sometimes add objects in unnatural places, such as the red leash that appears to be dangling from the belly of the shepherd.
(Image source: Lead Stories graphic from screenshot of @babies.dogs.cats on TikTok)
Fact checkers (and you) can also test a suspicious video with free online tools, including the Hive Moderation AI content detection tool. When we uploaded a 24-second clip of this video, it concluded that it was 99.9% "likely to contain AI-generated content."
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(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of HiveModeration.com)
Another tool to use is Google's SynthID tool, which should be able to tell you if Google's AI video creation tools were used to make the video.
You should also check the profile descriptions for an account for an acknowledgement that the content is not real. The @babies.dogs.cats TikTok account does not reveal this, but it does include a link to the YouTube channel (archived here) which does say:
All videos on this channel are fictional, digitally created storytelling, crafted to inspire kindness, imagination, and love for animals.
The @babies.dogs.cats account includes a part 2 video (archived here) that opens with this frame:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of @babies.dogs.cats on TikTok)
We found another typical AI video glitch in this video -- a third hand on a person.
(Image source: Lead Stories graphic from screenshot of @babies.dogs.cats on TikTok)
The Hive Moderation tool concluded a 26-second section of the video we uploaded was 96.9% "likely to be AI-generated video."
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of HiveModeration.com)
Many people may ignore the red flags that indicate these "dog chooses human" videos are not real because of the warm emotions they create. But being aware that realistic-looking videos may not be what they seem and knowing how to identify fakes can help you avoid being fooled by those carrying more sinister misinformation.
