A 13-year-old Lhasa apso has captured hearts after his owner discovered he has been deceiving them for almost a year.

The crafty canine had convinced his family that he was unable to climb the stairs on his own, prompting them to carry him up and down daily.

But in a now-viral video, the owner revealed how they found out that Chaktah the dog can navigate the stairs just fine when his owners caught him in the lie.

"This is the face of a senior dog who just got caught in a massive lie of almost a year," the video said, capturing Chaktah's innocent expression. In the video, the owner explained that the elderly dog will bark until his owners carry him like royalty up and down the stairs. Despite some suspicions, it wasn't until recently that they caught him red-handed.

After carrying him upstairs as usual, they noticed telltale signs that the dog had already been there on his own. A pile of clothes, left neatly stacked earlier that day, were now scattered across the floor.

"We understand he just missed us and wanted some comfort," the owner said, explaining they were amused by the dog's actions. "He can use the stairs just fine," the video said, "but he's not going to let us stop carrying him, that's for sure."

With more than 600,000 views on TikTok, dog lovers rushed to the comments to share their reactions.

"Your honor, my client is innocent. There is zero evidence my client was ever at the scene of the crime. The prosecution's case is circumstantial at best," viewer Colton joked.

A picture of 13-year-old Chaktah the dog from the viral TikTok video. The crafty canine had fooled his owners into thinking he was unable to make it up the stairs and needed to be carried. A picture of 13-year-old Chaktah the dog from the viral TikTok video. The crafty canine had fooled his owners into thinking he was unable to make it up the stairs and needed to be carried. @chaktah.lhasaapso/TikTok

While TikToker Mads had her own similar story: "I'm a dogsitter and just watched a 15-year-old with no health issues. Owners told me he couldn't do the stairs, but every night for nine nights he slept with me in the guest room. He would just appear," she said.

Others also shared similar stories of canine pretending. Viewer E1234567 said: "I know a dog just like that. Pretended he can't go up the stairs because he just wants to be carried."

Rebecca said: "I'm convinced my dog pretends she is deaf."

Newsweek reached out to poster @chaktah.lhasaapso via TikTok for comment.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.