These Photos Show a Prank War Between an Elf on the Shelf and Two Golden Retrievers

published Dec 26, 2019
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Post Image

Elf on the Shelf can be a friendly outlet for those with prankster spirits. One organization has taken the game to the next level by staging its elf with two golden retrievers. If you already love Elf on the Shelf, you’ll love it even more when dogs are involved. (And if you find the traveling elf irritating, you have to admit these dogs are adorable—not to mention excellent models.)

The dog-elf photos come from Instagram account of Surf Dog Ricochet, an organization that offers activities including therapeutic surfing-with-dogs sessions to “kids and adults with autism, special needs and disabilities” as well as veterans with PTSD.

For the past couple of weeks, the Instagram account has been mostly dedicated to photos of two golden retrievers with an Elf on the Shelf doll engaging in a (staged, of course) prank war. 

Often the dogs appear to have the upper hand on the elf, sticking it in the toaster or the shredder or running it over with a car. But the elf strikes back, applying Nair to one of the dogs and feeding it prescription medication. Most of the scenarios are pretty violent if you think about it, but since they’re all staged, no dogs or elves appear to have been harmed.

The person who runs the Surf Dog Ricochet account includes disclaimers on some of the posts, for example, specifying that the dogs did not eat Pop Rocks (which would probably freak them out at best) but instead were given peanut butter so they’d be licking their lips in the photo.

One clever photo shows the elf trimming a dog’s nails—which is not violent, and would definitely irritate most dogs in real life.

The prank war ended on Christmas with a photo showing the whole gang with Santa. Santa holds the elf in one hand while appearing to listen to one of the dogs whisper in his ear. “I whispered in Santa’s ear & he agreed TO TAKE THE ELF BACK!!!!! 🎅” says the caption, apparently in one of the dog’s voices. “The prank war is over! Who do you think won?”

What do you think? Does this one go to the elf or to the dogs?