Basic Trope: Dogs bark at and chase squirrels.
- Straight: Fido goes crazy every time he sees a squirrel in the backyard.
- Exaggerated:
- Fido not only hates squirrels, but is actively plotting to annihilate them all.
- Fido will even bark at the mere imagery of squirrels and attack people in squirrel costumes.
- Dogs and squirrels have a long and bitter rivalry between each other.
- Downplayed: Fido dislikes squirrels, but doesn't really show hostility towards them apart from the occasional growl.
- Justified:
- Fido's predatory instincts are triggered and chasing squirrels is his way of bringing out his inner wolf.
- Fido is following his duties as a guard dog and keeping those pesky squirrels out of his owner's vegetable patch.
- Fido had a traumatic experience with squirrels in the past that made him absolutely resent them.
- Fido is an Evil-Detecting Dog and the squirrels In-Universe happen to be sinister creatures.
- Fido was trained from puppyhood to chase squirrels and other small animals in order to be an effective hunting dog.
- Inverted:
- Fido loves squirrels, to the point of treating one as a friend...or more.
- Fido hates every other animal but squirrels.
- Other animals hate squirrels, but for some reason not dogs.
- Fido doesn't have any strong feelings towards squirrels, but his owner just can't stand them.
- Squirrels chase dogs.
- Subverted: Fido rushes towards a squirrel, barking madly. However, he then gives the squirrel a big lick and the two start playing together. The squirrel finally tosses a stick over the fence and Fido goes to fetch it.
- Double Subverted: Fido returns only to discover this was all a ruse to distract him so that the squirrel could ransack the garden. Fido promply chases it out.
- Parodied: Fido and his owner Alice take a walk when a squirrel hops in front of them. Fido chases the squirrel around Alice several times until her legs are tied up by his leash. Alice falls over and gets dragged along as the chase continues.
- Zig-Zagged:
- Fido only hates one or a few particular squirrels but doesn't mind any others.
- Fido is the only dog who hates squirrels. The other dogs don't seem to mind them.
- All dogs except Fido hate squirrels.
- Averted: Dogs and squirrels are indifferent towards each other.
- Enforced: The producers insisted that Fido should chase a squirrel because it's a common Animal Stereotype.
- Lampshaded: "What is it with dogs and squirrels?"
- Invoked: Fido doesn't have any reason to chase squirrels, but does it anyway simply because it's an Animal Stereotype.
- Exploited:
- Fido chases squirrels in order to prove his worth as a guard dog/hunting dog.
- Fido pays the squirrels off with acorns to make a mess of the garden so he can chase them away and earn treats from his owners.
- Defied: Fido resists the urge to chase the squirrel in front of him.
- Discussed: "I should be chasing that squirrel right now, but I'm way too tired from that walk."
- Conversed: "You think I'm some sort of dumb dog that loses its mind every time a squirrel comes along? My trainer taught me better than that!"
- Implied: Fido thinks that squirrels are a little bit nuts.
- Deconstructed: Fido went ballistic in his pursuit of a squirrel, causing havoc across the neighborhood in the process. Alice discovers multiple trash bins knocked over and is met with angry neighbors, demanding something be done about Fido's "squirrel problem". She decides to take Fido to a canine specialist who could train him.
- Reconstructed: After months of training, Fido is a changed dog. Now whenever he sees a squirrel, he only lets out a few barks. Alice is able to calm him down with a simple obedience trick.
Back to... SQUIRREL!
