Teaching dogs to do tricks can be pretty difficult, but one owner in New Zealand has managed to teach their Finnish Spitz a freaky trick. 

While many are just trying to teach their dogs to pee outdoors, Ashleigh MacPherson has been teaching her dog Kiko to flip its head 180 degrees. The result is similar to the possessed girl in The Exorcist, and the trick makes it look like the rules of biology have glitched. Nonetheless, Ashleigh is pretty proud of her Finnish Spitz.

The dog seems to have picked up the odd trick pretty easily, and Kiko now does the action when the command ‘demon’ is given. The result is some interesting photos and a lot of confused people who can’t fathom how the dog is doing the trick.

Ashleigh explained how she found out the dog could do the unique move and why it has kept doing it:

She has always done it, since she was a small puppy. At first, she started doing it as she slept. I always just thought ‘she just likes to sleep broken’.

I didn’t think too much of it, as dogs like to sleep in weird positions, but she began to do it to look at other dogs. Instead of turning her head around like a ‘normal’ dog she would bend her neck backwards.

Maybe she loves looking at the world upside down. As we built our bond, she begun to do it to keep her focus on me. So anytime she was facing away from me, she would bend her neck backwards, just to keep her focus on me.

Safe to say, Kiko has mystified people who have seen her do her ‘demon’ trick. Ashleigh said:

When people see her do it in public, their reactions are always the same. They looked shocked at first and ask, ‘how does she do that’ and then you can see them smile and laugh afterwards.

Despite her scary trick, Kiko has been a great comfort to Ashleigh during the coronavirus pandemic:

Kiko has been the best thing during these hard times. She is a ‘covid puppy’ and was actually born a few days before lockdown happened in New Zealand. She was a singleton puppy, so I got to spend my time with her, and her mum. Her company made me enjoy the time I had in lockdown.

She is quite a laid back, cuddly, sweet and a loving dog. But she is also sassy, playful and can have a lot to say. Finnish spitz are known for being extremely vocal, Kiko does have this trait, but it’s usually to just to ‘talk to you’.

While the ‘demon’ skill may be a bit creepy, it seems that Kiko is as loveable as any dog. The only difference is that this one has an extra twisty head.