Meet Daisy, Palmetto Bay's Tree-Climbing Chihuahua

Leah Saunders Goldstein and her aunt were cruising through the village of Palmetto Bay with the windows down last week when they encountered a chihuahua on the 10-foot-high limb of an oak tree in a residential backyard. Just beneath the dog's paws hung a sign that read: "OUR DOG'S CLIMB TREES, THEY ARE FINE."

"I stopped, and I go, 'Oh, my, God!'" Saunders Goldstein tells New Times. "And she [the dog] is just staring at us on top of the sign."

Though Saunders Goldstein lives down the road from the sign and had passed it several times before, this was the first time she caught a glimpse of the neighborhood legend: Daisy, the tree-climbing chihuahua.

Naturally, she whipped out her phone, took a video of the bizarre sight, and shared it on TikTok with the caption, "Miami things." To date, the video has raked in more than 1.5 million likes, which is how Daisy's owners tracked her down, explaining matter-of-factly that the dog just really enjoys climbing trees.

"I thought it was absolutely adorable," Saunders Goldstein says.

@lsaunders6 Miami things #miami #dog #funny #fypシ #foryoupage #trending ♬ original sound - LeahSaunders

A handful of YouTube videos posted over the years feature chihuahuas impressively scaling trees. According to pet-care company Wag! several dog breeds are known to climb trees, including the Louisiana Catahoula leopard dog, the tree walker coonhound, the Jack Russell terrier, the New Guinea singing dog, and the raccoon dog.

Daisy's owners told Saunders Goldstein that they posted the sign after several people knocked on their door worried that Daisy would fall out of the tree. At least once, police were said to have been called.

But Saunders Goldstein can attest that Daisy appears to be "totally chilling" up there. Apparently, her limb of choice offers a "great view" of the neighborhood and a popular park.

"She watches tons of people walking by," Saunders Goldstein says. "And she's kind of quiet, so you don't hear her. You just have to spot her."

By popular demand, Daisy's owners recently created their own TikTok — @daisygirlkansy — to document their chihuahua's tree-climbing shenanigans. In one clip, fittingly set to the Mission Impossible theme song, Daisy stands guard on her favorite tree limb in her backyard before her owners catch her in the act. "Get down," they holler, whereupon Daisy dutifully skitters to the ground.

@daisygirlkansy Another perspective of Daisy, the tree climbing dog. @lsaunders6 #chihuahua #miami #dog #funny #fypシ #foryoupage #trending #onlyindade ♬ Mission Impossible (Main Theme) - Favorite Movie Songs

After the video went viral, members of the Online Grammar Police were quick to point out the punctuation error in the sign, i.e., the apostrophe in "dog's." On the r/AnimalsBeingDerps page on Reddit, where the clip was eventually shared, users took turns cracking jokes at the typo. (Saunders Goldstein says Daisy's owners realized the error after the sign was printed).

"Now people knock on their door to point out that there's a grammatical error in their tree!" one user commented with a laughing emoji.

"That dog is like that apostrophe," another wrote, "hangin around where it shouldn't."

Please report any and all sightings of tree-climbing dogs to [email protected].