--- title: Milkshake the Cow Thinks She's a Dog description: This is the cutest identity issue ever. canonical: https://time.com/2849215/milkshake-the-rescue-cow-thinks-shes-a-dog/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-09T18:56:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:10:33.720Z og:title: Milkshake the Rescue Cow Thinks She's a Dog og:description: The cutest case of identity confusion ever og:url: https://time.com/2849215/milkshake-the-rescue-cow-thinks-shes-a-dog/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Milkshake the Rescue Cow Thinks She's a Dog twitter:description: The cutest case of identity confusion ever twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Milkshake the Rescue Cow Thinks She's a Dog by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jun 9, 2014 6:56 PM UTC by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jun 9, 2014 6:56 PM UTC There are two very important things that you must know about this cow: 1) Her name is Milkshake, 2) [She thinks she’s a dog](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2652156/Shes-udderly-confused-Half-ton-California-cow-thinks-DOG.html?ITO=1490&ns%5Fmchannel=rss&ns%5Fcampaign=1490)—aka the cutest animal identity issue ever. The 1,200 pound, 8-year-old cow spent the first two years of her life living in a 10×10 pen until she was rescued by the [Grace Foundation](http://thegracefoundation.com). She had never been introduced to other cows, so upon her rescue, she took to acting like rancher Beth DiCaprio’s dog Riley. “Milkshake is still not convinced she is a cow and has never been a fan of grazing,” [DiCaprio told _Caters_](http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/479968/Cow-thinks-she-s-a-dog-at-California-ranch). “I think she thinks it’s pointless finding her own food when she can wait on us bringing it to her in a bowl, like her dog friends.” Milkshake follows DiCaprio around—sometimes into the bathroom, scaring herself upon seeing her own reflection—and moos when she hears her master is on her way home. Aw, Milkshake the cow think s she's a dog — Shirley Anne Edwards (@ShirlAwriter) [June 9, 2014](https://twitter.com/ShirlAwriter/status/475998383455215618?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2849215/milkshake-the-rescue-cow-thinks-shes-a-dog/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2849215/milkshake-the-rescue-cow-thinks-shes-a-dog/"},"headline":"Milkshake the Rescue Cow Thinks She's a Dog","datePublished":"2014-06-09T18:56:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:33.720Z","description":"The cutest case of identity confusion ever","url":"https://time.com/2849215/milkshake-the-rescue-cow-thinks-shes-a-dog/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","video","Dog"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2849215/milkshake-the-rescue-cow-thinks-shes-a-dog/","name":"Milkshake the Rescue Cow Thinks She's a Dog"}}]}] ```