Does your dog actually believe it's a squirrel, or is he just smart enough to know barking gets him fries? I'm leaning towards the latter because I do the same thing. I'll complain about random noises if I think it'll score me some food. Like, my oven timer goes off and I'll grumble about it being too loud, but really I'm just hoping someone hands me a piece of whatever's cooking. It's a bad habit I picked up from living alone, where I talk to appliances more than people. So your dog might be training you better than you think, turning every air fryer session into a treat negotiation. Maybe I should take notes from him for my next family dinner.
Man, you cracked the code. My dog absolutely fakes it for snacks (the doorbell bark is his go-to move when the treats jar looks full). He's basically running a tiny furry hustle, and I'm the easy mark handing out bribes. Living alone totally does that to you, though I draw the line at negotiating with my toaster.
Honestly that's a solid point about the dog training us, never really saw it that way. Tbh betty_kelly9 is right too, it's a full on hustle they've got going. Ngl I'm gonna be side-eyeing my own dog's next "alert" bark a lot harder now.