Xiaobai has been picking up recyclable bottles in Guangzhou City since it was a puppy, continuing the habit for more than five years.
Earlier this month, Xiaobai’s owner Zhang posted a video on Chinese social media platform Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, saying the dog had already saved up 100,000 yuan ($14,700) through collecting bottles.
Xiaobai collects plastic bottles in China as seen in screenshots from his Douyin channel’s videos. |
Zhang said Xiaobai developed a liking for picking up bottles when it was around four to five months old, according to Shanghai Daily.
The habit reportedly began one day when Xiaobai picked up empty plastic bottles, and some homeless people exchanged meat for them, so they could resell the scraps for money.
Since then, the dog came to associate bottles with food, and the behavior quickly escalated to the point where it began going out daily to collect bottles, according to Jiefang Daily.
Every day, Xiaobai goes out three times—in the morning, noon and evening—with each trip lasting 20 to 30 minutes.
Whenever it spots a bottle, it immediately runs over to grab it. If the bottle still contains water, Xiaobai uses its front paws to steady it, twists off the cap with its teeth, empties the water, crushes the bottle and carries it home.
Zhang said he has tried to stop Xiaobai from collecting bottles but was unsuccessful.
“Actually, we don’t lack this money. My original intention in filming it was just to record its life. I didn’t expect it to become popular, and that it would generate revenue for the platform,” Zhang said as quoted by Jiefang Daily.
“There are also many stray cats in our neighborhood, and we can use this income to do something more meaningful,” he said.
Zhang admitted he was once concerned about Xiaobai’s obsession with collecting bottles, but whenever he tried to stop it, the dog would refuse to eat or drink and become depressed.
“Before it became famous, it would earn about a dozen yuan a day from the bottles collected. But now that it’s gone viral, every nearby shop saves bottles for it. It can earn over 50 yuan a day just by collecting bottles. The income is quite impressive – both from social media videos and bottle collection,” the owner shared with CQ News.
At first, the bottles Xiaobai collected earned around 20 yuan per day.
Over the past two years, many local residents have begun setting aside empty bottles for Xiaobai to collect. Income from selling recyclables now exceeds 1,000 yuan per month. During the five-day holiday in early May alone, the dog earned 216 yuan.
However, the biggest source of income comes from social media.
Zhang has posted videos of Xiaobai under the handle gouxiaobai (which translates to “Dog Xiaobai”). The account has amassed 348,500 followers and millions of likese.
A video of Xiaobai collecting plastic bottles as posted on the Douyin channel Dog Xiaobai on April 25, 2026.
Zhang said he created a separate account to manage Xiaobai’s earnings. Around 30% is used for the dog’s living expenses, another 30% is set aside as savings, while the remaining 40% is donated to animal rescue organizations and used to buy food for stray cats in the neighborhood.
In a Douyin video posted on Feb. 2 during the Lunar New Year period, Zhang is seen placing lucky money into red envelopes and sorting the plastic bottles collected by Xiaobai into several bags. He then hands the bags, along with the red envelopes, to elderly homeless people nearby, taking Xiaobai with him along the way.
Zhang told Global Times that he hopes Xiaobai’s five years of persistence will inspire people to work hard in their own lives and careers.
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