California Teacher Threatens to Kill Puppy if Students Lose 'Vocab Bowl'

Well, here's the weirdest "bucking" thing you'll see all day ... a teacher cracking a joke about killing a puppy in order to motivate his students to win a vocabulary competition.

Woof!

A California high school teacher named Ryan Price at Buckingham Charter Magnet was trying to get his class fired up for the "Vocab Bowl" -- in which it was leading over some rival schools -- by bringing in a brand new mascot ... an adorable puppy named Buck.

Pretty awesome method of encouragement! Except ... Mr. Price then goes on a rant about doing your "bucking vocab" and issues a threat to the kids -- if they lose the Vocab Bowl, he'll "kill the dog."

To be fair, it clearly seems to be a joke -- albeit a tad deranged -- but the teacher also recently posted a TikTok explaining why he got Buck ... and it's a pretty sweet story!

But then, yet again ... he ends his video with "Please don't make me kill this dog. Do your bucking vocab!"

They say the ends justify the means ... but this is a little much, Mr. Price.

We'll be checking in on Buck if the students blow their lead in the Vocab Bowl.