Photos of children crying in front of Santa Claus frequently go viral; however, this dog is all smiles for his photo opportunity with the big man.
Kya, a puppy of one year old, got a Santa toy for Christmas the year before, and it immediately became her favorite of the lot. Her family had to get her a second plush Santa when the original one wore out since it had been her favorite so much.
When John Montaldo, 16, Angelina Montaldo, and Christina Montaldo, learned that their local mall was going to host a day where pets could sit on Santa’s knee and be photographed, they knew they had to bring their adorable Shiba Inu. The siblings had anticipated that Kya’s reaction to seeing her favorite toy come to life would be humorous, and they were not let down by the outcome of their prediction.
The dog did as she was told and waited in line, and while she did so, her siblings saw that she kept staring up at Santa with a delighted expression on her face. When it came time for Kya to meet the man who was dressed in the large red costume, she climbed up onto his lap and smiled broadly for the camera. It seems as though she has spent her entire life looking forward to this particular day.
John decided to post the photograph on Twitter because he believed doing so would make his friends laugh. Since that time, the tweet has been liked by more than 150,000 people and has been shared by around 90,000 individuals.
John was only able to hazard a guess as to why the adorable dog has such a soft spot for Santa: “Perhaps she likes the beard,” he said on TODAY.