Dog Who Loves His Santa Claus Toy Gets to Meet the Man Himself
John and Angelina Montaldo's Shiba Inu named Kaya met St. Nick.
— -- A 1-year-old Shiba Inu named Kya absolutely loves the Santa Claus toy that her owners bought her. So when she met the real deal, she just about freaked out.
When Kya's owners -- brother and sister John and Angelina Montaldo -- heard that their local mall in Orlando, Florida, was offering pet photos with Old St. Nick, they jumped at the chance.
"Last year we got her [this toy] at the dollar store when we first got her," John, 16, told ABC News. "She just always liked that one and bit his beard and stuff."
The two thought Kya would love to meet Santa Claus, and they were right.
"Once she first saw him, she was getting really excited," John said. "She was super calm and looking at him amazed."
The siblings thought it would be hilarious to share Kya's excited photo on Twitter. What they didn't expect was the photo to go viral, with more than 80,000 retweets and more than 140,000 likes.