Krasnoyarsk Family's Puppy Surprise Video Goes Viral

A video showing a boy«s reaction to being surprised with a dog has gained more than nine million views in nine days. The clip was posted on social media by the child»s mother, Yana Maslakova of Krasnoyarsk. She told an NGS24.RU correspondent that the family did not expect such popularity. But now they may start a blog, including showing their new pet.

Yana and her husband gave their son Mark a maltipoo puppy — the boy had long dreamed of having a pet, and his parents decided to surprise him. In the video, Mark is asked to pose for a photo. At the start of the clip, Yana asks him to stretch his arms forward as if he is holding something. Mark«s father, standing behind him, places a box in his son»s hands, and inside is a white puppy.

At first the boy smiled, but then immediately burst into tears of happiness and, trying to hide his emotions, buried his face in his new friend.

“Dreams come true. Children«s reactions are priceless, we all cried, even the neighbors. Now we have a new family member — Teddy,” Yana Maslakova wrote.

The clip quickly gained popularity. At the time of writing, it had nine million views, 984,000 likes, and more than 9,100 comments. In the comments, Mark was nicknamed Malysh and compared to the character from the Karlsson-on-the-Roof fairy tale. Celebrities also joined the discussion: singers Lyusya Chebotina and Milana Khametova, actor Aleksandr Oleshko, and popular bloggers.

Yana clarified in her conversation with our correspondent that they had not expected such popularity. According to her, the child had been asking for a dog for a long time, and at some point the parents decided to get one. It happened spontaneously: she and her husband were sitting at home, Mark was out for a walk, and Yana suggested going to look at a dog. They chose a two-month-old maltipoo. On the way, they came up with how to give it to him.

“We even argued. My husband said, ‘There probably won«t be a reaction. He»s expecting a puppy anyway.« I said, ‘No, he»s not expecting it right now, there will be a reaction,«” Yana recalls.

She originally filmed the video for a family chat to show relatives.

“Then everyone started shedding tears, and I thought, let me post it online,” she continued. “I«m far from being a blogger; I mostly use [social media] as an album. I posted it and was shocked at how quickly the clip spread. Various people started writing kind words, even in private messages there were many kind words from different cities. I chatted with a girl from Germany about dogs, and a married couple from Ufa was so moved that they also gave their girls a gift — a puppy, they shared with me.”

Yana said she does not yet know how she will run her social media page, but she may retrain as a blogger: “I«ll probably post more of the dog, my child, try to capture interesting moments, and learn how to run a blog.”

“Our boy is generally very kind and loves animals; he even buys sausages for dogs in the yard and feeds them. That«s probably why his reaction was so touching,” the young woman reflects. “He even sits and suffers through movies about animals. Now he takes full care of the dog himself and protects it.”