Animal lovers have demanded that a dog should get his Christmas present early after he found his gift weeks before the big day.
Blue the black Labrador retriever thought Christmas had come early when he discovered a dog toy hidden away in his home, and went straight to his owner with his newfound treasure.
A viral video shared by Blue's owner @adotmorgan on TikTok on November 21 has gained almost 700,000 likes and a whopping 5.6 million views, as it showed the pup giving the ultimate puppy-dog eyes while begging for his gift.
In the clip, the young dog walks slowly up to the camera in a room filled with Christmas decorations, and in his mouth holds a green dog toy still attached to the packaging. Blue somehow has the sense to look guilty, as though he knows he has something he shouldn't have, but he's trying his luck anyway, as his owner asks: "Where did you find that?"
The pup wags his tail hopefully, and continues giving begging eyes, as she tells him: "Put that down. That's not for you yet!"
He drops the toy and allows his owner to take the Christmas-tree shaped stuffie, but he can't take his eyes off it even as the video ends.
His owner captioned the clip: "Somebody found a Christmas present... at 5:45 am," and added the hashtag: "Naughty or nice list."
TikTok users were obsessed, with one writing: "Santa obvi dropped it off for him early bc he's such a good boy."
"Finders keepers," another insisted, while one pleaded: "GIVE IT TO HIM INMEDIATELY," while one user declared: "His guilty little face I'm crying."
One eagle-eyed viewer noted it looked like Blue had already snatched one toy from the pack as there was room for two in the packaging, but as his owner replied: "I already gave him one EARLYYYY!"
And as one commented on "the way he tiptoes up," she replied: "He literally creeped in the living room so slowly, I was tickled!"
One user wrote: "I must know if he got it early or not," and fans of the dog will be glad to know that a later video show's Blue's owner wrapping up the toy in paper and giving it to the dog as yet another early Christmas present.
And, naturally, his reaction is to go crazy with excitement, ripping the toy from the paper and jumping around with the squeaky stuffie.
His owner shared that second video with the sweet caption: "Blue LOVES to open presents! He's proud to know he went viral, if only for a day! He is the sweetest most handsome boy in the whole wide world!"
Labradors have long been a popular family pet in the United States, having clinched the No. 1 spot on the American Kennel Club (AKC)'s most popular dog breeds list for 31 years before French Bulldogs took the title in 2021.
Labs are renowned for their affection towards family, young children and other dogs, with their easygoing personality making them a popular choice for families, according to the AKC.
Newsweek has contacted @adotmorgan on TikTok for comment on this story.
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