Dog who loves Santa toy gets to meet the real thing

ORLANDO, Fla. — Christmas came early for one dog this year.

ABC News reported that Kya, a 1-year-old shiba inu that belongs to Orlando, Florida, siblings John, 16; Christina, 18; and Angelina Montaldo, 19, is particularly fond of her Santa plush toy.

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"Last year we got her (this toy) at the dollar store when we first got her," John told ABC News. "She just always liked that one and bit his beard and stuff."

Angelina told BuzzFeed News that Kya, who has her own Instagram page, loves the toy so much, they have an extra one.

"She really loves her Santa, and she has to have it year-round," Angelina, said. "Whenever we come home, she brings it to us."

So this year, when they found out their local mall was offering pet photos with Santa, they surprised their dog with a visit.

John tweeted about the photo Tuesday and it has almost 90,000 retweets and nearly 150,000 likes.

"Once she first saw him, she was getting really excited," John told ABC News. "She was super calm and looking at him amazed."

"She just sat there and looked at him," Angelina told BuzzFeed. "She usually misbehaves when we take her to Petsmart, but she was behaving for Santa."

Cox Media Group