Peru the dog absolutely loves snow. But arriving at an open space in her local neighborhood this winter, the young canine was astounded to see a snowman for the first time. In a widely viewed video, she races around in circles unsure how to respond before tentatively making her approach.
Hilariously, Peru then does what any self-respecting pup would do. Seeing Mr. Snowman’s arms are made of sticks, she takes one between her teeth and runs off with it.
Peru’s owner, Marisa Martino, 41, says her 18-month-old pet always runs off the leash in the public zone near her home in Boulder, Colorado.
“Normally when I unclip her, she just tears off around that open space, but this time she ran, and then she paused because she was like, ‘What the hell is that?!’ That’s when I pulled the camera out,” Ms. Martino said.
Ms. Martino, a certified dog behavior consultant, who works both with private clients and as a consultant for animal shelters on the West Coast, says her dog switched from cautious to play mode in a flash.
“That moment was a perfect example of her personality. She’s very sensitive, and yet really resilient at the same time. She had huge curiosity, a little bit of hesitancy, and then when she investigated she realized it was no big deal,” Ms. Martino said.
“The rapid way she moved from sniffing and investigating to grabbing the stick though was hysterical and made me laugh so hard.”
Ms. Martino, who is currently in the process of relocating from Colorado to Santa Cruz, California, got Peru as a 4-month-old puppy from a Colorado rescue. She says that being a behavior consultant means she is “really picky” and fostered roughly 20 other dogs before finally choosing Peru.
“I’m in the animal sheltering business so I had a million different shelters in the Colorado area looking [for a dog to adopt] for me, and I was very particular about what I wanted,” she said.
Watch the video:
In the picture, pretty Peru is sitting in the front seat of a car, her sweet expression enough to melt anyone’s heart. She had been found, along with her mom and littermates, by a river in Kansas but ended up in front of Ms. Martino since Colorado rescue groups often conduct transfers from neighboring states.
Ms. Martino just had to meet this young, in-need dog. The instant they met, she fell in love right away. It was the right decision.
“Peru loves people,” Ms. Martino said, “and always wants to say hello. She makes a lot of people smile and a lot of people really happy. I have a lot of experience being around her and having her light up someone’s day. People always want to stop and say hello to her and ask questions about her.”
“I added this video because I thought, ‘Everybody needs to see this.’ I watched it, like, a hundred times,” she said.
Countless followers have agreed.
“I love this so much. I love how happy she gets after stealing the arm,” commented one netizen.
Another wrote: “There is no greater joy than watching a dog in action who has ‘stolen’ something.”
