Precious pooch's meeting with Santa goes viral

It’s the Christmas photo that’s warming hearts across the nation: a precious pooch nestled in the arms of Saint Nicholas.

The adorable encounter between the 1-year-old  Shiba Inu and Santa Claus all started with her Santa toy.

“She picks it up with her mouth and she throws it behind her and then she runs after it and we play fetch with her with it too, “ said Christina Montaldo.

The Montaldo family of Altamonte Springs, Florida quickly realized that the Santa toy was definitely their dog Kya’s favorite.

"She ripped this one to shreds,” Montaldo said.

A few weeks ago they decided to introduce Kya to the real deal, Santa Clause up close and personal, and the result was a Christmas classic.

“We got home and we left it on the kitchen counter and then two days later we see it on twitter with so many retweets and likes, he posted it on twitter ,” Montaldo said, pointing towards her brother.

More than 89,000 retweets and 150,000 likes and counting --  they couldn’t believe the response.

“We thought just our friends were going to retweet it, we thought we were going to get like 20,”said Angelina Montaldo.

Even though she’s already met him in person, Kris Kringle is still Kya’s favorite toy.