By Alyce CollinsShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA man who was grieving the loss of his soul dog was given the gift of a lifetime when his family surprised him with an early Christmas present – his dream puppy.
For many months, Aubrey, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, could see how heartbroken her stepdad John was after losing his 14-year-old Shih Tzu. She told Newsweek that the senior dog was John’s “best friend,” and as any pet owner knows, it’s a loss unlike any other.
But John had recently started talking about wanting another dog, so Aubrey and her family knew exactly what to do.
Aubrey said: “This time he wanted a golden retriever. He said he’s wanted one since he was a little kid, so we planned the surprise for about three weeks.”
...The family planned a dinner to surprise John with his early Christmas gift. Aubrey concocted a story that her fiancé needed to go look at some machinery with is brother-in-law (who owns a landscaping company).
Indeed, John “didn’t even think twice” about this plan and he happily went with them to look at the skid steer. Little did he know, he’d be returning home with a new best friend.
“We all loaded up in two vehicles to go look at this supposed skid steer when in reality, we were really picking up John’s surprise puppy,” Aubrey said. “John had absolutely no idea. I knew that he was going to cry when we surprised him, and it made me so emotional.”
The golden retriever puppy was given the name Jack by the breeder, and John liked how simple it sounded, so kept it. John and Jack are loving their new life together and they’ve been inseparable since day one.
Aubrey shared a video on TikTok (@aubreyboymomma) showing the precious moment her family surprised John with his dream dog. The adorable clip has melted plenty of hearts online, leading to more than 1.2 million views and over 176,600 likes at the time of writing.
The video shows the moment John took the puppy into his arms and instantly started crying tears of joy. He couldn’t hide his shock when he joked, “you guys set me up” and started laughing.
The online response is beyond anything Aubrey anticipated. It was clear that this was a special moment for her family, but she had no idea that people from around the world would become so invested in John and Jack’s new friendship.
“It’s been so fun to have the video go viral, and we talk about it every day. Reading all the comments and seeing where people are from has been so special,” Aubrey told Newsweek.
In just a matter of days, the TikTok video has amassed over 2,300 comments already, as internet users praised the heartfelt reaction.
One comment reads: “That’s the cutest skid steer I’ve ever seen!”
Another TikTok user wrote: “We need the chronicles of Grandaddy and doggy.”
While another person replied: “That beats a skid steer any day!”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to [email protected] and they could appear on our site.
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