Article Lead Image

Screengrab via YouTube/TIME

Putin gets a puppy, and we have a lot of feelings about it

Meet Verny.

 

Tiffany Kelly

Internet Culture

Posted on Oct 11, 2017   Updated on May 22, 2021, 2:36 pm CDT

Oct. 7 marked Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s 65th birthday. But Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, gave Putin a late birthday gift on Wednesday during a meeting in Sochi: a puppy named Verny.

Putin seemed oddly happy about the gift.

This isn’t the first puppy that Putin has received as a gift. In 2010 he was given a Karakachan puppy, which he named Buffy, from the Bulgarian prime minister. Putin also has an Akita dog named Yume. It seems that Putin has a soft spot for dogs.

But the handoff of the new puppy was super weird. Why is Berdymukhamedov holding the animal like it’s covered in dirt? Yes, it’s normal to pick up a small puppy by the scuff of its neck. But this was a photographed event. It was an awkward and weird way to present the puppy to Putin.

https://twitter.com/rynprry/status/918157162475610112

https://twitter.com/Peaoui_UK/status/918119749871132672

Putin handled the puppy with more care. He cradled it in his arms and kissed it before letting it walk around. Some people thought Putin’s reaction to the puppy made the Russian leader appear more tender.

https://twitter.com/Isaac061300/status/918181604064821248

Other people were worried about the puppy’s safety.

The whole scene was an easy set-up for jokes about the relationship between Putin and President Donald Trump.

Verny is an albai pup by the way, a shepherd dog native to Turkmenistan.

Share this article
*First Published: Oct 11, 2017, 6:05 pm CDT