'I'm Crying': Tiny Puppy Imitates Owner in Heartwarming Video

A charming video showing a tiny puppy's spirited attempt at impersonating their human companion is delighting pet fans online.

Footage of Snowball, who is just a few months old, attempting to imitate his owner by saying "hey" has touched the hearts of millions since being shared to TikTok by nukkk123.

At the time of writing, the heartwarming clip of the Louisiana-based canine had been viewed 4.5 million times. You can watch it here.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but, in the case of dogs, it's a little more sophisticated than that. Dogs have been shown to often imitate their human companions. In 2011 researchers from the Department of Cognitive Biology at the University of Vienna put the theory to the test.

The study saw a group of canines trained to open a sliding door using their head and their paw. The dogs were then split into two groups. Half received a food reward for opening the door using the same method as their owner, while half were rewarded for using an alternative that differed to their human companion.

What researchers found was that despite the offer of a food reward for the dogs, the latter group were still more inclined to copy their owner. Concluding that the reaction is a result of years of selective breeding and training, scientists theorized that dogs are essentially hardwired to follow their owner's lead—in every sense of the word.

So, when Snowball attempted to copy his owner, one school of thought might be that he was simply doing so to win favor with his human friend.

However, another might simply say he was being adorable and, given the resulting footage, it's difficult to disagree with this particular theory, especially when Snowball's attempts at saying "hey" result in the puppy letting out a seemingly silent "hello."

Animal behavior debates aside, evidently one thing everyone on social media could agree on was that the video was very cute.

"The face it made," niaafenn29 wrote. "So cute." Bignastydekoyone commented: "Ouch my heart," while rubymary06 said: "I'm crying right now this is so funny."

"My heart," cantbeatspecialkaii replied. "Why was that so cute?"

User9930180042380 said: "I love watching this video," with Cynthia Cass confessing: "I watch this several times a day!!" Leslie Serna dubbed the footage the "cutest thing ever," while JudyR1972 was bowled over by Snowball's efforts at impersonating his owner, writing: "He's trying so hard to mimic you."

Elsewhere, Notorious_Blinks_LLC was left "screaming" in delight at the clip, while Isaiah.jabbour came up with one of the best gags, commenting: "Bros mic was muted."

Newsweek has contacted nukkk123 for comment.