A Kamloops dog will never know how famous he his.
Montana, a 10-year-old golden Labrador belonging to Melanie and Craig DeWolf, is a YouTube sensation after a family video surpassed one million views this week.
“We were hoping to get maybe 500 views when we first put it on,” said Melanie.
“It’s just crazy. We weren’t expecting one million.”
DeWolf’s husband made the cellphone recording on Jan. 26, while out for a walk with Montana at Pine Park, near Kamloops Airport. The couple’s daughter, Mikayla, posted it to YouTube that day.
The video is one minute and 19 seconds long and shows Montana carrying a one-metre-long branch in his mouth as he tries unsuccessfully to pass through a narrow park gate.
The dog can’t figure out that he needs to turn his head to the side for the stick to pass through. He repeatedly clanks the stick into the metal gateposts in a humorous sequence reminiscent of a Three Stooges film, all the while whimpering because he doesn’t want to leave the stick behind.
And YouTube viewers, it seems, love every second of it. As of Tuesday, the video had reached 1,003,822 views.
“We’ve had management companies messaging to ask if they can sponsor the video,” said DeWolf. “And Good Morning America and the Today Show — all these people asking to use the video. And that was just in the first week.”
So far, no money has come of it, but DeWolf said the family wasn’t looking for money when they put Montana online. They simply thought the video would entertain viewers, which it certainly has.
“He tried his best, I love this video. Thanks for posting,” wrote one commenter.
“How sweet is that! A dog and his stick!,” wrote another.
There were 432 comments on the site Tuesday.
As for Montana, the viral video won’t be the last time anyone sees him with a stick.
He’s been a stick-loving dog since he was a pup. (He once tried to grab hold of a log on the beach, but gave up after a few minutes of wrestling; it was just too heavy to move).
A log. A twig. It doesn’t much matter to Montana; if it’s lying on the ground, he’ll put it in his mouth and try to carry it home.
As another commenter said, “No stick left behind.”
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