Any dog lover will tell you the couple hundred bucks a year they spend on their pet is well worth the investment.
But an Algonquin student has found a way for his new puppy to enrich both his heart and his bank account.
Thomas Kiperchuk, a second-year student in the internet applications and web development program, recently adopted a puggle puppy – a cross between a pug and a beagle – and named her Jynx. He had the foresight to whip out his cell phone and record a video as he served Jynx her first taste of peanut butter on a spoon.
Jynx, eyes widened, earnestly chomped down on the utensil with the finesse of a meat grinder, adorably unaware that a flurry of licks would’ve done the job just fine.
Kiperchuk uploaded the clip, entitled “Puppy’s first peanut butter treat,” to YouTube.
“I thought I captured a funny moment so I began sharing the video with friends,” said Kiperchuk.
“They liked it, so I thought I’d share it to Reddit because I frequent the site.”
From there, third-party video content websites came knocking with offers to buy the rights to the video. He accepted a deal with Storyful that includes a $500 up-front payout as well as a revenue-sharing agreement for future advertising money generated off the video at a rate of $1-2 per thousand views.
Kiperchuk anticipates the video will earn him around $2,000 USD – enough to cover a semester’s tuition. It’s amassed over 700,000 views as of this writing, and is on track to easily surpass the million mark.
The video has been featured on popular content platforms such as Mashable, Hello Giggles, Metro and ICanHazCheezeburger.
It’s not the first time Kiperchuk has turned puppy footage into a payday. His other dog, Landy, a rottweiler-pug mix, also became somewhat of a viral sensation last winter. He captured footage of Landy with a cone around her head, acting loopy on pain medication after surgery. That video amassed 132,000 views, earning him around $500.
He’s also since sold two other videos featuring his dogs as a duo, including a clip of the pair eating watermelon, as he continues to populate his “LandyAndJynx” YouTube channel.
“I’m feeding them everything and taping it now,” laughed Kiperchuk.
Kiperchuk has also launched Instagram and Facebook pages dedicated to the duo, which can be found under the search term “landyandjynx.”