'Himalayan fur goblin' videos going viral on social media and boosting dog adoption rates in US

Fancy taking home a Himalayan Fur Goblin or a Teacup Werewolf?

A US photographer’s creative twist on dog nicknames and adoption social media posts has gone viral and has helped scores of pooches find new homes.

For more than a decade Adrian Budnick has taken adoption photos of the abandoned dogs at Nashville’s county animal shelter.

During the pandemic, she started to take some creative licence to her marketing efforts.

Budnick invented humorous nicknames and captured individual personalities of four-legged furry friends needing new families.

She struck gold with the “What’s this then?” series — short videos featuring goofy dog names that drew in viewers and boosted adoptions.

“It was kind of just on a whim,” Budnick said.

“We had this — I’m assuming it was like a poodle-doodle situation, and he was really big and lanky.”

People often assume the shelter doesn’t have fluffy dogs, so Budnick adopted what she calls her “Karen” voice — slightly bored and complaining — when she looked into the camera to say: “The shelter only has pit bulls.”

“And then I held up this giant curly dog with legs and the tongue hanging out. And I was like: ‘What’s this then?’”

She called it a Himalayan Fur Goblin.

The video “exploded overnight,” Budnick said.

So much so that she went back the next day to make another one: “Because I’m like, I can’t let this go”.

Since then she has promoted the adoption of such imaginative dog breeds as the Teacup Werewolf and the Speckled Freckled Cuddle Calf.

Then there’s the French Baguette Long Lady and the Creamsicle Push-up Pup.

The shelter does get its share of pit bull mixes. A December video featuring several of them in festive costumes with Budnick singing “I Want a Pitt-o-potomous for Christmas” has been viewed more than five million times.

While it is gratifying to gain visibility, Budnick said, the real pay-off is in the adoptions.

Data provided by the shelter shows dog adoptions increased by just over 25 per cent between 2021 and 2024.

“We’ll get calls from all over. And it’s not just local here to Tennessee even,” said Metro Animal Care and Control Director Ashley Harrington.

“We’ve had an adopter from Canada. We’ve had ones from states all over.”

She said people often call asking about a specific, made-up dog breed from one of the videos.

“It’s been pretty great, and it’s been fun for our staff.”

The popularity of Budnick’s videos has also led to donations of money and supplies.

She loves it when other shelters copy her ideas, or even lip sync over her videos while showing their own dogs.

“I absolutely love dogs. I think they’re the best thing on earth,” she said.