Rhett Barkley isn’t just any Goldendoodle. They’re all cute. They’re all good boys and girls (or so we tell them). But Rhett is a social media star on top of all that.

Not by choice, of course, but his family has managed to find the time to record “the adventures of our GoldenDoodles, Rhett “Buckeye” Barkley and Ms. Scarlett O’Doodle” since 2011. That’s quite a commitment to doggie stardom, but the payoff has been over 9 million views on their selection of videos from the lives of Rhett and Scarlett.

And there are over 100 videos!

Rhett actually came first and the family got Scarlett in 2013. The video of them meeting accounts for the vast majority of views – 8.8 million of them!

That’s because Rhett got Scarlett as a birthday gift.

Now, let’s put aside the gender politics and strangeness of gifting a dog to a dog and try to concentrate on the cute part. (But do see the comment section for all sorts of hot takes – and, by now, cold takes – of this situation and feel free to add your own.)

As a good boy and a very social dog, we’ll give the family credit for taking on and caring for another animal so their dog could be happy. And by all accounts, they both have a very loving home and Scarlett isn’t treated as the elder dog’s plaything.

When Rhett turned two, you can imagine it was a pretty big deal to “unwrap” his gift.

As a dog, of course, there’s no real unwrapping involved since he doesn’t have hands, but you know what we mean.

It all begins with Rhett’s dad letting him in from the porch to “come see what we’ve got.”

Rhett is highly suspicious. Dogs smell everything and since Goldendoodles tend to also be pretty smart, this dog knew something was up.

His barks indicate that he knows there’s another creature in the house and he’s not ready to run straight towards it.

Good boy, Rhett!

As the pup approaches mom, he does so with some trepidation – and he’s not a huge fan of the crinkling of the wrapping paper.

It’s not clear if the dog was totally wrapped, but she is in a box. And she’s fine – just confused.

Rhett sniffs the box as his parents do that thing that all parents do on birthdays and holidays where they get that high-pitched voice to try to get you to act as excited as they are about your gifts.

But Rhett is following his instincts.

Like any 2-year-old, he’s not ready to play along until he actually sees something great.

It’s clear to him there’s something alive in the box. He just doesn’t know if he’s thrilled with the whole concept of the live gift yet.

Then mom opens it.

Much sniffing occurs while the puppy sits patiently, perhaps wondering why someone is doing this and perhaps questioning whether she likes these people very much.

Everyone’s heart is in the right place here – and no dogs were harmed in the making of this film.

Meanwhile, Rhett finally sniffs enough to figure out it’s a dog.

And then the two make eye contact.

Of course, humans want this to be a special moment. Why watch this video unless there’s some payoff?

What do these 9 million views indicate?

Well, if you were cynical, you get your payoff immediately as Rhett scoffs and walks away.

Ouch.

Maybe he was hoping for something edible.

It’s important to notice there’s a cutaway moment here. We imagine mom and dad took the time to settle their dog and get him accustomed to the idea so they could film the second scene. And that involves Rhett back at the box.

Now, mom takes her out and Rhett can see that she had legs and everything. She’s small, but she moves and stuff and kind of looks like him, so there’s potential here.

Then we get scene 3 wherein Rhett watches the puppy sniff around while he sniffs her.

But will scene 4 be where it’s at? Now they’re outside!

NOW Rhett can see the gift he’s been given. Not some scared creature in a box, but a friend!

The puppy can run and play – and Rhett can’t wait to show her around.

Now it’s Scarlett’s turn to be unimpressed. She watches Rhett from between dad’s feet like, “why is this dog jumping all over the place and running around me in circles?”

Hey, sometimes we all need a moment to collect ourselves. She’s in a new place and we’re not sure how much time she’s had to explore without Rhett floating all around her like a barking tornado.

The final scene is Rhett doing all sorts of things to impress her and, perhaps, welcome her to the vast green acreage he calls his playground.

We’ll give you one glimpse of how hard he tries:

But you’ll have to scroll down to see the rest – and don’t forget to click on the rest of the videos to see their “happily ever after.”

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Source: Rhett Barkley via YouTube, Goldendoodle Advice