We're all suckers for a bit of puppy love! Livestream of new mum Hilkka the Lagotto Romagnolo and her cute brood brings joy to millions who can tune in 24/7

You might feel that reality TV has become tiresome, with B-list celebrity clashes and engineered arguments commonplace. 

Instead, you could tune into a 24/7 livestream of a Lagotto Romagnolo named Hilkka – dubbed the 'Big Brother for dogs'.

The adorable canine brought joy to millions after she gave birth to six puppies in the round-the-clock video feed. 

The Finnish programme follows a curly brown pooch as she looks after a litter of four female puppies and two males. 

The website has recorded 6.6million visits in the past six days alone. 

It is the sixth series of the show named Pentulive, meaning Puppy Live, aired by Yle, the national public service broadcaster in Finland.

The canine version of Big Brother will follow Hilkka and her six pups 24/7 for eight weeks. 

It is filmed from inside the home of a breeder, with three cameras and lighting installed inside the puppies' whelping box. 

A Lagotto Romagnolo named Hilkka has given birth to six puppies on a Finnish programme dubbed the 'Big Brother for dogs'

A Lagotto Romagnolo named Hilkka has given birth to six puppies on a Finnish programme dubbed the 'Big Brother for dogs'

It is controlled remotely by a directorial team in Helsinki.

Last year's programme featured an English springer spaniel named Muru. Her litter of 11 puppies drew in one million viewers – around the same number that tuned into the evening news show that day. 

Pirjo Koskinen, a science journalist at Yle who came up with the idea for Pentulive, told The Times that the public's response to the programme had been unexpected and overwhelmingly positive.

She said: 'We know that Pentulive helps to deal with loneliness, stress and sleepless nights.

'It's even been said to relieve physical or mental pain.'

Ms Koskinen said that the livestream was played in classrooms while children studied for exams and had helped people bond with elderly relatives suffering from dementia.

She added: 'I think Pentulive brings out the best aspects of humanity. 

'One explanation could be that there has been so much negative news since we started in 2021 — with Covid and the war in Ukraine, for example. Maybe people crave something opposite to all that.

'What we call "the Pentulive bubble" is about loving and caring, the miracle of birth and growth and puppies doing funny things.' 

The show now features interactive elements such as a live chat, an online game where viewers can predict when the puppies will reach key milestones and a weekly podcast. 

The adorable dog brought joy to millions after she gave birth to six puppies in the round-the-clock video feed

The adorable dog brought joy to millions after she gave birth to six puppies in the round-the-clock video feed

Miiamaaria Kujala, adjunct professor of comparative cognitive neuroscience at the University of Helsinki, said: 'The livestream offers something that appears to be missing from many modern busy lives: something real, genuine, utterly vulnerable that taps your evolutionary meaning as a protector.' 

Pentulive is said to draw on the Scandinavian concept of 'slow TV' – an idea that hours of mundane footage offers the antidote to the world of fast-paced media.

Ms Kujala added: 'Pentulive contains very calm periods and unexpected action periods. As a live feed, it likely provokes more intense emotional responses from the observers.' 

Original source We're all suckers for a bit of puppy love! Livestream of new mum Hilkka the Lagotto Romagnolo and her cute brood brings joy to millions who can tune in 24/7

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