We all have our favourite pet when we were little. For four-year-old Qi Qi, she loves the stray puppy she picked up on her way to school.

The little girl has become an internet star in China after a video emerged showing her taking the pet dog to school by hiding it in her bag.

And when she was caught by a teacher, a terrified Qi Qi cried and begged the teacher as she mistakenly thought the teacher would throw away her dog.

Four-year-old Qi Qi, from China, put the dog in her bag and brought it to her school in secret

Qi Qi's grandmother said the girl really liked the dog and would even share her lollipop with it

The footage was filmed on April 7 at a kindergarten in Suining, south-west China's Sichuan Province, according to the video provider Pear Video.

The report said that Qi Qi had found the dog on her way to the kindergarten. She liked the puppy so much that she decided to take it with her to school by hiding it in her school bag.

The puppy, however, barked in the class. Qi Qi's teacher heard it and called the girl to the office afterwards.

The four-year-old thought her teacher was going to get rid of her pet. Terrified, she cried and begged the teacher: 'Don't throw it away. It won't bite!'

The teacher, who is unnamed, later said to Pear Video: 'I told her to come to my office. She kept telling me the dog wouldn't bite people. She told me not to throw it away.'

Qi Qi cried when her teacher caught her hiding a puppy in her bag as the animal barked

The girl had picked up the stray puppy on her way to school and took it with her to class

The teacher explained that there is a river outside the kindergarten and the pupil, by mistake, thought she would dump the puppy into the river.

She also said Qi Qi has a twin sister.

Apparently, Qi Qi adored her puppy so much that she would share her lollipop and lunch with it. Her grandmother went to the kindergarten the next day and explained the matters to the teacher.

The video has been viewed nearly five million times since it was published earlier today on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.

Web users praised Qi Qi's kindness, calling her a 'cute' and 'strong' girl.

Some also said that the girl would get rewards in her future life for being so loving and sympathetic.