A German Shepherd puppy and Boston Police K-9 prospect became a huge hit on the Internet Monday as a picture circulated of the canine wearing an oversized bulletproof vest, reports CBS Boston.

The photo that went viral on social media shows the puppy standing beside Officer Troy Caisey, the head trainer of the Boston Police K-9 Unit. Caisey puts the protective vest on the small pup in the picture, though it clearly will take some time for the pup to grow into the oversized vest.

The nine-week-old German Shepherd named Batman, who is a prospect for the Boston Police Department K-9 unit, has been renamed Tuco Salamanca, the Mexican drug kingpin character in the popular AMC series "Breaking Bad," according to the Vest-A-Dog Facebook page.

Tuco will be featured as the "May" dog in the 2015 calendar for Vest-A-Dog, an organization that since 2000 has provided the Boston Police Department K-9 Unit with 26 K-9 vests (four are SWAT vests), K-9 first aid kits, and through bi-annual grants, one bite suit.

Vest-A-Dog is celebrating its 13th anniversary supporting all Massachusetts police dogs by helping provide the following:

  • Bulletproof vests (primary goal). All K-9 vests also protect against blunt force trauma if punched, kicked, or struck with an object, like a bat.
  • Essential equipment.
  • Training.
  • Purchase of dogs for law enforcement K-9 programs.

"As K-9s are trained to give up their lives to protect their partners and all of us, we believe it is every bit as important to protect them," the company's website proclaims.

A bulletproof K-9 vest ranges in cost from $1,006 to $2,400 each, according to Vest-A-Dog. While law enforcement agencies provide bullet-resistant vests for their human officers, they cannot fund K-9 officer vests. Vest-A-Dog helps Massachusetts law enforcement fund K-9 vests through grants and fundraisers, like the calendar.

For more information on the calendar, visit the Vest-A-Dog Facebook page.