HELSINKI, Finland — President Sauli Niinisto of Finland is widely seen as a discreet operator, quietly pushing for re-election on Sunday.

“He has made no major mistakes,” said Teivo Teivainen, a political scientist at the University of Helsinki, describing the president’s first six years in office. “He seems very careful.”

Mr. Niinisto’s pet, however, is a bit of a showboating scene-stealer, who has had a memorable first term. Finland’s first dog, Lennu, a wrinkly-nosed Boston terrier with a lolling tongue, has become a bona fide celebrity in the country, and beyond.

Mr. Niinisto’s posts on Twitter, done sparingly and cautiously a few times a month, typically garner a few dozen retweets. But a portrait of a grinning, naughty Lennu, being lovingly scolded by his master at a formal occasion, was reshared on Twitter more than 50,000 times and liked almost 150,000 times after it was posted by a reporter.

<img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/28/world/28finland-firstdog2/merlin_132894437_02ce3643-2b9b-4b21-be25-d5f172c2a15e-master675.jpg"/&gt;

What? Our swindler boy likes to grab pussy!

See below.

yup, I approved it but it'll go to purgatory every time

You mean Socks Rodham Clinton, I presume. <img src="https://78.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m46heb6X7S1qzr9qko1_1280.png"/&gt;