He was just trying to make a friend 🥺
A few weeks ago, Drew Smith and Ruthie Johnson Smith noticed a strange gap in the vines on their backyard fence. Normally, the fence is covered by a thick layer of plants, but all of a sudden, there was a small area that’d been cleared.
They had no idea where the gap had come from. Puzzled, they watched as over the next few days, the vine gap grew bigger and bigger.
One day, when Ruthie was out watering her garden, she finally figured out who’d been removing the vines — it was her and Drew’s dog, Caamp. She realized that he’d been trying to get a better look at Owen, the senior dog who’d just moved in next door.
Unbeknownst to their parents, Caamp and Owen had been forging a friendship across the fence. Every day, they’d been meeting up in the same spot and wagging their tails at each other. And every day, Caamp had been ripping off the ivy so they could see each other better.
Drew and Ruthie were touched by the lengths Caamp had gone to to get to know his new neighbor. They took a video of the interaction and posted it on Instagram. To their surprise, complete strangers started falling in love with Owen and Caamp — and demanding that they get to meet without the fence hindering them.
Instagram / @caampstagram
“I need an update, please let them play,” one commenter wrote on Instagram.
“Forget the vines! Take the fence down!” another wrote.
Caamp’s parents shared the video with Owen’s parents, who were shocked by how people were invested in their dogs’ budding friendship. The two dogs had met briefly on leashes in their front yards, but both families agreed it was finally time for a proper playdate.
When they were finally able to meet, Owen and Caamp got along beautifully. They finally got to sniff each other and play to their hearts’ content. Even though Caamp is less than a year old and Owen is a senior dog, they were able to match each other’s energy levels.
“Owen had the helicopter tail going,” Drew told The Dodo. “You could tell that he knew who [Caamp] was, because they’d met from across the fence. He immediately perked up.”
This story is a perfect example of dogs’ ability to bring everyone together. While humans are sometimes shy about getting to know their neighbors, Owen and Caamp just wanted to make friends.
“I think it’s fun, because the dogs’ friendship has helped spark a friendship between our neighbors and us as well,” Drew said.
Instagram / @caampstagram
Everything went so well between Owen and Caamp that the families decided to make playdates between them a regular occurrence.
“We’re hoping Owen is able to impart some of his wisdom on our dopey little dog,” Drew said.
