Dog falls in love with stray, owner knows what to do—”The easiest decision”

The adorable bond between a dog and a stray pup has melted hearts online, leaving the owner no choice but to permanently adopt her canine’s new best friend.

While on a two-month work trip to Kentucky, Kyla Campbell, 23, took her boxer/terrier mix rescue dog Chester for company. She enjoyed taking him out for daily walks around the Paintsville neighborhood, but she was horrified by the number of stray dogs roaming around.

She told Newsweek it was “unlike anything I’ve ever seen” before. Many of the dogs were incredibly friendly and fascinated by Chester, and they’d often approach the pair, even following them back to their hotel some nights.

For the most part, Chester was happy to meet the other dogs and then move on—but that wasn’t the case with one particular stray, named Frank, who he instantly connected with.

“We found Frank two blocks away from the hotel, and he was so happy and friendly and honestly the cutest little dog I’ve seen,” Campbell, who lives in Minnesota, said. “Chester and Frank started bonding as soon as they saw each other. I’ve never seen Chester so interested in another dog, and I could tell he was luring him back to the hotel.”

As soon as she saw Chester and Frank together, Campbell instantly knew they had a special bond and that she couldn’t tear them apart. “Frank just wanted to be loved so badly, and Chester loved him,” she added.

While she knew in her mind that Frank and Chester needed to stay together, Campbell wanted to be sure he was a stray before she made a decision. She spoke to some locals, who said they’d seen him wandering around without an owner, and she also posted about him on a Facebook community page.

Nobody came forward to claim Frank, so he became part of Campbell’s family, and Chester left Kentucky with his very own rescue dog.

Campbell continued: “It was the easiest decision for me to keep him. The first night I took him in, he slept in the bed under the covers, and he didn’t leave my side all night. I thought he was so sweet and silly, and his personality was so unique.

“Frank settled in immediately and never left my side. I felt this enormous amount of love coming from him, which was so special. Him and Chester love to cuddle and Frank has even bonded with our cat, and they love to play.”

Rescuing Frank hasn’t come without its difficulties however, as he wasn’t house-trained. Campbell explained that he had no indoor manners, he wasn’t potty trained, and didn’t understand that he couldn’t just eat everything in sight.

On October 16, Campbell shared a video on TikTok (@adventurechester) showing the moment Chester and Frank “fell in love.” The footage shows them running around playfully, nibbling each other, and cuddling up on the couch together.

The post went viral with more than 107,600 views and over 13,900 likes on TikTok, which is beyond anything Campbell could have anticipated.

Campbell told Newsweek: “I wasn’t expecting it to touch so many people, but I’m glad it has. A few people have replied saying they don’t agree, and that I shouldn’t have taken him. But I couldn’t disagree more. Frank goes to the vet, he has been neutered, he gets snuggles every night, and he doesn’t have to find his own food anymore.”

With over 480 comments on the TikTok post, many people hailed the unbreakable bond between Chester and Frank.

One comment reads: “omg he adopted his own dog.”

Another TikTok user wrote: “Oh my gosh this is the sweetest story ever! Thank you for keeping him!”

While another person joked: “Chester said I’m leaving here with something.”

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