It’s always super exciting when you can welcome a new family member into the home! For a lot of families, having a dog around at all times just brings so much joy, comfort, happiness, and warmth. Right before the coronavirus quarantine and stay-at-home orders started, the demand for foster and adoptive pets spiked. With people confined at home, a lot of them figured they could take care of a four-footer and have some company during the lockdown.

In fact, the demand in shelters hit an all-time high due to the novel coronavirus.

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Some animal shelters even had completely empty kennels after a few days. A couple from Illinois decided to adopt an absolutely adorable pooch, Arthur the Golden Boy. The golden retriever loves playing around and going on all sorts of adventures with his human parents.

The couple’s neighbor Troy noticed that they brought home the adorable four-footer, and he was absolutely thrilled about it.

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In fact, when the fourth-grader Troy first spotted the cute canine, he instantly fell in love with him.

The little boy then sent a letter to Troy’s owners, to ask if he could hang out with Arthur after the coronavirus restrictions are loosened.

After the pandemic is over, Troy would absolutely love to dogsit, take the puppy on walks, and play with him. The hand-written letter he wrote is absolutely adorable too.

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“Hello neighbors,” the boy’s letter started. “My name is Troy. I’m in 4th grade and I’m just wondering if maybe after this virus you need a dog sitter and if so I can take your dog on walks and more.”

The couple was absolutely surprised by this super sweet and precious letter, and they thought it was about the cutest thing ever – just like Arthur, of course.

And Arthur himself is also pretty excited to hang around with his new friend after the pandemic. He even explained it on his Instagram-account.

“I made friends with a small hooman today. He’s like basically me-sized. I bet I can get him to give me more treats than my hoomans.”

Even though being around each other can be quite difficult in corona times, these two have already had a playdate together at a distance.

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“Just a quick pupdate – me and the smol neighbor had a really great (socially distant) playdate today. Because he’s so smol we didn’t take any pics just for privacy purposes but he told me all about his dog fren and even showed me some dance moves!! I have a feeling we’re gonna be best buds!” the pup’s Instagram-post reads.

This heartwarming story actually went viral on Instagram, and Arthur’s account received hundreds of supportive comments from friends and strangers around the world.

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You could even say that Arthur is quite the internet celebrity now, with over 40,000 followers on the platform! You can follow all his amazing adventures on the @arthurthefloof account, and his human owners definitely do their best to share daily ‘pupdates’ of him.

They were definitely surprised to see the post go viral, and Arthur also had something to say about it:

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“My hoomans told me that me and my fren Troy broke the puppernet yesterday,” Arthur said on his Instagram. “I’m glad it brought me so many new frens!! Do any of you have treats to spare? I celebrated my newfound celebrity status by trying to eat a dead baby bird because I gotta keep my hoomans humble.”

What an absolutely amazing story. We’re sure that Arthur and Troy will be the best of friends for years to come!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

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Source: @arthurthefloof, ABC 7, BoredPanda