Dogs are very protective of their territory. In many cases, they bark when anyone strange comes around. So, when they accept someone they hardly know, you know that something special is going on.

One man decided to secretly film the interaction between his dog and his local garbageman.

Dogs are very protective of their home

In many cases, the family dog will stand guard, watching anyone who approaches.

If they get too close, what follows is a series of barks in an attempt to warn the unknown person off. In extreme cases, a dog might even take more drastic steps to protect their home.

This has to do with a dog’s recognition of scent and their pack mentality. If they do not recognize someone’s scent, they might consider the stranger a danger to the pack, with their pack being anyone within their immediate circle of friends and family.

Shelby the golden retriever has developed a special friendship

One dog in particular though, a golden retriever named Shelby, had developed a special relationship with a local garbage man.

Shelby’s owner, Josh Byrne, noticed his dog’s odd behavior every time the trash man came by and decided to catch it all on camera to find out what exactly was going on.

Filming Shelby’s interaction with the garbage man

One morning before the appointed trash pickup time, Byrne took position up on his porch, filming the street outside his home.

Finally, the garbage truck pulled up outside. Standing quietly by, Byrne began to film.

He was caught by surprise with what happened next.

As the garbage man got out of his truck to get the trash, Byrne’s questions were soon answered. As he filmed, Shelby zoomed up to the garbage collector.

As Shelby got closer, the trash man reached out and patted the excited dog on the head.

A virtual lovefest

Soon, they were in full petting mode. For a full 20 seconds or more, the pair interacted with each other, the garbage man rubbing Shelby’s thick coat.

Shelby seemed to love every minute of it, relishing the love that her friend the garbageman was showing her.

Posting about Shelby’s special friend online

Byrne posted the video to YouTube with the caption:

“Every week the garbage man takes time to see my pup and say hi. Who said that nice people are hard to find?”

So far, the video of the pair has received more than 400,000 views on YouTube, showing that a lot of people love a good buddy story.

Of course, the garbage man is also good friends with Byrne. And who can blame him, if Shelby is okay with him, he must be a pretty good guy?

Enough love to go around

Of course, Shelby has enough love to go around for everybody, including Byrne, his family, and of course the neighborhood garbage man.

For more of Shelby and her special friendship, watch the video below!

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Sources: YouTube- Short clips, Inspire More