by Nearly six months ago, a 9-year-old was caught on camera sneaking into the garage of his neighbor to pet their dog. Josh Breaux couldn’t resist stopping by the neighbor’s house to give a quick hug to Duchess, a black Labrador Retriever. In the video, Josh is seen jumping off his bike and running into the garage to give Duchess a big hug, before quickly sneaking out again.
After the surveillance footage was posted by Duchess’ human, Hollie Mallet, it went viral and the story behind the sweet encounter would touch millions of people around the world. Now, nearly a half a year later, the young boy has a dog to call his own.
The story of how Josh ended up getting a new dog is so sweet.
It began when homeowner Hollie Mallet was reviewing her home security footage in May of 2016 and saw the cute interaction between Josh and Duchess. She didn’t know who the boy was, but she took to Facebook to find him and let him know it was okay to come over and play with her dog. Her video quickly garnered 2 million views, and Josh’s mother soon saw the video and recognized her son.
According to Good Morning America, Ginger Breaux responded to the Facebook post about her son and posted: “Josh talks about your dog all the time! Every time we pass he looks to see if she was sitting where he could see her. Just didn’t know he was doing things like this. Last night when I first saw it, I was torn as a momma being happy and upset because he knows he shouldn’t be on someone’s property, but I wake up this morning more happy that he just absolutely adores dogs so much.”
After the big reveal, Josh regularly visited Duchess to play with her.
It turns out, the Breaux family lost their own family pet, Bella, last year. It’s obvious Josh is a real dog lover, so Hollie was more than happy to know that Duchess could be a friend to Josh until his family decided to bring home a new dog. And that day has finally come.
Drake the puppy has been welcomed to the family with open arms. And of course, he’s a black Labrador just like Duchess! Even though Josh now has a dog of his own, he hasn’t forgotten his friend Duchess.
“Josh still goes to see Duchess on occasion,” his mom wrote on the World News Tonight Facebook page. “Myself and my daughter also stop to visit her a few days a week when we go walk. My daughter loves playing and giving her hugs.”
Share this sweet story with your family and friends.
