Four boys write to 'dearest neighbor' requesting to walk their dog and get an unexpected response

In the fall of 2019, four young engineers moved to House No. 23 on a student street in Bristol. Since all of them worked full-time, their landlord didn’t allow pets in the house. Having grown up surrounded by animals, the four boys were a little disappointed, but then, they saw something. One day, when they had returned home from work, they noticed a gorgeous black canine staring at them from the window of a neighbor’s house. A bulb flashed in their heads, and one of the boys sat down on his desk to type a letter to their neighbor, asking them if they could walk their dog every once in a while, reported Buzzfeed News. Some time later, they received an envelope that contained an unexpected response, from the dog itself!

The four boys addressed the letter as “dear neighbor,” and related that they had moved into this house only a few months ago. “The other day, we noticed a four-legged friend looking at us out of the window when we arrived home from work. He/she seemed like the good-est boy/girl there is,” the boys wrote. The letter continued with their appeal to let them walk the dog. “If you ever need someone to walk him/her, we will gladly do so. If you ever get bored, we are more than happy to look after him/her.”

In the concluding paragraph, the boys described their reason for writing the letter, considering that their neighbor might take it too strongly. “We hope this doesn’t come too strong, but our landlord won’t allow pets, and we’ve all grown up with animals. The adult life is a struggle without one,” the letter read. They signed the letter “the boys from number 23.”

The boys were not expecting to receive a response from the dog owner, but they were swept off their feet when an envelope arrived at their door. The envelope was addressed to “The boys.” But when they flipped the envelope, they smelled good news. A sooty-colored paw was imprinted on the flap of the envelope. They opened the envelope and discovered that the letter was from the dog itself, even though it was written by its owner.

“Dearest boys,” the handwritten letter said. “What a treat it was to receive your letter! On the subject of treats, I like them a lot – big ones and meaty ones and cheesy ones,” the dog said. In the next paragraph, the dog gave its introduction. “I am two years and four months old. I am a Sheprador. I come from Cypress but Chris and Sarah rescued me from a cage in the doggy hotel.”

The doggo continued, “You’re right that I’m the best-est girl ever,” adding hilariously, “I love meeting new people and it would be great if we could be friends. I must warn you that the price of my friendship is five ball throws a day and belly scritches whenever I demand them.” The adorable canine, who signed herself as “Stevie Ticks,” concluded the letter by saying, “I’d love to hang out whenever you fancy. Give my servant Chris a WhatsApp and we can arrange a meetup. Looking forward to 'mlemming' you!” Mlem refers to the sound a canine makes when they lick someone.

“We were ecstatic at the response and couldn’t wait to walk her,” Jack McCrossan, who posted the story about the letter from Stevie on X, told Bored Panda.

A few days later, Stevie’s Instagram page popped up with a post showing the photograph of her enjoying a play date with the four boys. “Sneak peek of my first meeting with the boi's! 20/10 for scritches, did mlem, snacks given. 5/5 Uber rating, would meet again,” Stevie captioned the post.

Meanwhile, Jack’s post on X also went viral. He also posted an update sharing another photo of their play date with Stevie. Overwhelmed by how his post was doing rounds on social media, Jack told Buzzfeed News, "Surprised is an understatement. It's honestly felt very surreal seeing how popular the post has been and the thousands of positive responses from everyone!" Describing his date with Stevie, he said, "Meeting Stevie was great," and recalled, "She was definitely as energetic as described. We got to take her for a walk and she wouldn't stop running!"

When asked what prompted her to write a response letter to the boys, Sarah told Buzzfeed News, that she was so touched they had made the effort to reach out to their neighbor. "In a day and age where people don't really know or speak to their neighbors it was really nice for them to break down that barrier," she said.

Sarah also said that she was planning to invite the boys around for dinner and beers so they could hang out with Stevie on the turf. And it seems, they did. In January 2020, Jack posted another tweet writing, “Stevie joined us for a movie night yesterday, safe to say she was pretty excited.” He also shared some cheery photos of the velvety black canine. While the four boys enjoyed watching the movie with packets of Butterkist popcorn, Stevie was busy posing glamorously in front of the camera, apparently because, she likes “wasabi, butternut squash, sweet potato, olives, fig rolls, sardines, and courgette cores,” and not popcorn, as Sarah revealed to Bored Panda.