Golden Retriever Has Excited Response As He Sees His BFF Arrive

Nov 26, 2020

On September 18th, 2020, golden retrievers and best friends Kevin and Captain appeared with their humans Elysse and Julie for a feature on The Dodo talking about their inseparable bond.

Here’s what we know about Kevin: According to his Instagram bio, his friends call him “Lil’ Kev,” he lives in Tampa, Florida, and his birthday is on February 20th, 2019. Kevin’s social media presence is growing rapidly -– his follower count grew from about 214,000 to 302,000 in just a matter of three months. He also became buddies with a dolphin named Winter when they met at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida back in August.

And here’s what we know about Captain: He is three years old, he’s a sock thief, he’s also from Tampa, and he’s a “100% good boy,” as stated on his Instagram profile. He is the furkid to Julie Truster, a home and electronics expert who sometimes hosts programs on HSN, the network. Because of his mom’s job, Captain sometimes goes on set to do some modeling and acting work.

According to Daily Star, the two goldens met through their humans a year ago and have become the best of friends since.  Their adorable friendship has won them a lot of fans online, and it’s not just people. For Captain’s birthday in October, Kevin (well really it is his human, Elysse) took to Instagram to post a TikTok collage commemorating his best friend. "They get so excited to see each other and they hate to see goodbye. They could stare into each other's eyes all day,” read the captions of the video.

Tucker Budzyn, the most followed golden retriever on Instagram with 2.8 million followers currently, commented on the post expressing his desire for a bond like the one Kevin and Captain have, saying: “Am jealous of your bromance😭 all the dudes wanna fights me 🥺” While another golden (literally) celebrity Finley, said: “Wish I lived in Tampa and could come to one of your sleepovers 🥺” 

Back in September, Kevin and Captain appeared with their humans Elysse and Julie in a feature on The Dodo to tell about the incredible bond between the two goldens. According to Elysse and Julie, Kevin and Captain do everything together, from nights out on the town, sleepovers (where they wear pajamas), and lots of playdates. They share that Captain recognizes Elysse’s car, and knows that when the car is near, so is Kevin.

“The minute the car comes up, he just [takes] off,” said Julie. “They are best buddies. Captain knows the car. Kevin comes over at least once a week to play. He does it every single time.” And it’s not one-sided either – “When I go down their street, Kevin immediately perks up because he knows we’re going to Captain’s house,” said Elysse. It has come to the point where the word “Kevin,” can’t even be said in the house now without getting Captain all excited. “We can’t say “Kevin,” in the house now, we have to spell it,” Julie shared. “He could be in a dead sleep and he will wake up and run to the door.”

Their humans agree that their doggos are “pretty [equally] crazy.” They both love to wrestle, although Kevin is more of an instigator, being the younger of the two. They would play together for hours and take breaks in between just sitting and staring at each other. They have two water bowls but would go drink from the same one anyway!

“They’re always together. They really never take a break. We did have Kevin sleepover and there was no sleeping,” Julie said. Captain and Kevin’s sleepover was like one you see in the movies. Instead of sleeping, they would relax, wrestle, and watch the world go by. They had a candlelit dinner where they cleaned their plates completely and afterward, watched All Dogs Go to Heaven in their pajamas and ate popcorn. Their humans even read them a bedtime story!

“If we’re out and about, everyone knows Captain and Kevin. If they meet Captain, they’ll say, ‘Where’s Kevin?’ They know these two. They know they’re a pair. It’s so cute,” said Captain’s mom. Captain and Kevin hate having to say goodbye to each other. Whenever Kevin and his mom drive off to go home in their car, Captain would start chasing them. The two would lick each other for a bit before the car drives off once more. Kevin would stick his head out the window, looking back longingly at his BFF who he has to leave behind.

Many viewers commented about how cute and heartwarming it was to see the two but also wondered how much scratched up Elysse’s car door must be from Captain’s paws.

“I love this reuniting of the dogs and I think it's adorable but all I can think about when I watch this is the scratching of that car door from those claws,” joked one viewer.

Concluding the feature, Kevin's mom said:

“Everyone just needs a best friend like them.” 

We do, indeed.

What do you think of Captain and Kevin's adorable friendship? Let us know in the comments and be sure to tell us what your favorite thing about them is!