A Minnesota 2-year-old and a neighbor’s dog have become viral video stars after a family friend recorded them playing a unique game of fetch that even a wooden fence couldn’t stop.
Chad Nelson, a photojournalist with KARE11 in Minneapolis, told the news station that he, his wife and their son Conway were at a friend's Savage home for a play date Wednesday evening when his friend's neighbor's dog, a Labrador retriever named Dozer, peered over the fence and dropped a ball into the yard.
An excited Conway picked up the ball and chucked it back over the fence. The moment quickly turned into the cutest game of fetch ever.
"Conway just loves playing catch," Nelson told KARE11. "We have two dogs, but neither one will play fetch. So he was pretty excited to have someone that would."
Nelson’s friend, Erin Richter, captured the game of fetch on video, which Nelson shared on social media.
“A fence can’t stop my 2-year-old from playing with his new best friend,” Nelson wrote.
As of Friday morning, the video had been watched more than 7.7 million times on Facebook. It had been shared nearly 250,000 times and garnered more than 14,000 comments.
It was also a sensation on Twitter.
Nelson said he and his wife were stunned by the response.
"It was just a cute thing," he told the news station. "We just thought Conway was being cute and our friends would like it, and all of a sudden it's being shared to thousands of people."
Richter said Dozer is a frequent playmate of her son, Landon, despite the fence.
"They play ball every time they are both outside," Richter told KARE11. "Landon quits throwing once the ball becomes too slobbery, but Dozer will keep dropping balls or bones over until he has to go inside."
Several of the commenters on the video of Dozer and Conway were impressed by the toddler’s strong throwing arm.
"So cute, and what a good arm and aim for a 2-year-old," a man wrote on Facebook.
"Nice arm," another man wrote on Twitter. "Teach him to throw with his left and he could pitch in the MLB as a LOOGY (Left-handed One Out Guy) into his 40s!"
“He has quite the cannon, doesn’t he?” Nelson responded.
Twitter users, by Friday, had watched Conway and Dozer play fetch more than 10.7 million times and shared the video over 255,000 times.
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