“The way they heard each other out” ?
In late 2021, Caitlin Banks accepted a job opportunity that required her to move to Calgary in Alberta, Canada. It was an exciting new adventure for her, but it meant that her pup, Rollo, a rottweiler-shepherd mix, would be three hours from his best friend, a husky-shepherd mix named Sadie.
But thanks to their moms, Rollo and Sadie still get to FaceTime every week and tell each other how much they miss one another.
Rollo and Sadie have been best friends since 2020, when Banks moved in with Sadie’s mom, Kayla McTeer, as her roommate.
“Because we didn’t know each other at this time, we were both a bit nervous to introduce our dogs,” Banks and McTeer told The Dodo. “However, the initial meeting was … pretty cute, to say the least.”
It was basically love at first sight.
According to McTeer, “Sadie has always been a sassy gal.”
“I fell in love with Sadie’s personality from the get-go,” McTeer said. “[Sadie is] constantly vocalizing to let me know how she feels — howling or going off on one of her ‘husky talks,’ which I like to think is her telling me a story.”
But when it comes to interacting with other dogs, Sadie is more pensive. And McTeer was so surprised when Sadie and Rollo began playing as soon as they met.
Maybe it had something to do with Rollo’s “goofy and playful” personality, as his mom describes it. Banks adopted Rollo at 11 weeks old from an animal rescue organization in Alberta, Canada. He was a meek puppy at first, Banks said, but he blossomed once he settled in at home.
“Though he tends to err on the side of caution when meeting new people or being in new places, he doesn’t take long to settle into someone’s energy and quickly become their best friend!” Banks said. “He is more of a ‘dog’s dog’ than Sadie in that he is friendly and welcoming to all he meets. He’ll often drop down into a play bow as soon as he meets a new dog friend.”
When they lived together, Rollo and Sadie could always be found playing in the yard of the shared house, and Banks and McTeer always kept their doors open so the dogs could visit each other whenever they liked.
And luckily, Banks and McTeer hit it off just as fast. “Before we knew it, we were best friends, too!” they said.
Needless to say, it was difficult when Caitlin and Rollo moved away.
“Rollo is an emotional boy, feeling changes in life a bit more than other dogs may,” Banks said, “hence why his move away from Sadie has been challenging.”
Banks and McTeer said that living in different cities now has been challenging for everyone, but before the move, the former roommates agreed that they would have a FaceTime date every Thursday night.
“It’s great because we can fill each other in on our weeks, and Rollo and Sadie get to catch up, too!” they said. “We always make sure to let Rollo and Sadie see each other and say hello on FaceTime.”
And the four also do their best to see each other in person once a month, which always results in lots of tail wags.
“The biggest takeaway from Rollo and Sadie’s story is the deep, lifelong friendship we all gained through what we felt was ‘kismet’ or a ‘serendipitous’ meeting,” Banks and McTeer said. “Neither of us knew that moving out of our current situations into the house where they met would result in such an unbreakable, undeniable and meaningful friendship — for both the dogs and the owners!”