Dog family reunited during random walk in New York City
A couple realized that another dog walking nearby them was actually their adopted puppy's father
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It’s a hell of a tail.
Jason Hellerstein was walking Marvin, the dog that he and girlfriend Mattie Kahn had recently adopted, near their Upper West Side home in January when Marvin stopped to check out another pooch.
"Marvin was definitely friendlier than he would otherwise be with a dog he didn’t know," said Kahn.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Three dogs from Texas all now live within a mile of each other in New York City. (iStock)
The other dog’s owner, Tara Derington, noticed the connection, too.
"They recognized each other. My dog, Leo, was still pretty new to the city and apprehensive about almost everything, and he greeted Marvin like he knew him. They were very excited, very affectionate," Derington, who works in digital strategy, told The Post.
She asked Hellerstein what kind of dog Marvin is. But he didn’t know, as Marvin had been adopted from a Texas rescue only weeks before.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DOG STEALS MICROPHONE FROM TV REPORTER IN ADORABLE VIRAL MOMENT
"I was freaking out," said Derington, 30. "My brain was connecting the dots: This was Leo’s dad."
She knew that Leo’s dad had been adopted by someone in New York City, because she had originally tried to claim that dog herself before adopting Leo in December.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Even crazier, Derington’s friend Anne Sachs had adopted Leo’s brother Murray — also Marvin’s son. The three dogs from Texas all now live within a mile of each other in New York City.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
It all started when Kahn, 29 and the culture director at Glamour, and Hellerstein, 27, began looking for a dog in August. "Demand was so high in New York," said Kahn. "So many people were getting pandemic dogs. Adopting right now is like trying to get a child into an elite prep school."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The couple checked Petfinder.com, a site that sources rescues from across the country, "more than 100 times a day," according to Kahn. That’s how they came across Dr. Dolittle’s Rescue Ranch in McAllen, Texas. The organization has been transporting dogs to New York weekly, especially "little scruffy fluffies, because they’re the perfect apartment dog," said director Tammy Vergel de Dios.
"We fell in love with Marvin [in his photo] in an instant," said Kahn.
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to Vergel de Dios, Marvin and Leo were surrendered together when their former owner exceeded the limit of dogs allowed by her apartment building. The two were transported in the same van from Texas to the Upper West Side in December. (Murray was surrendered to Dr. Dolittle’s later.)
This story continues in the New York Post.