Recently, Maddy Kimberley was staying at an Airbnb in Crete, Greece, when she noticed another visitor on the rental property.

A little tan dog was having lots of fun running and napping on the grounds of the house.

Kimberley tried to approach the dog, but when she realized he was timid, she decided to let him come over on his own terms. Her laid-back approach worked, and soon the friendly pup was happily curled up in her lap.

“It was love at first sight,” Kimberley told The Dodo.

The dog had no collar and was covered in fleas and ticks, so Kimberley assumed he was a stray. She and her partner gave the dog some food and made him feel welcome around the house.

The next morning, he was waiting outside again.

“From then on, he would not leave my side,” Kimberley wrote in an Instagram post.

As the days wore on, their bond grew stronger and stronger.

“It was amazing how quickly he was able to trust and feel comfortable with me,” Kimberley wrote.

It just so happened that a veterinarian was also staying nearby. The vet had successfully rehomed stray dogs in the past, and asked Kimberley if she might want help bringing the dog home. After a lot of careful consideration, Kimberley came to terms with the heart-wrenching fact that it wasn’t realistic to take her new friend back to England with her. So she left the dog in the capable hands of the vet.

“I felt just so sad,” Kimberley wrote.

For weeks, Kimberley thought about the Airbnb dog, and even had dreams about him.

“It got to the point where I felt like I would fly over … and get him,” Kimberley wrote. “I was so regretful.”

A few weeks later, out of the blue, Kimberley got a message from the vet. He said that the home he arranged for the dog in Germany wasn’t working out, and asked Kimberley if she might reconsider adopting.

Kimberley, overjoyed, immediately said yes.

Pretty soon, her old friend was happily curled up in bed with his new family.

Kimberley is so happy to be reunited with her pup, whom she named Dobby.

“His life up to the point we met him will always be a mystery,” Kimberley wrote in a post. “But at least we know it has a happy ending!”