Shortly after moving to their new home in South Bend, Indiana, last summer, Eby and her husband noticed that the neighbor’s dogs liked watching their own dogs play in their yard through through the chain-link fence that separated the properties.
But the Ebys soon installed a tall wooden fence next to the chain-link fence — which meant the dogs next door could no longer see into their yard.
It wasn’t long, however, before they came up with their own plan.
Little by little, the dogs next door began digging a hole underneath the fence so that they could continue their new hobby of watching Eby’s dogs, a husky named Fuzz and a mixed breed named Maui, play in the yard.
“I was out with the dogs playing one day and I just did a double take,” Eby told The Dodo. “I saw two little eyes poking out from underneath the fence looking up at us.”
Once Fuzz realized he had spectators, he started digging on his side of the fence.
Now, the hole is big enough for the dogs on the other side of the fence to fit their entire heads underneath to watch their friends play.
“There are a few of them, all about the same breed, and they all take turns sticking their heads under the fence,” Eby said. “They’ll bark and Maui gets really excited.”
Although Eby doesn’t know the dogs’ owner well since the woman works nights, she’s more than glad to see that her dogs have formed a neighborly friendship — even if it’s across the fence.
“At first we didn’t know what to do,” Eby said. “But now the dogs have come to expect them whenever we’re outside. They’ll even stand over there waiting for them to come say hello.”
Even though the group has never met except through the fence, Eby is certain that the neighbor dogs are just as friendly as her own. They’ll often deliver special gifts to show that they mean no harm.
“They’ve thrown their toys under to our side of the yard,” Eby said. “Every so often, Fuzz will come inside with a toy we’ve never seen before.”
With the amount of traffic the hole under the fence gets, it’s probably only a matter of time before the neighbor dogs make their way over to Eby’s side.
But when the day comes, it will surely be a cause for celebration.
“It’d be pretty hilarious if the dogs end up coming over,” Eby said. “There’s been so much buildup to that moment that I think it’d just be one big puppy party.”
