Men stunned by response after asking to walk neighbor’s dog: 'The adult life is a struggle'

A group of roommates is going viral after sharing the heartwarming story behind how they ended up going for walks with their neighbor’s dog.

Jack McCrossan and his three friends recently moved into a flat in Bristol, England, but were upset to learn their landlord wouldn’t allow them to have a dog.

The four men each grew up with animals, BuzzFeed News reports, so when they noticed one of their neighbors had a dog, they decided to send a message asking if they could occasionally take the pup out for walks.

"The other day, we noticed a four-legged friend looking at us out the window when we arrived home from work," the roommates’ message read. "He or she looked like the good-est boy/girl there is."

"If you ever need someone to walk him/her, we will gladly do so," the letter, which McCrossan shared on Twitter, continued. "If you ever get bored (we know you never will, but we can dream) we are more than happy to look after him/her."

The roomies concluded their letter by noting that "the adult life is a struggle" without a dog, signing off as "the boys from number 23."

A response came back in the form of a handwritten letter, but its author wasn’t exactly who the men had expected. The note, which was addressed to "The Boys" and stamped with a paw print, was signed by the dog itself, named Stevie Ticks.

"What a treat it was to receive your letter," read the note, which, of course, was actually written by Stevie Ticks' owner, Sarah Tolman. "I love meeting new people and it would be great if we can be friends. I must warn you that the price of my friendship is 5x ball throws a day and belly scratches whenever I demand them."

"We here understand how hard it is to find pet-friendly rentals — and life just isn’t full without a dog in it — right?! I’d love to hang whenever you fancy," the note, which McCrossan also shared in his Dec. 10 Twitter post, concluded.

McCrossan called the response “better than we could have ever hoped for,” and it seems as though the pup followed up on her promise.

On Dec. 15, Tolman shared a "sneak peek" of Stevie Ticks' "first meeting with the bois," revealing that, thanks to plenty of snacks and belly scratches, the men had earned the dog’s stamp of approval.

"5/5 Uber rating, would meet again!" the post, which earned nearly 10,000 likes in three days, read.

Stevie Ticks, a labrador-German Shephard mix, has her own popular Instagram account, with more than 40,000 total followers. Still, McCrossan, who has just 4,000 Twitter followers, was shocked by the amount of support for his own post — which received more than 110,000 retweets in its first eight days.

"Surprised is an understatement," McCrossan told BuzzFeed News. "It’s honestly felt very surreal seeing how popular the post has been and the thousands of positive responses from everyone!"

McCrossan also told BuzzFeed that he and his roomies will definitely be seeing Stevie Ticks again, as they’ve set up a group chat with Tolman in order to arrange playdates. Tolman said she’s not surprised her pup is getting so much attention, but she hopes the heartwarming story can inspire others, too.

"We obviously know that Stevie is a very special hound, but we love that she has brought so much joy and love to so many people," she said. "I think everyone just needs a reminder every now and then that humanity is found in the small things."