Moment Puppy Makes Her First Ever Friend in School Melts Hearts

Animal lovers’ hearts have melted over a sweet video of a puppy making her first friend.

Josie is a 5-month-old golden retriever puppy who lives in Texas with her owner Lauren Goodman, 24, and has a whole TikTok account dedicated to her, aptly named @josiethegoodgirl.

Her page is filled with footage of Josie frolicking in the snow, relaxing on the sofa, and picking up interesting sticks on walks with her owner—and now one video has gained her a mass of new fans, as it showed her making her first friend at puppy school.

Goodman told Newsweek Josie was at her very first “puppy kindergarten” class in Austin, Texas, and at first was “really shy”—but she “ended up making her first friend, Winnie, another golden puppy, and a dachshund named Axel.”

In a clip shared on February 6, and viewed more than 385,000 times, Josie can be seen wearing a purple harness and cozying up to another golden breed, who at first appears a little shy.

But Josie doesn’t give up, following the other puppy around, sniffing at it curiously—and soon the duo are playing together, jumping, rolling and chasing each other around the room, getting more excited and boisterous as the time goes on.

And, seeing the pair playing, another puppy becomes interested in the game, too, and starts jumping around with them.

Gooodman wrote over the video: “POV [point of view]: Your puppy makes her first friend in school.” The caption read: “Cuteness overload.”

She described Josie to Newsweek as a “velcro puppy” who loves humans, but “being around other puppies was an entirely new experience for her.”

Each of the other puppies were also around 13 weeks old, and it was likely all of their first time socialising with other dogs, she added.

TikTok users loved it, as one wrote: “I love how goldens always stick together,” and another pointed out “the sausage dog trying to be friends with them.”

A third emotional commenter asked: “Stop why am I crying?”

Puppy schools are recommended by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as a good way of socializing young dogs while also undergoing basic training.

Classes often encourage play-fighting to help them learn to be gentle with their mouths and paws while still young, and some introduce sights and sounds to prepare the puppies for the larger world as they grow.

Socializing a puppy is important, as it helps them become comfortable with the world around them, which includes sounds, smells, sights, other dogs and humans. Older dogs may be suspicious of things they have not been introduced to in puppyhood, the ASPCA says.

“It was so heartwarming getting to watch her grow in confidence throughout the classes,” Goodman told Newsweek. “I posted the video because I wanted to have a video archive to look back on for when Josie got older—I couldn’t believe how many views it got from people around the world!

“It’s amazing that so many others get to see the pure love and joy of two puppies becoming friends.”

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our “Pet of the Week” lineup.