From The Chihuahua's Vantage Point

Adriana Burkhart is a junior at Michigan State University, in the US and owner of five dogs. Two of which have a friendship that recently went viral online. Bella, a two-year-old Chihuahua mutt lives with Adriana on campus while Hank, a 10-year-old Golden Retriever, and her three other pooches live with her parents.

“Ever since we got Bella, Hank has loved her,” Adriana tells Buzzfeed news. “Hank would just sit and stare at her.” As Bella grew up, the pair got closer. “She eventually started playing with him and she would bite at his ears and he would just lay there and smile at her," she says. It wasn’t long till Bella decided to take their friendship to the next level (literally).

Elevation At Its Best

Bella first figured out how to climb onto Hank when she wanted to get up on the couch, but needed a little boost. Because the Chihuahua mix is the smallest of the five dogs in the Burkhart household, Bella began using Hank as a means to elevate herself to get her owners’ attention, especially when the five other canines were around.

Soon, this became a habit for the two furkids.

One day, Adriana and her mother heard Hank walking around the living room of their house. When they turned to look at him, they saw Bella lying on top of the Retriever as he moved from room to room. “My mum and I couldn’t believe it, and we just looked at each other in a simultaneous 'What just happened?' kind of moment," Adriana recounts.

Vantage Point

This behaviour is most commonly observed when there are treats to be handed out. “Whenever we’re making food, she uses Hank to get a better vantage point so she can be closer to the counter," Adriana says.

She adds that Hank “isn’t the brightest crayon in the box”, so he doesn’t even seem to notice Bella hitching a ride on him. Bella’s begging for food whilst on top of her best friend gets both of them more snacks, so we’re guessing that might be one of the reasons why Hank isn’t too opposed to it.

To see more adorable photos of Hank and Bella, check out Adriana’s Twitter account.

^{* This article was updated on 14 July 2020. It first appeared in Pets Magazine, 18 May 2017.}