Alberta dogs Rollo and Sadie go viral on social media for long-distance friendship

Two Alberta dogs are capturing the hearts of millions of people on social media for a viral video showing their interaction on Facetime.

Rollo and Sadie met during the pandemic when their owners moved into the same house in Edmonton.

“It takes her a while to learn to trust them, but that first time she met Rollo I was really surprised at how much she loved him off the bat,” said

Kayla McTeer, Sadie’s owner. “And he loved her too.

“And they’ve basically been best buds from that moment going forward.”

Rollo is a Rottweiler and Shepherd cross, while Sadie is a Husky and Shepherd cross.

The dogs’ relationship continued to grow for nearly two years. That’s when Rollo and his owner Caitlin Banks em‘barked’ on a new journey, moving to Calgary for a job opportunity.

Screenshot of Alberta dogs Sadie and Rollo “speaking” to each other on Facetime. (Courtesy: TikTok/@rolloandsadie)

“It’s been a challenge, especially for Rollo, because when we lived in the same house, we would leave the suite doors open and the dogs would come and go and lay together or play together throughout the day because I worked from home,” said Banks. “So it’s been a bit of a challenge for Rollo.

“You can tell he’s a little bit depressed not having Sadie there, but I think it makes our visits that much better.”

The two dogs stayed in touch over Facetime, remaining ‘fur’ever friends.

“The Thursday Facetime started really for Kayla and I to catch up, but pretty quickly the dogs started recognizing each other and hearing each other on Facetime, and interacting with each other,” said Banks.

“I think the first time we were like ‘oh that’s so cute, that’s so goofy.’ And then it just happens every time and so for us it’s just normal behaviour,” added McTeer.

Rollo and Sadie’s interaction was shared on social media and gained more than 23 million views on TikTok.

“It’s fun to get the world’s reaction from it, and to share their relationship with the world,” said McTeer.

The two pups and their owners were reunited over the Easter weekend, and say they try to meet in person each month.

“Their reunions are pretty cute,” said McTeer. “They are very loud, a lot of barking, a lot of whining, a lot of playing right off the bat. But their weekends together are very special. They spend a lot of time outside sniffing around the yard together, or we take them on adventures. So they usually have a pretty good weekend during that time, we try to make the most of it.

“We feel really lucky that the circumstances for us, moving into that house, brought us to a place where we all developed these really close friendships.”