Barbara Collins, 96, stands in her garden and points with her cane toward a patch of soil.
“And dig,” Collins commands the 150-pound Newfoundland beside her.
The dog lowers his head and starts to dig with his paws exactly where she pointed. Collins plants a small bunch of pink flowers, then pats the soil into place with her hands. They repeat until all of her flowers — marigolds, Superbells, pansies and dianthus — are in the ground.
When the backyard garden is finished, Collins strokes the dog’s ears.
“You did a good job, Chewy,” she says to her granddaughter’s dog, who she considers her great-granddog.
The interaction on April 2 was captured by Collins’s granddaughter, Amy Savino, who lives next door in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and often films her grandmother with Chewy. Savino said Collins does not have the balance and strength to kneel and dig the holes on her own, and is grateful Chewy, 4, is there to help.
“They’re just best friends,” said Savino, 39. “He’s always had such a sweet, sweet bond with her.”
This was the first time Collins and Chewy gardened together, Savino said, but the dog has long been able to dig on command. Because he’s a skilled digger, Collins had the idea of gardening with Chewy.
Savino posted a video of their teamwork on social media, and it quickly amassed more than 11 million views and thousands of comments:
“Grandma’s not so little helper.”
“He did a fantastic job on his assignment for his Great Grandma!”
“I just know she feeds him premium deli meats.”
While Collins doesn’t feed Chewy deli meats, she does make him grilled cheese sandwiches and shares ice cream with him. She also bakes him dog-friendly cupcakes and fixes his broken toys.
“I think she wakes up and is like, ‘What can I do for Chewy today?’” said Savino, adding that the dog is named after Chewbacca from Star Wars.
Their videos often go viral, and Chewy has nearly 500,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram.
“I’m so in love with your precious grandma and Chewy. Their loving relationship is priceless. I can be feeling down and watching them changes everything for me,” someone commented on an Instagram video.
“Come on! Just when you think these two cannot be more precious … here we are,” another person chimed in.
Savino said she began posting videos of Chewy on social media about two years ago, when her daughter asked to create a TikTok account. Savino told her she could post videos of the dog but not herself. People quickly took a liking to Chewy, and Savino soon began posting from the account as well.
“It became such a hobby for me,” said Savino, who lives with her husband and their three children, ages 15, 12 and 10.
Videos featuring Chewy with Collins tend to get the most attention from people.
“It reminds them of connection, a really pure, joyful connection,” Savino said.
Collins moved in with Savino’s parents 30 years ago when Collins’s husband died.
“I basically grew up with her,” Savino said.
In 2015, Savino and her husband bought the house next door to Savino’s parents’ home. They see Collins every day.
“She’s a priority,” Savino said of her grandmother. “If I don’t come over here, she will come to my house.”
Collins keeps active and credits her longevity to staying busy.
“She cooks, she cleans … she paints, she sews,” Savino said. “She’s hanging out with Chewy, interacting with us.”
Collins said spending time with her family — including Chewy — is the highlight of her days.
“He’s my baby dog. I love him very much,” she said. “I’m a lucky person.”
Savino said their bond has been strong since Chewy was a puppy.
“I think he feels a sense of vulnerability with her,” she said. “He’s sweet. He’s slower to move. She’ll walk down the stairs, and he’ll wait until she’s down until he goes. It’s almost like he’s thinking ahead. … He would do anything for her.”
Although Chewy can at times be a high-maintenance dog — he is a notoriously picky eater — he is especially gentle and well-behaved with Collins.
“He likes to do whatever I want him to do,” Collins said. “He is always looking at me and smiling.”
Collins said she recently took up gardening and plans to spend many more afternoons in the yard with Chewy by her side.
“I wanted him to dig, and he just did exactly what I told him to do,” she said.
Several other videos of Collins and Chewy have gone viral, including clips of the pair doing an Easter egg hunt, playing in the snow, walking in the rain (with Collins holding an umbrella over Chewy) and opening Christmas presents.
“I think it gives people joy,” Savino said. “She treats him like a grandchild.”
Sometimes she likes to be the one to protect him
Collins said that the unexpected social media attention has been “kind of exciting” and that she’s glad people are touched by their relationship.
The post Woman, 96, enlists 150-pound dog to plant spring flowers: She points, he digs appeared first on Washington Post.
