18-hours-drive to surprise her 15-year-old dog! Woman shares the story of their ‘soul’ connection!

What we wouldn’t do for our beloved pets!
Jane Helffrich, who goes by the username of @gingerhaaze, recently captured and shared a video of the moment when she reunited with her pet dog, Reilly. The video that’s laced with the sweetest moments has been viewed more than 3.2 million times, getting 710,000 likes on the social media platform TikTok.

Jane Helffrich, 27, lives in Ohio. On the other hand, her family dog Reilly, who is 15 years old, was in Florida with Jane's mother and father at the family’s second home. Reilly is one of the five small pets the family has.
However, Jane calls Reilly her ‘soul dog’.
She recently captured and shared a video of her reunion with her ‘soul-dog’ Reilly. In the video of the reunion, Reilly is seen sleeping on the couch, when suddenly he raises his nose to the air. It was evident from the video that Reilly got a ‘sniff’ of Jane’s presence already. Sharing the video, Jane wrote, “He smells me.” She added, “I walked in and he was fast asleep so I figured [I’d] record this moment.”

Jane told PEOPLE that, her family includes five children and “a lot of animals.” In her words, “A lot of the time it seemed as though the animals would each pick their favorite human and it was noticeable.”

To add sweetness to their surprise, Reilly picked Jane.
When Jane was only 12 years old, the Helffrich family got Reilly, who was “the biggest and sweetest” in a litter of Chihuahuas. Jane recalled, “As soon as he came home, he established himself as king of the household.”

In Jane’s words, “He thinks he runs the house and everyone lives on his time.” She added, “He loves attention. Now that he’s older, he loves to sleep, be loved and bark at the cars that drive by the house.”
Since Jane was only 12, Reilly has grown up with her. In that regard, they share the bond of a brother and sister. The pair share 15 years of memories together and Jane calls Reilly her ‘sidekick’.
According to Jane, although she was always aware of their bond, she noticed just how special it was when she went away to college.
In her words, “My mom would tell me how sad [Reilly] always was and just mope around. He would lose it with excitement every time I came home.”

The bond between Jane and Reilly continues to grow stronger despite the distance.
Jane revealed that as Reilly got older, he needed to be hand-fed, otherwise he would skip meals. In Jane’s words. “I would go over my parents' house often for dinner. Once [Reilly] saw I would help in getting him to eat, he would spend every time after that refusing to eat — sitting and staring at the garage door waiting for me to walk in and feed him.”
Jane mentioned that often Reilly would skip his meal if she wasn’t there to feed him. As per her, “I started going over regularly for dinner to make sure he ate a full meal, as long as they were in Ohio.”


Although Reilly spends some time in Florida as well, as per Jane, “Whenever we are reunited, he is attached to me 24/7.”
Does Jane miss Reilly?
Now that Jane lives far away, she misses snuggling with her ‘soul-dog’ most of all her family members. In her words, “Small dogs love to burrow so he was always snuggled up under a blanket in my lap.”

The Chihuahua is a Mexican breed of toy dog. It is named for the Mexican state of Chihuahua and is the smallest dog breed in the world. It is usually kept as a companion animal. While their small size makes them a great choice for a traveling companion (and accessories for Chihuahuas abound!), remember that the Chihuahua is known for its confidence and tendency to rule the roost. Chihuahuas are loving and loyal and make good pets for first-time owners. These little dogs have big personalities and range from feisty and outgoing to shy and timid. Chihuahuas make great family pets because they are loyal, loving, and always want to be by their human's side. Their small size makes them easy to take with you on trips and errands, though they can be feisty and bark at other people and dogs.