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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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They say dogs are man's best friend, but in the case of one pitbull, the feeling isn't mutual—because this dog's best friend is a chicken.
Mandy Castillo doesn't know much about her dog Bill's life as a puppy. "We adopted him just over a year ago. The shelter guessed he was about 10 months old. He is a wild boy."
On one occasion, she recalls that Bill managed to get into the back of her husband's work truck where he chewed up the latest in a long line of gloves.
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Knowing he was in trouble, Bill went into hiding. But Castillo and her husband soon found him cozied up in the chicken coop with his best buddy, Tina.
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Evidence has shown that dogs are hardwired to be friendly; it's in their DNA. In 2017, a study published in Science Advances found that, over the course of thousands of years of evolution, dogs developed genes that make them especially gregarious.
These genes also result in dogs often seeking out the company of other species, like humans. Researchers from Princeton reached this conclusion following a series of tests involving domestic dogs and gray wolves in captivity. The animals involved participated in a series of tests around problem-solving and sociability.
While the wolves fared well when it came to solving problems, the dogs were much more friendly and fared better in encounters with human strangers. Subsequent DNA tests of the animals involved identified a link between certain genetic changes between the two species and behaviors like attentiveness and picking up on social cues.
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Simply put: dogs have evolved to be friendlier, possibly out of a need to survive alongside humans and other species.
But while that may explain some of Bill's affection toward his owner's chicken, it doesn't really offer any clues as to why Tina so happily reciprocates.
As Castillo explains, Tina, who is their only chicken, loves to "hang out with the dogs" and they are "absolutely friends." She said: "We've caught them laying together out in the sun and she hangs right outside the sliding door if the dogs are inside waiting for them to come out and play."
The blossoming friendship between the pair has been showcased in a series of videos shared to Castillo's TikTok account that have quickly gained traction among animal lovers.
"I love them," one TikTok user declared with another writing: "Bill and Tina are my new favorite couple!" A third added: "This is just too much cuteness."
While Tina undoubtedly plays her part, Castillo puts some of their affinity for each other down to Bill's naturally sociable nature. "He loves everyone! We have two other dogs and he's always cuddling with Monica, our other big dog," she said. "It's so funny to see them playing together and the chicken just running after them."
When he's not busy hanging out with Tina or causing chaos with the other dogs, Bill also loves to play with Castillo and her kids.
"He loves to run, jump, play with all his toys and my kids," she said. "Sometimes I take him hiking and he also loves to run free at our cabin! We also go camping."
But when he's back home, there's no one he'd rather hang with than his old buddy Tina.
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.
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