A woman was walking down the street with her dog when she was stopped by a stranger—who let her know she and her dog were identical, but not in the way she originally thought.
Jesse Lynn Harte, 29, is the proud owner of mini Labradoodle Franklin, and admitted to Newsweek she has “always had a slight sense that my dog and I might look alike.”
“I’ve jokingly called him my ‘Biological Son Named Franklin’ on social media since I got him,” she said. “I think our auburn hair is what really seals the deal on the resemblance.”
But while Harte has always had this inkling, a recent walk with her pup confirmed it beyond any doubt, as Harte revealed in a viral video to her TikTok account @JesseLynnHarte.
In the video, posted on March 24 and boasting more than 620,000 views, Harte began by telling the camera: “I cannot believe this just happened.”
“A woman just came up to me on the street and said ‘I’m so sorry, I just have to tell you. You’re one of those people who look like their dog.'”
And while first Harte agreed “kinda,” laughing, the woman doubled down: “No, you’re dressed identical to your dog. It’s really funny, it’s really cute.”
TikTok @JesseLynnHarte
At this point, Harte showed Franklin the dog, and bent down beside him—showing that Harte’s cream-colored wool jacket, brown hair and sunglasses, perfectly matched the coloring on Franklin’s body, eyes and around his ears.
Laughing, she told the camera: “I have to go change.”
Harte told Newsweek: “I think the outfit I was wearing that day is 100 percent what encouraged the stranger to approach me—not only do we both have the auburn hair, but the white fluffy vest and tortoise shell glasses? We were fully twinning.”
And, she revealed that while she didn’t mention it in the video, the woman had her young child with her at the time, and had “literally raced down the street pushing a stroller to tell me that I look like my dog.
“I regret not joking back that she looked like her biological son, too!”
TikTok users were in stitches, as one wrote: “When your ponytail flipped over your shoulder I gasped,” and another called it “perfect.”
Another referenced Disney‘s 101 Dalmatians, “When they showed the owners and their dogs matched,” and wrote: “This is exactly like that.”
TikTok @JesseLynnHarte
Harte said she was “surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response” to her video, because as is the nature of the internet, she’s “used to seeing hate comments and trolls on every video that ‘blows up,’ no matter how lighthearted I intended it to be.
“This might be my first ‘viral video’ where all of the comments were giggling along with me. I think people just really like to see humans that look like their dogs!”
As for whether she’s going to change her outfits in future when out with Franklin, Harte said she is istead “doubling down.”
“I’m talking matching jackets, accessories, the works. If anyone out there wants to send us a matching outfit, you know where to find me!”
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.
