Two dogs who became "best friends" are now able to see each other whenever they like - after their owners built a secret door in their fence. <br /><br />Pooches Fritz and Trapper, both five years old, have been next door neighbours for the last two years.<br /><br />Having both struggled with anxiety, their owners, Miranda Stockton, 45, and Whitney Tipton, 35, built the door to encourage the pups to play. <br /><br />Now they can’t get enough of each other with Golden Retriever Trapper constantly sticking his nose under the fence to signal he wants to see his best friend, Fritz, a German Shepherd. <br /><br />Miranda, a software engineer, from San Francisco, US, said: “Fritz and Trapper are best friends - despite having super different personalities.<br /><br />“I see Trapper popping his head under the fence - so Whitney and I will text each other and ask if we can unlock the door. <br /><br />“Our partners both thought it was weird at first - but they already played together at the dog park, and Trapper would just break my heart whenever he’d come looking for Fritz.” <br /><br />Miranda rescued Fritz in 2022 from the Humane Society and he had a number of anxiety issues which stopped him socialising with other dogs. <br /><br />Around the same time, Whitney adopted Trapper - who she says has “boundless energy”. <br /><br />The next-door neighbours decided to introduce their dogs to each other - hoping they’d bond. <br /><br />Miranda said: “As they grew up, Fritz and Trapper would smell each other under the fence. <br /><br />“Their personalities are so different - Trapper is a big, sweet, blundering idiot with a goofy smile.<br /><br />“While Fritz is a very smart dog - and you can just tell he’s judging you.<br /><br />“I think they really bonded on the fact that they were both a bit funky with other dogs.”<br /><br />At first, the pair would take Trapper and Fritz to the local dog park - where they’d “aggressively” play with each other. <br /><br />But after a while, Trapper started to stick his head under the fence to look for his friend. <br /><br />“I asked Whitney if we could build a dog door,” Miranda said. <br /><br />“I couldn’t take Trapper under the fence anymore, it was killing me.<br /><br />“She said ‘no - it’s too weird’.<br /><br />“I said 'it’s not weird'. They already play together - and Trapper would always squish his little nose under the fence to see Fritz.”<br /><br />Miranda messaged Whitney’s husband, Joe Parks, 35, with screenshots of dog door pictures on Pinterest. <br /><br />He loved the idea and the pair tried to convince Miranda’s own husband, Josh Levenson, 47, get on board. <br /><br />After calling a carpenter and getting quoted for $600, Josh and Whitney decided to go for it. <br /><br />Miranda said: “We worked with him to design it - I shared my Pinterest photos with the carpenter.<br /><br />“He made a door to replicate the photos I had on my board - a perfectly-framed, little wood door with mini locks on both sides for privacy.<br /><br />“It was only $300 each - Whitney and I paid half-and-half.”<br /><br />Now, Whitney and Miranda often unlock the door when they get home from work, and allow the dogs to play with each other. <br /><br />“Fritz has grown so much in confidence because of this,” Miranda said. <br /><br />“He’ll come up to Trapper and now they’ll just start playing.”
