Meet Two Unlikely Friends: 'The Fox and the Hound'

Remember the sweet Disney movie "The Fox and the Hound" from 1981?

Very Best Friends on Disney Video

Now a similar unlikely friendship has emerged between a dog named Maddy and a fox named Rosie. Although our readers are savvy enough to recognize that this dog is a terrier and not a hound, terriers are also famous for hunting foxes. In fact, Maddy's parents were used for hunting foxes. Maddy is a Lakeland-Patterdale terrier cross. 

Rosie is the sole survivor of her litter after their fox father went rogue, killing her siblings. Rosie has been hand reared and was adopted by wildlife photographer Richard Bowler, who loves in Wales. 

Bowler says Rosie has been a delightful kit to look after, though the living room often looks like a war zone after one of their play-fighting sessions. The two buddies played with supervision when Rosie was still quite small. 

So far, Rosie has the run of the living room, the patio and the vegetable garden. Bowler hopes to fence in the surrounding acre, giving them more space to roam and play and even allow other photographers to be able to photograph her. 

Update:

Now that Rosie and Maddy have been given international attention, Richard Bowler has updated his blog with more recent information. Rosie is now as big as Maddy, and they are still rambunctious buddies. 

Bowler hopes that these photographs will help to inform the debate as the UK government is considering bringing back fox hunting: "I just hope that maybe the pictures of Rosie will help people understand what wonderful and intelligent animals foxes are."

All photos used with permission by Richard Bowler.