Most people get their pet from a breeder or a shelter, but a Texas resident has amazed the internet with the unusual way she added a new dog to her family, and it was purely by chance.

Claire Kaminski explained in a now viral TikTok video (@williethegreatdane) that she was out walking her 2-year-old Great Dane, Willie, on June 3 when a stray dog approached her. The dog appeared very nervous and in a terrible condition, but he ran directly towards Kaminski and her husband, and he never looked back.

Despite not even being on a leash, the stray followed them "the whole way home," Kaminski, of Houston, Texas, told Newsweek. The couple fed him and gave him plenty of water, all the while posting about the lost dog on social media to try and find his owners.

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"Once he deemed us safe, he was glued to us. It was a very hot day, and it was clear that he was incredibly hot and needed water," Kaminski said.

"After we got him cooled down it was already past 9, but we still wanted to go look for anyone who might be searching for him. I quickly snapped some photos and posted him as a lost dog on several local Facebook groups, and then we headed out. We drove around for about 30 minutes but never came across anyone."

Kaminski took the dog, who has been named Nelson, to the nearby vet the next morning, and she found out that he didn't have a microchip. Hopes of finding his previous owners were fading as no one responded to her posts on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.

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The vet warned Kaminski that her area is a popular spot for people "to dump dogs" and it's thought that was what happened with Nelson.

"He didn't have a collar or a tag, but he did have an old rope tied around his neck. He wasn't neutered, and he was quite skinny and covered in fleas. All this to say, we don't know how long he had been wandering around, but it doesn't look like whoever had him previously was taking care of him either," Kaminski continued.

Not long after taking Nelson in, Texas was hit by Hurricane Beryl, causing widespread destruction. As Kaminski, her husband and the two dogs sought shelter inside their closet during the night, she was incredibly grateful that Nelson found them before the storm arrived.

Had he still been on the streets, there's no telling what might have happened to him. Kaminski continues to reflect on "how lucky the timing was."

Keeping Nelson in the Family

The couple spent a month fostering the pup and searched for a new owner for him. But as the weeks passed, they couldn't bear the thought of losing this sweet dog who came into their lives by chance, and in July they decided to keep him.

Kaminski told Newsweek: "We couldn't believe how seamlessly he fit into our lives. We talked it over for a few days and ultimately decided that we couldn't give him up. He was too intertwined in our family, and Willie would have been devastated.

"We were a bit nervous about how it would go. He had clearly never been trained, so it wasn't easy, but he seemed to just be grateful from the beginning. He has learned so much since then, it is truly incredible."

The TikTok Reaction

After deciding to keep Nelson, Kaminski shared a video on TikTok to highlight the unusual circumstances that led to his adoption. The video generated plenty of attention online, leading to over 462,200 views and 63,500 likes, as she wrote that he's "officially ours forever."

Kaminski never expected her video to go viral, but the responses have been overwhelmingly positive. "Within a few hours, it had reached a lot of people, and I was getting hundreds of kind comments," she said.

TikTok users have loved seeing the bond that Nelson and Willie instantly struck up, as they didn't waste any time in hitting it off and started playing together. Kaminski jokes that they "haven't stopped since."

With 700 comments on the viral post so far, social media users praised the couple for rescuing Nelson.

One comment reads: "Love that he picked you!"

Another TikTok user added: "He's so lucky he found you before the storm hit!"

While another person responded: "Thank you for having the heart to keep him safe and warm, and then deciding to adopt him."

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