Echo Park near Los Angeles is full of geese who typically start their mornings by going for a swim. One goose, however, enjoys starting her day by taking a walk with her very special human friend.

Maria is a grey Toulouse goose who waits patiently every morning for retired salesman Dominic Ehrler to arrive at the park for his daily walk with her. The two have become such good friends that they have become viral sensations, as people all over the globe are touched by the bond they share!

“People would look at us like – what is this?” Dominic told reporter Steve Hartman.

“What, they’ve never seen a guy walking with a goose before?” Steve replied.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much a fact,” Dominic said.

The two first became friends when Maria started randomly following Dominic around the park. He was doing nothing to entice her and was not feeding her, yet she was immediately drawn to him. These days, Maria is very protective of her human friend.

“She thinks that she owns me,” he said. “The other geese are not allowed to be near me on account of Maria.”

Maria doesn’t even like it when other humans get near Dominic! Whenever he would try and leave the park, Maria would follow him and fly behind him as he attempted to ride away on his scooter. For her safety, he now remains in the park until she falls asleep so that he can slip away.

While Dominic is Maria’s best friend, she enjoys socializing with other humans as well. She even participated in a music video for the band OK GO’s song “End Love,” and the director had a very hard time getting her to leave the boys alone!

In the end, however, Maria is completely faithful to Dominic.

“She’d go home with me, I have no doubt in my mind,” he said.

Find out more about Dominic and Maria’s bond in the video below, and SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!