He strikes when no one is around and there are adorable dogs to be hugged.
The hugging bandit was first spotted when Louisiana mom Hollie Mallet was looking at footage from the surveillance camera in her family's garage. She saw a young boy sprint from his bike into their home for a drive-by hugging of their dog, Dutchess.
Mallet posted the video on Facebook, asking her neighbors, "Anyone know who this sweet little boy is? Every now and then when he rides his bike he will quickly come and love on my dog or play fetch real quick, but always leaves quick like he doesn't know if he should be here!
"I'd like to tell him he's welcome to stay and play, she loves the attention!" she wrote.
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A mom from the neighborhood, Ginger Breaux, quickly recognized that the pint-sized trespasser was her son, Josh.
"Josh talks about your dog all the time!" she replied on Facebook to Mallet's post. "Every time we pass he looks to see if she was sitting where he could see her. Just didn't know he was doing things like this.
"Last night when I first saw it, I was torn as a momma being happy and upset because he knows he shouldn't be on someone's property, but I wake up this morning more happy that he just absolutely adores dogs so much."
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Josh later stopped by a day later for a selfie with his favorite dog, this time caught on his own camera instead of a surveillance one.
The boy is now allowed to visit Dutchess for some hugs or a game of fetch any time.
"Hope this sweet little boy Josh continues to come play and love up on Dutchess!'' Mallet replied to Breaux on Facebook. "A dog is a friend for life! So glad to see that innocence and love was caught on camera instead of what they are normally used for."
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