NATCHEZ — If dog really is man’s best friend then Cole Wadlington has a good best friend.

When The Dart landed on Apple Street in Vidalia, 11-year-old Cole was braving the cold to visit his golden retriever Rusty.

Wadlington has had Rusty since he was just a toddler and Rusty was just a puppy.

“We got him from this biker guy,” Cole said. “He was really little, but now he is pretty big.

Currently Rusty lives in the backyard at Cole’s grandmother’s Myrtle Street home, but that doesn’t stop Cole from visiting regularly.

“I came yesterday and today,” Cole said Saturday. “I told him I’d be here the day before, but I didn’t make it by.”

Cole said generally he and Rusty play with toys or wrestle around in the grass.

“He’s a good dog, a nice dog. He doesn’t really like cats, but he likes people,” Cole said. “I miss him not living at my house, but he’s close by.”

Cole said he decided to brave the cold temperatures to ride his bicycle to see Rusty because it is fun to play with him.

“I’m wearing two coats so I’m really not cold,” he said. “I haven’t been outside that long.”

Cole was joined by school friend Alex Cupit, 10, on Saturday afternoon.

Alex said he likes playing with Rusty with Cole.

“We come over here a lot,” he said.

When he isn’t playing with Rusty, Cole said he has other dogs at his house that are fun, and he likes watching movies.

Both Cole and Alex are students at Vidalia Upper Elementary School.