Shelter Dog Breaks Into the Biggest Smile When He Realizes He’s Going Home

It was December when a dog named Eugene arrived at the Best Friends Pet Resource Center in Arkansas. With Christmas just around the corner, the shelter hoped to find him at least a temporary home but little did they know, Eugene was about to get exactly what he’d been wishing for.

When Nikki and Jason saw the shelter asking for someone to foster him over the holidays, they stepped forward and Eugene quickly won their hearts.

“Eugene is the sweetest dog with both people and other pups,” Michelle Logan, executive director of the shelter, told The Dodo. “He is 100% cuddle trained! When Jason and Nikki first brought him home, he followed them all around the house, wanting to be near them all the time.”

A week later, it was time for Eugene to return to the shelter. But Jason and Nikki weren’t so sure they wanted to bring him back. They promised Eugene that if he wasn’t adopted within the next day or two they’d come back for him. They didn’t even wait a day. They got home and realized they couldn’t let Eugene go. So that very evening, Nikki drove back to the shelter to pick him up for the second time.

As soon as Eugene saw Nikki, he broke into the biggest, happiest smile — a full-body smile that confirmed they had made the right choice.

Best Friends captured Eugene’s happiness in a timeless photo that captures the moment a shelter dog realizes he’s going home.

“We got a text soon after from Jason saying, ‘Eugene has found a home with us. The smile at pickup last night solidified everything for us,’” Logan said.

Now renamed Louie, he’s living his best life with parents who adore him and a doggie sibling named Ruger. And that smile? It hasn’t left his face since.

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