Shelter Dog Makes His Own Bed Every Day, Can’t Get Adopted–Until Couple Sees This Video

Illustration - Shutterstock

When a young pit bull named Rush showed up at the Society for the Improvement of the Conditions of Stray Animals (SICSA) in Kettering, Ohio, he was desperate for love and affection. Volunteers and staff members at the shelter could tell how sweet he was and how much joy he would bring to his forever family one day.

Yet, Rush was passed over by people visiting the shelter for weeks, perhaps because of his breed. To help promote this sweet dog, a shelter volunteer named Leah took a video of one of his most endearing habits: making his own bed.

“Rush ... has been making his bed every day while he waits on a family to adopt him,” the shelter wrote on their Facebook page. A video that accompanied the post showed the adorable dog tugging on his blanket on his bed in the kennel, his tail wagging happily.

The sight of the dutiful dog making his bed captured the hearts of many viewers on social media. The video eventually got nearly 2 million views and lots of interest in adopting him.

“He probably needs a dog-savvy owner,” Deborah Durbin, the marketing coordinator at SICSA told WHIO. “We have had him over 30 days now. He came here as a puppy but he didn’t do well in his first home and was returned.”

The shelter found a couple of local dog lovers, Mike and Allison, to take Rush to their house for a break from his month in the shelter. By then, the viral video had attracted so much attention that Rush’s story was even featuring on the local news and appearing on rescue sites as far away as California.

At some point, Ronnie Wallace saw the bed-making dog on the news. His wife, Angie, who happens to be from Kettering where the shelter is located, saw the post on a rescue site. Both of them immediately fell in love with Rush.

As Angie explained to SICSA staff in a video, “We lost our dogs earlier this year, so I was not ready to get another dog.” However, the thought that Rush didn’t have a permanent place to make his bed was saddening. “I think I want him,” she added.

At first, she thought that her husband might think it was too soon for a new dog. On the contrary, Ronnie had been ready for a month already. With all the attention that Rush had gotten, they weren’t sure they would get the chance to meet him, however.

When they got to SICSA, Rush was still there, and that was it for husband Ronnie Wallace. They were ready to take him home as soon as they saw him. “We walked in and saw him in the cage and the eyes just got me,” Ronnie shared.

At the end of the day, Rush’s new humans proved perfectly capable of keeping up with the energetic pit bull. He finally found a permanent place to make his bed.

Meanwhile, the pooch, with his internet fame, was able to promote the shelter and bring the light of homeless pets into the spotlight. SICSA hopes that it will bring more attention to the overcrowded and underfunded shelters on the front lines of animal rescue work.