A happy dog is playful and full of energy.

Rusty, a German Shepherd/Catahoula mix was a very sweet and playful puppy.

He had lots of energy to burn.

And all he wanted was a family to embrace him for who he was and allow him to live his life to the fullest.

Unfortunately, Rusty had a hard time finding his forever home. In fact, his story will make anyone feel sad.

Rusty never lost hope.

He sat in the shelter and waited for the day that someone will hug him with open arms, bring him home, and will never return him to the shelter again.

His original owners said that he was too hyper and they could no longer take care of him, so they surrendered him at the shelter two years ago on February 2020.

That’s how Rusty first came to the shelter.

His owners did the right thing.

Instead of just leaving the poor pup somewhere, it’s better to give him another chance to find a family that will accept him.

Rusty was in a foster care program and after that, they sent him to a rescue home in Idaho where he had a better chance of finding his forever family.

However, the Idaho rescue facility sent Rusty back to the Humane Society of Central Texas.

According to the report, Rusty “was not dog-friendly” and the management had to give him back.

Can you imagine Rusty’s confusion?

Dogs have powerful senses, and it’s as if Rusty knew what was happening. The poor dog became depressed.

After returning to the Humane Society of Central Texas, Rusty changed. He became frustrated and depressed.

These emotions manifested through his actions.

He would act out when he was inside his kennel and would be very reactive toward other dogs.

Rusty felt hurt, hopeless, and unloved.

After a few months, in November 2020, Rusty was finally adopted.

Sadly, in just a month, Rusty was again returned to the shelter. According to the Waco shelter, his owners explained he was a “destructive” dog.

Time marched on.

Again, Rusty entered his kennel, alone and feeling unloved.

The shelter held onto hope.

The Humane Society of Central Texas never gave up on Rusty. They enrolled him in the Dogs Playing for Life program.

This program allows dogs to socialize, play, and just be dogs.

They also enrolled him in behavioral programs and indeed, Rusty showed improvement.

All the staff at the Waco shelter were hopeful, and slowly, Rusty came back to his old playful, and happy self.

Rusty was adopted after 419 days.

Oh, how happy and excited Rusty was. Maybe a little too excited.

Rusty accidentally bit his owner and acted out which led the family to return him to the shelter in just one day.

The staff of the shelter welcomed Rusty back last March 31, 2021, for his 420th day in the shelter, without a forever home.

Is there anyone out there that could ever love a happy and active dog like him?

The shelter posted a video

They shared it on April 1st, 2021. They wanted everyone to see the adorable puppies in their shelter and give an update about Rusty’s case.

They clarified that none of them blamed the family.

They had a reason, and it was valid. In their post, they explained:

“We are not at all upset with his adopters. They did the right thing bringing him back because he is a lot of work, and he did nip at them. Not every dog is right for every family. We know there’s a lot of judgment going on about the family that returned him. But, you know what, they didn’t let him go in the street, they didn’t let anything happen to him, they acknowledged he wasn’t the right dog for them, and they brought him back.”

Days and months passed.

Rusty stayed in the shelter with the people who loved him, and after over 800 days in that Waco shelter, finally, someone signed his adoption papers.

They changed his name to Zuko.

And he jumped into that car and went to his forever home – at last.

Today, Zuko is learning how to live his life to the fullest and just be the happy and playful dog that he is.

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Source: The Dodo, People, Humane Society of Central Texas