Roscoe’s story is quite an unusual one. 

He was a stray dog that didn’t really belong to anyone. No one knew what happened to him or how he ended up roaming the streets of a Washington County neighborhood. 

Dubbed as a neighborhood dog, some of the neighbors kept feeding him, thankfully. He minded his business and mostly kept to himself for almost three years until one day, someone complained…

Sweet Lonely Boy

Roscoe arrived at Washington County Johnson City Animal Shelter in 2020 after someone called in and complained about a large dog running around.

The Johnson City Shelter learned that this dog was homeless for three years at least, so they believed that he spent most of his life as a stray.

For the six months that he stayed at the shelter, the staff and volunteers tried to get Roscoe to open up.

“He has not formed any attachment to people and doesn’t act like he wants to. He is not aggressive. He is just very cautious. He will take treats from people he is familiar with, but will move away immediately,” the shelter wrote on their Facebook post.

Nothing they did could cheer this lonely boy up or get him to socialize with others.

Their hearts broke every time they saw him all alone and looking pretty sad and heartbroken.

Source: Facebook

Roscoe deserved so much more, so they decided to post about him on their social media in hopes that someone would fall in love with this pretty boy.
“He needs someone who understands that he may never be a dog that wants to be around people. But maybe, just maybe, he might come to understand that head scratches and belly rubs are pretty cool. There is a perfect home out there somewhere for this sweet, lonely boy.”
To everyone’s surprise, Roscoe’s story took a quite unexpected turn.

No One Expected What Was About To Happen

Not long after they posted about Roscoe’s story, they received a message from a man, saying: “I think that’s my dog, and he’s been missing for three years.”

Surprised, the shelter quickly organized a visit.

Source: Facebook

Roscoe was a bit hesitant at first and kept circling around his dad, sniffing. “We were all holding our breath. And then, he knew,” said the heartwarming post by the shelter.

It turned out that Roscoe was actually a family dog named Runt who, about three years prior to this, wandered off the farm he lived on and sadly never came back.

Source: Facebook

In the state of being lost, he actually somehow made it more than ten miles away from home and ended up staying in one of the Johnson City neighborhoods.

Check out this beautiful moment as Roscoe, a.k.a., Runt reunited with his dad after more than three years apart: 

Roscoe went from a lonely and scared dog refusing to be touched to a happy and smiling pup enjoying pets from his beloved dad.

“What an unexpected but so very awesome ending! If your pet is missing, Never Give Up Hope!!,” the rescue posted, and we couldn’t agree more.