When a hooman, Dr. Brian Eberhart, met a little pup by the name of Elliot, he knew that they were meant to be together forever.
And, of course, he was willing to do whatever it took for this to become a reality.
Meant To Be
Elliot, a Border Collie puppy, was a frightened stray who was rescued and brought to the Palm Springs Animal Shelter.
Having such a tough life, Elliot was really afraid of anyone who approached him, trying to hide away from the world.
However, his soft gaze melted anyone it fell upon and made every passerby stop and admire the little pup.
In order to help Elliot become an indoor dog, the shelter set him up with a loving foster home, which would make his transition a whole lot easier.
Little did Elliot know that his foster home would change his life forever. Well… his foster neighbor, to be exact.
“Dr. Eberhart’s neighbor was Elliot’s foster guardian, so he had already met Elliot while he was in foster and had the opportunity to get to know and fall in love with him,” said Anthony Mercurio, Palm Springs Animal Shelter marketing and communications manager.
As soon as Elliot was ready to go to a forever home, Dr. Eberhart made sure he was first in line… literally!
@palmspringsanimalshelter We’re not crying, you are😢 #adoptionstories #puppiesoftiktok #dogsofttiktok #doglover #adopt #animalshelter #shelterdog #cute #realmvp #fyp #foreverhome #palmspringsanimalshelter #peopleareawesome #dog #puppy ♬ Steven Universe – L.Dre
An Unusual View
On the morning of Elliot’s adoption, the shelter staff came to work expecting a regular work day; however, they were stunned when they saw that somebody came way before them.
In front of the Palm Springs Rescue, Dr. Eberhart made himself comfortable, sitting in a chair and reading a book, waiting for the shelter to open its doors.
We noticed Dr. Eberhart camped out in front of the shelter … and found out he was there to adopt Elliot. Other people came by that morning as well, but once they found out that we didn’t open until 1 p.m. that day, they gave up and left.
However, Dr. Eberhart wasn’t discouraged by this fact and was more than willing to wait because Elliot was more than worth it.
As soon as the shelter opened, the pair met, and Elliot just couldn’t contain his excitement when he realized what was really going on.
It was a happy and playful meet and greet from the start. Elliot acted like he was being reunited with an old friend and it was obvious to us that there was a match there!
New Life
Elliot was taken to his new home, and he was even renamed to Leo.
Dr. Eberhart carefully chose this name because it is actually an acronym for “Love Each Other”. How cute is that!
After settling into his new family, Elliot realized that this was the place he was meant to be in all along.
@drbrianandleo Me and my dog ❤️#puppiesoftiktok #dogsofttiktok #puppies #adoptdontshop #goodboy #bestfriend #leo #loveeachother #bordercollie ♬ I Love My Dog, My Dog Love Me – Andy Griggs
His favorite pastime, besides being happy, is simply snuggling next to his mom and dad and it’s the most adorable thing ever.
He is a smart, playful and happy boy who must always have eyes on his humans.Dr. Eberhart, as a proud doggo dad now, shares all of Elliots adventures of his new life over on his TikTok account. Check him out!