One shy dog’s twisty path home

Sometimes an adoptable pet’s path to a new home is a long and twisty one. That’s what happened for a shy dog named Kevin.

Kevin was nearing his second anniversary at a Northwest Arkansas shelter when he first visited the Best Friends Pet Resource Center in May 2026. He came to the center as a participant in Best Friends for the Day, a program through which Best Friends hosts adoptable dogs from local shelters for a day of playgroups, fun activities, and a chance to meet a wider pool of adopters.

Kevin was very shy with new people, so despite being a sweet boy, he didn’t attract much attention from potential adopters at the Northwest Arkansas shelter. Shelter volunteer Amy Sagely spent time working with him to help him gain confidence. “He was a special case,” she says. “At first, he wouldn’t come out of the kennel. Over many weeks, I worked to get him out a little at a time. I had to pick him up to move him, but eventually he would walk with me for a little distance.”

The efforts paid off, and the shelter staff felt Kevin was confident enough to visit the pet resource center as a Best Friend for the Day. During his visit, he played politely with other dogs, walked nicely on a leash, and even allowed the staff to give him a bath.

Best Friends and the shelter decided the best next step for Kevin was to bring him into Best Friends’ adoption program to give him even more opportunities to land a home of his own. And it worked. In less than a week, Kevin was adopted from the pet resource center.

Then, Kevin’s story took an unexpected turn. Soon after his adoption, Kevin got out of his adoptive home and took off into the woods and fields around Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Best Friends staff mobilized at once to try to find Kevin, and shelter volunteer Amy also joined the search as soon as she learned that Kevin was missing.

“It broke my heart when I heard,” she says. “My sister and I were so excited when he got adopted.”

After more than a week of posting flyers, canvassing neighbors, following up on sightings, and even bringing one of Kevin’s canine buddies to help in the search, the team got word from a local homeowner. Kevin had been showing up on his property each evening to visit the resident dogs. The homeowner granted Best Friends permission to set up a humane trap at the edge of his yard.

Finally, on the morning of the 16th day since his escape, Kevin turned up in the trap. He was tired, dirty, and thin, having lost 12 pounds during his adventure. Kevin’s original adopters, concerned that he might run off again and be lost or injured, relinquished him back to Best Friends.

Kevin’s twisty story wasn’t over though. As soon as Amy learned that Kevin was found and back at Best Friends, she asked to adopt him. “I felt he needed and deserved someone who understood him, someone he had a history with,” Amy says.

Today, Kevin is home at last, his twists and turns leading him right where he belongs.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.