One day, a resident of the United States named Dustin Kelly walked into a shelter to find a four-legged friend. While all the dogs were barking and jumping around trying to get attention, he noticed a dog sitting in the corner with his head down sadly. It was a special dog named Zeus.

The staff told him that because of his strange grinning and antisocial behavior, Zeus was about to be put to sleep. They thought they wouldn’t be able to rehabilitate him or find suitable owners because nobody wanted to take him. But after seeing that “smile” and eyes full of despair, Dustin decided that he could not leave this dog here, where the saddest outcome awaited him.

“The shelter told me that he had ‘aggressive behaviors’ [like] the smile,” Kelley told The Dodo. “And he likely wouldn’t be a very good dog because he was untrained and antisocial. But I was drawn to the sad boy in the corner of his kennel, and I said I’d take him home and if he turned out to not be a good fit in my home at least I gave him a few weeks of life.”

“After those first three months, he started to smile all day every day, and that’s when I realized he was showing his teeth because he was excited, not because he was mad,” Kelley said. “I think once he finally realized that I wasn’t going to give up on him and that this was his home now, he really opened up … and his loving, goofy personality started to shine.”
The first time he saw that same Zeus grin, the guy was even a little scared, but in spite of that, he decided to take him in and give him a home. For the first month, the dog was just as sad and lost. He didn’t wag his tail, he wasn’t happy, and he was battered and fearful.
Now Zeus is happy, loves his master with all his soul, and is not embarrassed by his smile. During walks, all passers-by pay attention to him and smile at him. Even if Zeus doesn’t look very friendly because of his peculiarities, he’s really happy inside!