Dog shelter attempts to flip the adoption process by letting doggos choose their new owners: ‘Four dogs from our adoption event have applications’

Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor

Mar 16, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

In this shelter, the dog chooses the owner.

Many hoomans, we've come to learn, avoid going to animal shelters to adopt their newest companion because they can't handle the thought of only choosing one furry friend out of all the ones in need of a home. They would much rather not choose than have to come face to face with all the animals up for adoption and walk away with just one.

But what if we told you that there is another way?

This dog shelter decided to try another method to find furever homes for their doggos. Instead of having an event where people go around a room full of dogs and choose the one they connect to the most, the shelter flipped the process. In their "Pick Me" event, all the lovely hoomans who were interested in adopting a doggo set in a room, and one after the other, doggos were allowed to roam in the room and choose the hooman they wanted.

In a video the shelter later released, you can see the excited puppers run around the room until they settle on one pawdorable person they are most drawn to. Everyone in the room had a smile on their faces, and it was clear that the whole event was a huge success. Not only that, but the shelter later confirmed that four doggos received applications thanks to this event.

Scroll down to see exactly how heartwarming this reverse adoption truly is.

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"Four dogs from our adoption Pick Me event have applications, this event was largely for fun and exposure for our dogs. Many came with the intent to adopt and will follow our adoption procedure to ensure good fits."

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Watch the full video

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"We did a trial run of our Pick Me event to make sure the dogs were comfortable. We used mostly volunteers that didn’t work with the dogs. We’re praying Ed finds his person at the real event.'

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Before giving this trend a try, the shelter did a test run with one of the doggos that has been in the shelter the longest, a pawdorable pup named Ed. They let Ed choose a hooman in a room full of sweet volunteers… and Ed chose them all.
He went around the room and ensured every single person there got lots of love from him, and refused to skip a single hooman. It's like he knew what it is like to be passed over, and he didn't want any of them to get a feel of what that's like.
So, as bonus content, here is Ed's wholesome video. We are full of hope that he will find a forever home soon!