Meet Roscoe

Meet Roscoe. From thrown away to thriving! He was abandoned, left to figure out the world by himself, a high-energy border collie mix with no outlet, no guidance, and no one claiming him. Dogs like him usually get written off as just "too wild" or "too intense" to fit neatly into a living room. But that’s only true if no one ever gives them a purpose.

I first met him at a Hendricks County Friends of the Shelter event. He walked out as one of the adoptable dogs, just hoping to be noticed. And he didn’t just get noticed - he lit the place up. Focus sharp. Tail nonstop. Heart on full display. He wasn’t a castoff. He wasn’t a stray. He was a working dog waiting for someone to finally recognize what he could be. There are very few dogs I've ever met who fundamentally change the energy of a room when they walk in like Roscoe, formerly named Steve, does.

We hear him the second he hits the building - barking, spinning, vibrating with joy because he knows exactly what’s coming. Training. Purpose. Work. The thing that turns him from “too much dog” into something incredible. And when he runs to his dad, you can see how much he adores him… it’s the kind of bond that only forms when a dog finally finds his person. Indeed when Roscoe's now dad learned about him he was waiting at the shelter the next day for them to open and take his partner home.

Today, Roscoe is living a life with purpose. He’s thriving. He’s confident. And he absolutely adores his dad in a way that only a dog who’s been lost before can understand.

The Hendricks County Animal Shelter is fighting through a very hard stretch right now. Overloaded. Under-resourced. Doing everything they can for dogs just like Roscoe - dogs with fire in their chest who just need one person willing to see what that actually means. Roscoe is the proof. The others are waiting.