Dog Spends 827 Days in Shelter Until DNA Surprise Helps Him Find a Home

An unexpected DNA test has led a long-time shelter dog to his forever home. Duke was a resident of the Northampton County shelter for 827 days, and the staff didn’t know why. He was well-behaved, knew many basic commands, and even some tricks.

When the shelter received a donated DNA testing kit, they decided to test Duke. It wasn’t long after that Duke’s test results came to the attention of Kevin Miller. It wasn’t Duke’s breed that caught his attention; it was his ancestry. It turns out Duke has canine siblings nearby, and Kevin knew who Duke’s brother was. That’s because his son had adopted him, and Kevin had taken care of the dog for a year.

He reached out to the shelter to visit Duke, and when he came, he told the staff, “I think you can convince me to adopt him.” By the second visit he was bringing Duke home on a foster and adopt trial, but Kevin made sure to tell the staff, “So you understand Duke isn’t coming back.”

Duke has been with Kevin for several months now, and he told WFMZ that Duke is fitting right in. The proud new dog dad said Duke is already well trained and has an “awesome disposition,” adding, “I feel like I won the lottery.”