I had it bad.
In late October, a video of a shy, scruffy puppy being ignored at an adoption event in Central Park went viral. Footage showed the pup, Bob Parr, with his handler, looking around disconsolately and ignored, all the other dogs having apparently been captured. It garnered nearly 4 million views on TikTok, thousands of swooning comments, and hundreds of app adoptions.
One online admirer was Jade Letlow, a 31-year-old Bensonhurst resident whose beloved foster Yorkie, Brooks, had passed away in May.
Letlow, who works in insurance, wasn’t actually looking for a new furry companion, but then she saw Bob online.
“I was scrolling and I randomly saw this video,” he told The Post. “And I said this is the cutest fucking dog there is. I love this dog… how is he not adopted”.
He submitted an application for the 3-year-old, 10-pound Chihuahua Terrier mix to Badass Dog Rescue. She was invited to an adoption event to meet Bob and learn more about him. He ended up in a shelter in Georgia for unknown reasons and was later sent north, where several families took him in. The various movements had left him shaken.
“The volunteer told me that Bob is in trouble,” Letlow recalled. “He was taking anxiety medication and he was super, super shy, to the point where he was trying to touch him and he was shaking.”
But she was not discouraged.
“I like underdogs,” he joked.
Letlow began the adoption process, which took just over a month and saw her compete for Bob with dog lovers from all over the country. After a thorough investigation, including a home visit and references, Badass sent word that Bob was his.
“It was a matter of finding the right person,” Letlow said.
She picked him up on December 10, but her new roommate was initially too terrified to enter the Letlow house and bit her. She eventually coaxed him through the door and he quickly retreated into a corner, refusing to eat or go to the bathroom for days.
After about a week, and with the help of a trainer sent by Badass, the pair made progress. One night, Letlow was out with friends and returned home to find that her puppy was not in her usual corner.
“I was like ‘Where’s Bob?’” he said. “I was on the sofa. I sat down and he nudged me and [gave me] a ‘pet me’ look and we’ve been best friends ever since.”
She even took him to his parents’ house in Pennsylvania for Christmas, and he hugged and sniffed his way into the heart of his family.
“He did fabulous. They absolutely loved it.”
Bob is now thriving and loving his new life, especially when Letlow cooks him chicken breast.
“He’s very laid back, so one of his favorite things to do is get on the couch with me and watch Netflix. He is my shadow,” he said. “He is the perfect New York dog,” he added. “He just needed to come out of his shell.”