She Could Not Forget the Puppy With the Crooked Snout — Then Her Husband Quietly Applied to Bring Him Home

Melanie Price had shown her husband a photograph of a puppy with a crooked snout. Their household already included three dogs, and she was not planning to add another. But the picture stayed with her. When the puppy later needed a home again, her husband remembered—and submitted an adoption application without telling her first.

The puppy was Newt, a dachshund previously called Twister. His unusual face had brought him attention, but his search for a lasting home involved something more familiar: an adoption that had not worked out, a person who kept thinking about him, and another family willing to try. Price described the story in an October 2026 interview with PEOPLE.

A photograph that stayed with her

Newt was about 11 weeks old when Price first saw him featured by Dream-A-Dream Dachshunds in Pflugerville, Texas. He had come into the organization’s care from a breeder along with other dogs. According to the history passed on to Price, an attack by another dog had caused a jaw injury that went untreated. She understood that injury to be the reason his snout had healed in its distinctive shape.

The puppy’s appearance was striking, but Price’s first reaction did not immediately become an adoption plan. She and her husband were already living with a group of dogs. A photograph could touch them without changing the practical reality of their home that day. For a while, that was where the story rested: she had seen Newt, shown him to her husband, and continued thinking about him.

Newt was eventually adopted by another household. Later, he was returned because the dogs there had not accepted him. That detail mattered to the family who would welcome him next. His first placement had ended because the household’s dogs could not settle together, rather than because the account established anything wrong with Newt’s character.

Her husband acted on what she remembered

When Price’s husband showed her the new post, she told him that she had not forgotten the puppy. He then put in an application privately. The next surprise was telling her that they had been approved. A conversation that could have ended with sympathy had become a practical decision to make space in their home.

The rescue received more than one application. Price explained that its owner already knew the family and knew that Newt would have other dogs for company there. Choosing a home therefore involved more than responding to a memorable picture. There was a relationship with the organization and a sense of the household he would be joining.

Price had some understandable concern about the introduction. Their oldest dog, Oscar, could be assertive with newcomers. Newt had already experienced a placement that did not work out with other dogs, so the first meeting held significance beyond an excited arrival. It was the beginning of finding out whether this particular home would fit him.

Newt found companions of his own

According to Price, Newt arrived enthusiastically, and the family’s dogs responded warmly. Oscar accepted him, while Luna became a particularly close companion. Price described Luna as helping him learn about his new life. The puppy whose earlier placement had ended with a return was now becoming part of another group.

That change is visible in the family photographs. Newt appears with people and with other dogs, his face remaining as distinctive as ever. In another picture, he sits among brightly colored flowers. The photographs do not require him to look like a different animal in order to show a different life. The setting and the company have changed around the same recognizable dog.

For his family, living with Newt brought silliness and affection. Price described the pleasure he gave them through small, ordinary moments. He did not need to accomplish something extraordinary to make them smile. His presence, expressions, and playful personality had become part of the household’s daily enjoyment.

The questions people ask about his face

As Price shared Newt online, viewers wanted to know how he managed with his unusual mouth. Her account was practical: he could eat and drink independently. The family used a round bowl with higher sides to help him handle his food, and eating was something he enjoyed. What looked unfamiliar in a photograph was part of an everyday routine at home.

People also asked whether his snout would be changed surgically. Price said the family had not considered a cosmetic procedure, explaining that he had no breathing problems and was living happily. That was her description of Newt’s own situation. Their focus was on his comfort and what he could do, rather than changing his appearance to meet someone else’s expectations.

Those household details make the story more complete. A viral picture can leave viewers staring at one feature. The family can tell them about dinner, play, canine friendships, and a little dog who keeps making them laugh. Newt’s snout is visible in all of those moments, but it is only one part of what his people know about him.

A place where the picture became a family member

The quiet application is the turning point that gives this account its warmth. Price’s husband acted on something she had kept carrying in her thoughts. The result was not simply another photograph to share, but a dog to feed, introduce, accommodate, and enjoy as part of their home.

Newt did not arrive with a promise that every detail would be easy. The family still needed to make the introductions and understand his routines. What followed, in their account, was a cheerful dog becoming comfortable among companions who accepted him. The photograph that Melanie could not forget had become someone she no longer had to admire from a distance. Newt was home.