Roxxie — a friendly 5-year-old pit bull who is great with cats and children — was adopted from the Huntington County Humane Society in Indiana. Just two weeks later, she was returned to the shelter for a surprising reason:

Her new family said she was “too affectionate.”

“Roxxie wanted to snuggle in bed at night, and they just didn’t want to deal with that,” Katy Hudson, board president of the Huntington County Humane Society, told The Dodo. The shelter offered to help the adopters train the pup so she wouldn’t hop into their bed, but they weren’t interested.

“We’ve heard almost every reason under the sun for why animals get surrendered to us, but for a pet to be returned for being overly affectionate and clingy is not something we’ve come across before,” Hudson said. “It immediately caused confusion: What do you mean you don’t want to cuddle with your dog?”

For Roxxie, the rejection stung. It was difficult for her to be back inside a kennel instead of a home.

“She was just broken,” Hudson said. “She was not her usual happy-go-lucky self. She didn’t really want to engage. She spent most of the time curled up in a ball. It was a struggle to even get her outside of her kennel. She was so devastated.”

Hudson shared Roxxie’s story on the Huntington County Humane Society’s social media page, and it was met with an outpouring of love and support. The shelter was flooded with messages and phone calls from people across the country.

Hudson explained how pit bulls are sometimes generalized as aggressive dogs, so Roxxie’s story offered a fresh perspective on the misunderstood breed: “It helped to educate people that pit bulls come in all different personality styles, and it’s a spectrum, just like with every other breed.”

The shelter received about 30 applications from people interested in adopting Roxxie. One family stood out to the staff: the Chases. They were drawn to Roxxie because she reminded them of their late dog, Lucy, a rescue dog who also loved to cuddle in bed.

Though the loss of their beloved pet hit the family hard, almost a year had passed, and they finally felt ready to open their hearts to another dog. The Chases have six rescue cats and had trouble finding a cat-friendly pup at their local shelter. They drove three hours from their home in Illinois to meet Roxxie.

“This is a family fully invested in their animals,” Hudson said. “It was very clear that they were the right fit for Roxxie.”

The shelter hosted a special sendoff for Roxxie the next day to celebrate her new beginning. The Humane Society’s entire team formed a line outside the shelter to cheer on the pup. Roxxie came trotting out of the door with a huge smile, panting with excitement as she greeted her new family.

Roxxie immediately leaped into their van.

“It turns out she adores car rides,” Roxxie’s new mom, Jessica Chase, told The Dodo. For a fresh start, the Chases decided to give Roxxie a new name fit for royalty: “Her full name is Lady Olivia Huntington, but we call her Livvie for short.”

The pup’s sweet, fun-loving personality was apparent to the family from the start.

“When we brought her home, the first thing she did was hop on our bed and cuddle,” Chase said.

She, her husband, Dan, and their 12-year-old twin daughters, Annaliese and Kirsten, don’t just accept the pup’s cuddly nature — they embrace it.

“I don’t think a dog can be too affectionate,” Chase said. “I love how much she loves us.”

Livvie sprints to the front door every day to welcome the twins home from school.

“They love playing with her,” Chase said of her daughters. “They come in and snuggle with her, and she licks them, and they giggle. It’s really sweet.”

Livvie, who sleeps with Chase every night, is happy to have found a loving home that doesn’t think her cuddles are too over-the-top. For the Huntington County Humane Society, the good news didn’t end there.

Fifteen other dogs were adopted from the shelter thanks to the sweet pup’s story.

Hudson encourages those looking for a cuddly companion like Livvie to give shelters a shot:

“There are lots of affectionate shelter dogs who have so much love to give,” she said.