After the walk, Filoon reluctantly put Russ back into his kennel. Then she called her mom. She said: "I told her, I think I need to adopt a dog tomorrow. My mom thought I was kidding, because I always fall in love with the dogs that I take out – it's hard not to. So she didn't really believe me, but there was something about Russ." The situation also seemed ᴜʀɢᴇɴᴛ to Filoon. The sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ was overcrowded at the time, and it recently had to ᴇᴜᴛʜᴀɴɪᴢᴇ about 15 dogs, according to Filoon. she added: "Any dog had a chance of being put down, especially the ones who were sɪᴄᴋᴇʀ, and Russ was definitely one of them. He had ᴋᴇɴɴᴇʟ ᴄᴏᴜɢʜ."

Filoon had class the next day, but as soon as she finished, she rushed back to the sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ. This time, she decided to take Russ out for a car ride. When they returned to the sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ later that afternoon, Filoon knew she wasn't going home without him. With the help of the sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ staff, she quickly organized his adoption papers. She said: "He just sat in my passenger seat. I thought. He's the perfect dog. I took him home that night."