Famous Collierville shelter pup with same facial expressions as Paul Rudd finds his ‘furever’ home

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A dog at the Collierville Animal Shelter quickly rose to fame and found his furever home after someone discovered he made the same facial expressions as actor Paul Rudd.

A former Collierville resident, Jenny Dixon, created a collage showing the two making similar facial expressions side by side.

Jenny’s photo was posted on social media by the Town of Collierville, which was running a Valentine’s Day campaign encouraging people to adopt animals.

While making love connections between pets and people today, we discovered one of our dogs is meant to be with Paul Rudd.

We have nicknamed him Pawl Ruff.

Paul doesn't have a Twitter handle, but @AntMan does.

And honestly, what is more heroic than adopting a shelter pet? pic.twitter.com/Q0onM8dvw9
— Town of Collierville (@ColliervilleGov) February 14, 2023

That social media post ended up receiving a lot of attention.

The Commercial Appeal made “Pawl Ruff” (his real name Waffle House) the cover story, and two days later he was featured on People’s website.

The famous pup also went international with stories in both ET Canada and the Daily Mail out of the United Kingdom.

He was also mentioned in Marie Claire on Monday.

Jennifer Roy, a Collierville resident, instantly sent in her adoption application after hearing about the famous dog.

“I had been looking for a dog and was following different shelters in the area. When I saw him, I thought ‘that’s my dog’,” said Roy.

She had seen his photo a few weeks before he became famous and she had always wanted an Australian Sheperd.

“The story blew up and I was worried someone would come get my dog,” she said.

She submitted her application, scheduled a shelter visit over the weekend, and ended up officially adopting him on Sunday.

Paul Ruff, the famous shelter dog enjoying his new home with his new family.(Action News 5)

When asked what name Pawl Ruff would have now, Roy said their family picked the name Rowdy, “although he isn’t particularly rowdy at all, he seems to like the name,” laughed Jennifer.

She also mentioned that he’s settling in nicely, playing with her kids in the backyard and traveling about in the car.

He’ll be joining her at her pet-friendly office later this week, so he can spend as much time as possible with his new family.

“We did reach out to Paul Rudd’s publicists and asked if they would bring the story to his attention. We did not expect him to adopt the dog, we just wanted the story to reach him,” said Jennifer Casey, the Town’s Public Information Officer. “And if the story stops here, it is a very happy ending.”

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