Parents Surprise Daughter With Shelter Dog She Was Caring For But Thought Got Adopted

For years, Hallee Fuqua has been begging her parents for a puppy for Christmas. Every year, though, she was told “no.” As a result, the Oklahoma college student decided to put her passion for dogs to good use by volunteering at the Humane Society of Stillwater.

Christmas came early this year because her parents believed she had waited long enough.

But they didn’t simply give her any puppy; they gave her the shelter dog she had been caring for and had fallen in love with.

That dog was named Rambo. Rambo is a 2-year-old Plott Hound mix.

Hallee was upset when she found out Rambo had been adopted, not realizing it was her parents who had done so!

Lance Fuqua posted the entire tale on Facebook, writing:

So, here’s what happened. For years, our daughter Hallee Fuqua has been requesting a dog for Christmas. We advised her to postpone her decision until after she completed college. She began volunteering at the Stillwater Humane Society. She became enamored with a dog named Rambo and paid him frequent visits. My wife and I agreed to adopt him in secret three weeks ago. We kept it a secret with the help of the Humane Society. She was heartbroken when she learned that Rambo had been adopted this weekend. So we surprised her with an early Christmas present on Sunday night.”

When Hallee sees her father with Rambo, who is sporting a reindeer antler headband, she bursts out laughing.

“What?” “This isn’t a joke?” she asks.

It wasn’t, and now Rambo is a full-fledged family member, and it all appeared to fall into place. Lance told PEOPLE, “Hallee kept emailing us images from her and Rambo at the shelter.” “After a while, Jessica, my wife, said, ‘I know it sounds weird, but I think Rambo belongs in our family.'”

The couple had planned the surprise in advance, having made plans to adopt the puppy from the shelter in late November. Hallee received the news she had been dreading on December 14th, but less than two days later, her sorrowful tears turned to delight when she saw Rambo on her doorstep.

Watch the sweet moment in the video below.