Have you ever seen a “smiling” dog? If not, we’d like you to meet Lady Shortcake—the happiest pup you will ever see!
The 6-year-old pit bull has been stealing hearts online with her lovely smile ever since she found her forever home five years ago. Her face just curls into a natural grin, and she definitely knows how to use it to her advantage.
According to Amy Matsushima, her owner, Lady Shortcake (or Shortcake, for short), hates going on walks. She would rather lounge on the couch, play with other dogs, or go on car rides.
To get what she wants, Shortcake would often dazzle her owners with her smile. And, of course, she would always win.
Amy works for a creative agency, and she says that her colleagues love Shortcake so much that they’ve adopted her as the company’s unofficial mascot.
“She’s very silly, full of sounds and playful when she’s not sleeping but even then she smiles. She really does smile most of the time,” Amy described her.
Before Shortcake got her happy ending, she lived quite a tough life. The pup was rescued off the streets as a stray and had been wandering the streets of Fresno, California, alone. Aside from being homeless, the dog was suffering from severe mange and a hernia.
Thankfully, Shortcake was taken in by a shelter and was later transferred to Fresno Bully Rescue to recover. The rescue didn’t have space for another animal back then, but there was something about Shortcake that inspired the staff to pull her in.
“She wasn’t in the best shape as everyone that met her back then said that she smelled like rotting flesh due to her mange, but with the care of the rescue and her amazing foster family she recovered quickly,” Amy said.
Fresno Bully Rescue shared a video of Shortcake during her first veterinarian appointment on their website. Amy saw it and instantly fell in love with the sweet-looking pup.
“She looked miserable but she was wagging her tail and she did have that little smile on her face,” Amy said in an interview with Good Morning America. “It just hit me in my heart and I was like, ‘Oh, I have to meet this dog.’”
And so she did. She drove three hours from Southern California to Fresno to meet her.
When they met, it became clear to Amy that Shortcake was meant to be with her. That first in-person meeting already sealed the deal, and Amy decided right then and there to adopt the precious pit bull.
Since moving into her forever home, Shortcake’s health issues have completely healed.
Amy also created an Instagram page for Shortcake so Fresno Bully Rescue and her friends and family can see her progress, but the dog’s infectious smile has won over 191,000 fans to date.
Aside from flashing her adorable grin on her Instagram, the bully can often be seen donning a variety of cute outfits, starring in funny memes, and refusing to go on walks. It’s pretty much everything you’d want to see from a pet Instagram profile!
As for Shortcake’s smile, Amy says it comes to the dog naturally.
“I can’t make her do it on cue,” she said. “She’ll do it when she’s sleeping, riding in the car, [or] doing something she’s not supposed to do.”
Amy says that her favorite thing about sharing Shortcake with the rest of the world is knowing that she can brighten her followers’ days with a simple post.
“I just think that’s so great that she makes other people so happy,” the proud owner said.
Be sure to follow Lady Shortcake’s adventure, join her community on Instagram.