It Took Just One Sniff for This Dog to Remember His Owner

The bond between an owner and their dog can be one of the strongest relationships that a person can experience in their lifetime. For Shane Godfrey and his dog Willie, that bond was recently in jeopardy because of some life-threatening health issues.

Earlier this year, Shane Godfrey was hospitalized with what doctors initially diagnosed as a case of the flu. However, his condition quickly deteriorated, with doctors even fearing for his life at one point.

During a period of about five weeks, Godfrey went through bouts of pneumonia, kidney failure, sepsis and encephalitis. By the time he was healthy enough to be released from the hospital, he had lost nearly 50 pounds.

When he was finally reunited with Willie, who Godfrey’s sister cared for during his hospital stay, the man wasn’t sure what to expect from the pup.

“I had lost 50 pounds in the hospital and am sure I looked different,” he told The Dodo.

The meeting initially went how Godfrey feared due to his changed appearance. Although Willie’s eyes might have been confused, his nose was right on point.

“At first he was unsure and barked at me but once he got close enough to smell me he recognized me immediately and totally went wild with excitement,” Godfrey told the Dodo. “It still makes me tear up when I see the video.”

Video of Shane Godfrey and Willie’s reunion, initially posted on Godfrey’s Facebook page, has quickly gone viral. Godfrey’s post received over 560,000 views, while an Instagoodness post of the video has garnered over 7,000,000 views of its own.

Your Daily Dish has reached out to Shane Godfrey for comment.