A dog with unusual features due to a birth defect spent three years in the shelter being overlooked, but now she’s won over millions of hearts online for her quirky appearance.

Gabby the 4-year-old rescue pup spent the first three years of her life in the shelter, where she was frequently overlooked because of the way she looks. While her owners aren’t certain what condition she has or why, her birth defect causes cognitive deficits, partial blindness and physical disabilities.

In November 2024, the day finally came when Gabby found a loving home. Annie Elliott, 29, who adopted Gabby along with her family, told Newsweek that Gabby was “always meant to have a home to call her own.” She may be blind in her right eye, have a twisted hind leg and lack depth perception, but nothing stops this chaotic rescue pup.

“The cognitive deficits mean she has a hard time learning new tricks and also gets overstimulated sometimes,” Elliott, of Minnesota, said. “If she gets overwhelmed, she’ll let out a little grumble, which lets us know it’s time to decompress. Her blindness also makes it so that she spins in one direction when she wants to turn or if she gets excited. Overall, she is very joyful, smart, excited, and happy to be around.”

Elliott started sharing clips of her rescue pup, nicknamed Gabbagool, on TikTok (@annieswoodenleg) and internet users are obsessed with her. So much so, Elliott’s page looks more like an account dedicated to Gabby now.

Many of the videos showing Gabby’s antics have gone viral, including a video about her appearance and health which has generated over 1.7 million views and 259,300 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.

Internet users were quick to compare Gabby to popular characters, such as the dog named Dug from the Disney Pixar movie, Up. Some social media users have such a hard time believing that Gabby is real, they even ask whether she’s AI. Elliott often finds herself having to reassure TikTok commenters that Gabby just looks a little different.

“It’s 2026 and the crazy things you see online can usually be attributed to AI, and Gabby is kind of crazy looking. It’s funny to know that people think she looks like she can’t be real because I can tell you, she is very real. I also wonder what query people think we would type into AI software to get a dog that looks like Gabby,” Elliott said.

In person, people are very polite and respectful of Gabby. They rarely make comments about how she looks, although they’re always happy to offer her fuss. Elliott is commonly asked online if Gabby is healthy and if she has a good quality of life, to which the resounding answer is absolutely. She is full of energy and is living her best life after being rescued.

She even has her own bedroom and three beds all to herself. As much as she loves quality time with her family, Gabby is always happy to retire to her bedroom where she can decompress.

Elliott said: “She is a very special dog who was in the shelter for three years because of her size and how she looks. We drove nine hours from Minnesota to Missouri to meet her and ended up falling in love with her shelter bestie, Tart, who is also special needs and was there for four years.”

The online response to Gabby’s antics is beyond anything Elliott expected. She’s so glad that her rescue dog could bring so much joy and happiness to people around the world just by being her chaotic and adorable self.

Elliott hopes Gabby’s story will encourage more people to adopt an overlooked rescue dog. They may require extra support, but they can be so loving and have such fulfilling lives. Gabby is just one of many disabled dogs that Elliott’s family has saved, and she told Newsweek they have all been so “fun and full of personality.”

“By giving a special needs or senior dog a chance, not only are you improving their life by giving them a home (sometimes their first home), but they will fill your cup every day,” Elliott said. “Also, don’t be fooled by Gabby’s face. She knows what she’s doing and she’s very artful at manipulation (but we love her being like that).”

Internet users can’t get enough of Gabby, leading to more than 2,000 comments on the viral TikTok video so far.

One comment reads: “She looks like she knows something we don’t.”

Another TikTok user wrote: “I love whatever’s wrong with her.”

While another person replied: “why does he look like a cartoon character?”