The internet has fallen in love with a rescue dog who does a "trust fall" with his owners before they cuddle up together.
Justice, or JJ as he's fondly called by his owner Joy Nelson, has become an online celebrity when a video she shared of the pup got almost 400,000 views on her TikTok account, @joyful.marketing23.
In the video, she asks the pup: "JJ, do you want to snuggle?"—and on command, he rushes over to Nelson's husband, Derek. JJ then sits back on his hind legs, before falling backward into Derek's arms.
"Justice started cuddling with my husband on the couch when he was first brought home at eight weeks," Nelson told Newsweek. "The trust fall was something that evolved over the years!"
"We never thought anything of it until friends or family came over and saw it. They said, 'It is not normal for a dog to do this.'"
She sent a similar video to Newsweek, showing her husband asking JJ if he wants "a cuddle," and the dog instantly jumping up for his trust fall.
Nelson's TikTok video proved hugely popular, with one writing Now that's a trust fall," and another declaring it was videos like this that are the reason "I love and live for TikTok."
"Everyone needs a dog like JJ in their lives," another said. "He would have no fur on his face from being kissed."
Nelson adopted JJ from the Hilton Head Humane Association in 2019, and had never planned on getting a puppy. Instead, she wanted an older dog to become the office pet or mascot, as she worked at the local police department as a public information officer.
But, when she saw JJ among a litter of puppies that had been "abandoned in a box on the side of a local highway," and he repeatedly walked away from the litter to stare at her, she knew "he had chosen me."
"I picked him up, and it was love at first sight."
Like JJ and his litter, around 3.1 million dogs enter shelters across the United States each year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). And, thanks to families like the Nelsons, around 2 million are adopted each year.
The police department also fell in love with JJ, who regularly went to work with Nelson and wore an oversized K9 vest. JJ became a "local celebrity" in their town of Bluffton, South Carolina, even being invited to events as a guest of honor.
"He was invited as a special guest to the 2019 Hilton Head Island St. Patrick's Day Parade; he was invited to ribbon-cutting ceremonies in Bluffton, church events, and school events," Nelson revealed.
With his celebrity status, spending time among crowds and at the police station, they got a dog trainer for JJ. And, when Nelson left the police department in 2021, JJ followed her to her new venture: working at a nonprofit organization working with people with Alzheimer's and dementia.
"He loves people, and people love him. His calm sense draws people to him, even if they aren't dog fans. It's crazy to see, and I love it."
She has since started working from home running her own marketing agency, and while it took JJ time to adjust to no longer being surrounded by people, he "still to this day loves to go to the police department and visit."
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