Emerson is a puppy who was only 6 weeks-old when he was abandoned at an animal shelter with a variety of medical issues that left him fighting for his young life.

Staffers at the NFR Maine animal shelter in North Monmouth, Maine found that Emerson was deaf and suffered from other medical issues as well, including seizures and canine parvovirus, a highly contagious viral illness. Against all odds, Emerson managed to push through and beat the disease, going on to completely regain his health.

Once Emerson recovered, the shelter went about trying to find a forever home for the black Labrador mix. After staffers posted about Emerson on social media, they received many offers from people who wanted to adopt him. When they heard from 31 year-old Nick Abbott, however, staffers knew right away that he was the one for Emerson.

“Nick said he was interested in meeting Emerson because they would understand each other, being that they both share the same hearing difficulties,” the shelter wrote on Facebook. “When Nick and his mom walked into the house to meet Emerson, Emerson made a direct line for Nick and sat at his feet. That’s all it took. I was sold that this was fate, and these two belonged to each other.”

Emerson has now been with Nick for three months, and their relationship is just too cute for words. Nick has been teaching Emerson sign language so that they can communicate, and he said that the dog knew the sign for “sit” just one week after he moved in!

“Emerson learned sign language very quickly and it did not take long for him to understand. Good training is the key to a good dog,” Nick said. “So far Emerson knows how to sit, lay down, stay, come and we are currently working on shake.”

Needless to say, the shelter could not be happier that Emerson has found the loving forever home that he deserves.

“This boy deserved nothing short of a fairy tale ending and that is EXACTLY what he got!!” the shelter wrote on social media. “This will go down in history as one of my all time favorite adoptions stories.”

We’re so glad that Emerson’s story had a happy ending, and we wish him many years of happiness with Nick! Find out more about this in the video below.