'Once-in-a-Lifetime' Dog With Facial Paralysis Melts Hearts Online

A dog who had a tough start to life has delighted the internet with his trademark facial expressions after his picture gained viral attention.

Eleven-year-old Oogie lives in Kentucky with his owner Emily Gehlhausen. Adopted from the Kentucky Humane Society in 2011, when he was just six months old, he had already been returned to the shelter twice.

"Oogie had a very rough start to life," his owner Gehlhausen told Newsweek: "He suffered a stroke at birth that left him with facial paralysis, so he is unable to perk up his ears when alert or excited. He also cannot blink or close his eyes at all, for that matter, so he sleeps with his eyes wide open and has to have gel eye drops several times a day."

The stroke also caused underdevelopment, and as a result, Oogie has no ear canals and a bottom jaw that is too short. This is part of the reason his tongue hangs out of his mouth most of the time.

"To eat, he has to throw his food toward the back of his throat to swallow it—he can't open his mouth wide enough to chew very well," said Gehlhausen.

But despite his health hiccups, Oogie is a delight and a huge part of the family: "He has to fight a little harder for things in life with his various complications," explained Gehlhausen: "He does show a bit more aggression towards other people and dogs than most dogs would allow, but it is a direct result of him trying to protect what he has—namely his food and me."

Gehlhausen and Oogie have been attached at the hip since day one, and unable to keep the adorableness to herself, Gehlhausen started sharing pictures and videos of Oogie with the internet.

"Everytime I showed pictures of Oogie to people, they would light up and smile, swooning over his adorable quirkiness," she explained: "So I figured I'd share him with the rest of the world because it's not very often that you come across a little buddy like this. The internet is full of dog photos, but it's the unusual and unorthodox ones that stand out, and I knew I had exactly that in Oogie with his goofy looks alone."

Oogie even has his own subreddit online at r/Oogie, where Gehlhausen shares all of the pictures and videos of their adventures together.

After sharing a recent picture, Reddit users rushed to share their reactions to the likable "Oogs".

"I want to be friends with this doggo," said one reply, while another said that he was: "Perfection personified."

"My heart was stolen by that adorable face," said another Redditor: "Such a little cutie."

Despite simple tasks being big hurdles for Oogie, he still has a love for life: "Imagine taking hours to finish a single bowl of food, only being able to eat one kibble at a time, having to dip your whole head in the bowl and blow bubbles out of your nose just to drink a sip of water, and not being able to fully hear the world around you," said Gehlhausen: "He tackles life not with a defeated woe-is-me mindset, but with that of a king, holding his head high with pride, not knowing he's any different than any other dog."

As well as melting hearts online, Oogie's inspiring story gives Gehlhausen a reason to smile every day.

"My favorite thing about Oogie is his deep, unwavering sense of affection and appreciation for me, something I'm convinced is an unbreakable bond formed when he realized he would never have to worry about being abandoned again at the shelter," she said: "He's a once-in-a-lifetime dog."