When Cleto was a puppy, he lived in a home where he knew nothing but abuse and neglect. He was rescued from that situation pretty early on and taken to a shelter in Mexico City through West Coast Paws Dog Rescue. They were hoping he’d find his forever home pretty quickly — unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

For 10 years, Cleto lived at the shelter and was overlooked by potential adopters again and again. His rescuers kept hoping his day would come and weren’t sure how much longer Cleto could wait.

“For a lot of dogs, it’s all they’ve ever known,” Zoë Yoxall, cofounder of West Coast Paws Dog Rescue, told The Dodo. “For Cleto, the only home he knew beforehand was abusive, so the shelter was a step up for him. It helped with his socialization skills with other dogs, but it was heartbreaking to think that he never had a true home.”

Even though he’d never known the love of a family, Cleto loved every person he met, so it was hard to fathom why his turn hadn’t come yet.

“He was often overlooked as he’s a larger dog (almost 50 [pounds]) and those are deemed less ‘desirable’ to own,” Yoxall said. “He also [has] a chunk out of his ear and a scar across his face, which gives him a tough-guy persona. He is extremely approachable, but sometimes looks can deceive people at first greeting. When he was living in a shelter with over 100 dogs, it was hard for him to stand out.”

West Coast Paws Dog Rescue has so many dogs on their roster with similar stories and only so many resources available to find those dogs homes. They wanted to do whatever they could to help Cleto, though — and after 10 years, Cleto finally found his perfect forever family.

“They found out about Cleto on Facebook thanks to a strong network of people sharing, liking and commenting,” Yoxall said. “All it takes is one person to see the right post and the dog has found [his] forever!”

The day Cleto finally got to leave the shelter and head to his forever home, he truly could not contain his excitement. He was charging ahead as fast as he could, chasing his happily-ever-after, and was so excited once he was finally in the arms of the people who vowed to love him forever.

“He seemed quite happy to meet us and really did seem like he’d been waiting for this for a while,” Dan and Heda, Cleto’s new parents, told The Dodo.

Cleto waited a decade to find his forever family, but now that he’s found them, it’s clear it was all worth the wait.