Nicki Clawson was an experienced animal foster mom, but she couldn’t help having her favorites. So when one of her beloved boxers was rejected, it just didn’t make sense to her.

When one woman was looking after a foster dog, she fell head-over-heels in love with her. So when she then found out that her adoptive family had rejected her, she just couldn’t believe it. However, the animal lover soon discovered that things were not quite as they seemed.

Northwest Boxer Rescue is a network of dog foster homes in the U.S. northwest. Operating across California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, the organization’s dedicated team rescues homeless and abandoned boxers. They then provide the animals with loving homes before finding them their perfect forever families.

One of the organization’s foster moms is Nicki Clawson, and she has plenty of experience in taking care of these adorable dogs. In 2013, in fact, she and her husband were looking after an adorable white and tan boxer named Cookie.

Clawson and Cookie hit things off straight away, and they came to share a special bond. Yes, as time passed, Cookie grew increasingly attached to Clawson. What’s more, the lovable boxer rarely left her foster mom’s side.

And although Clawson knew that it was best for Cookie to find a forever home, she dreaded the day coming. As a result, Clawson’s husband subsequently called Northwest Boxer Rescue to see if there was anything that they could do.

Unfortunately, though, it seemed that Cookie’s fate was already sealed. Indeed, Clawson learned that someone had signed up to adopt the boxer, and in just a week’s time he would be going to live with his new owner – 83-year-old Doris Thompson.

Naturally, Clawson was disappointed, but she knew it was in Cookie’s best interests to find a stable home. So when the time came, she dutifully prepared to hand the dog over. But things didn’t turn out quite how she expected.

You see, when Clawson got to the arranged meeting point, Thompson wasn’t there. So the foster mom tried making a phone call to the octogenarian. When Clawson looked up the old lady’s number in Cookie’s adoption records, however, what she found didn’t make sense.

Instead of Thompson’s contact details, Clawson found her own. “I’m confused,” she said as she tried to fix the situation and get the dog to where she was meant to be. “Well, that’s who’s adopting Cookie,” her colleague explained.

At this point, Clawson fell silent before exclaiming, “What?” In emotional footage, captured by Northwest Boxer Rescue, she then added, “Don’t mess with me right now. Are you serious?”

It turned out that after seeing how much Clawson loved Cookie, the foster organization had arranged for her to adopt the dog. And they’d done so without Clawson knowing anything about it. In fact, to lead her off the scent, they had even made up a story about someone else adopting Cookie.

There never was a “Doris Thompson” who wanted to adopt Cookie, then. She was fake all along. One of the team members had come across the name when reading about an 83-year-old burglar in L.A. County, and then they had used it to help create their tall tale.

After realizing what was going on, Clawson burst into tears. She hugged Cookie tightly, safe in the knowledge that she’d never have to let go again. Yes, now the adorable pooch would be going home with her and staying there for good.

“You get to stay with mommy,” Clawson cooed as she kissed Cookie. However, she hadn’t forgotten that her friends had duped her. “You guys suck so bad,” she told her husband and her fellow animal rescuers.

Deep down, though, she couldn’t have been more thankful for the surprise. “You have no idea how fricking happy I am right now. I’ve been crying for four days,” she confessed as she wiped the tears from her face.

A statement about the adoption on the Northwest Boxer Rescue group’s Facebook page read, “Sometimes we get to have a little fun with our adoptions… Nicki’s husband called us last Sunday and let us know that Cookie couldn’t leave Nicki’s side.”

“Since then, we went about business as normal with the adoption she thought was happening,” the post continued. “When Doris no-showed, Nicki finally got to learn that she was the planned adopter all along. A few happy tears later, Nicki and Tim have officially foster-failed Cookie.”

Later, Northwest Boxer Rescue decided that the footage they’d captured of Clawson’s surprise was too good not to share. So in March 2013 it was posted to the organization’s YouTube page, and more than 180,000 people have since watched the heartwarming video.

“It takes a special person to foster,” read a comment by one user. “I don’t think I could do it. The fact that you were prepared to do that and to give her up for a ‘better life’ is so beautiful and I’m so glad that her better life didn’t require you saying goodbye. Bless you both.”

Back at home, Cookie quickly settled in. And Clawson then had even more good news. Yes, she recently announced that she and her husband are expecting their first child in January 2018. Soon, then, there’ll be more of the Clawsons for Cookie to love.