This Alberta dog with a twisted face is an Instagram star

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – A very good doggo who’s found his furever home north of Calgary has become something of an internet star.

He might be a little different looking, but German Shepherd Border Collie mix Brodie from Red Deer is getting some attention online.

Brodie’s owners, Brad Ames and Amanda Richter, say when he was only 13 days old, his mom snapped at him, biting his head. Vet techs at the shelter he and his mom were at suspect he got a little too close to the mom’s food dish and she acted out due to stress.

His face is now twisted and he’s partially blind as a result of that injury.

People fell in love with this sweet dog at the shelter, so when Brad and Amanda adopted him late last year, people encouraged them to start an Instagram page so they could keep up with Brodie. And just like that, the account blew up.

“It was slow and steady for the first couple of week but after three or four weeks, it really started to pick up,” said Richter. His photos were so widely liked that they started to show up on Instagram’s Explore page.

“He just started to get thousands of followers,” she said.

This is Brodie, the internet-famous dog from Red Deer, Alberta. He has a twisted face due to an injury he got as a puppy. (CREDIT: @bestboybrodie on Instagram)

Ames says shortly thereafter, Brodie started getting international media attention.

“I have a friend in Ireland who said we were on the front page of the paper,” shared Ames. “Amanda got a video sent to her of a news anchor doing a story on Brodie in Argentina.”

Brodie may not be the conventional picture of beauty, bearing a closer resemblance to a Picasso painting. So why did this peculiar pooch attract so much positive attention?

Richter says more people have bigger hearts than we might think.

“I think people probably feel the same way that we did when we first saw him,” she says, gushing that there’s just something about Brodie that enchants everyone he meets.

“He’s got a pure soul,” agreed Ames. “Today we stopped at Petland and Brodie went up and kissed a bunny… He’s just got this gentle soul and he radiates it.”

And just like any other dog, this floofer enjoys the finer things in life–the wind in his fur, playing in the mud, and toys with squeakers.

The pair of pet parents say that when Brodie works through his hyper puppy phase–because he’s only a year old–they’re going to train him to be a therapy dog to meet people with disabilities.

“I think it would be really nice for people with disabilities to see an animal with a disability and be able to share that and love him. He’s just so sweet and petting a dog is therapeutic,” said Richter.

They also hope that as more people fall in love with Brodie, those looking to adopt a dog won’t be so quick to dismiss a dog that isn’t “perfect”.

“Give those dogs a chance that aren’t really your perfect dogs–I hate saying that because he is perfect to us,” Richter said. “I hope they give animals a chance that might be overlooked… They bring you just as much joy as any other animal.”

Tens of thousands of people now follow his Instagram account @bestboybrodie, where all of his adventures are documented.

“Brodie is a special boy and he doesn’t even know it.”

He’s also been featured in the New York Post and on People.com.