After Hurricane Beryl swept through Texas, a quiet visitor began appearing in the parking lot of a Hyatt hotel.
No one knew where the stray dog had come from — he simply showed up one day, then came back the next, and soon, every night after that.
He didn’t have a name, but he quickly earned the hearts of the hotel staff and guests alike. Each person seemed to call him something different, but they all treated him with care. And when it came to feeding him, they went above and beyond.
“They weren’t just giving him scraps,” said Jodi Leslie, director of community outreach at Three Little Pitties Rescue. “They were bringing him steak, pork chops, fajitas — full gourmet meals.”
Though the dog had no home, he’d found a strange sort of routine — sleeping in the parking lot and relying on the kindness of strangers.
But one observant hotel guest realized he clearly didn’t belong to anyone and shared his story on Facebook.
That post reached the team at Three Little Pitties Rescue, and when they learned the dog had been living there for two full months, they knew they had to act.
Volunteers managed to trap him and bring him home with a staff member for the night. But being a lifelong stray, he wasn't used to homes or human affection — and by the next morning, he was gone.
“He disappeared for three days,” Leslie said. “We searched everywhere — no sign of him.”
But then, just as mysteriously as he vanished, he reappeared — right back in the Hyatt parking lot. Somehow, the determined pup had found his way back across eight miles of unfamiliar territory.
This time, the rescue brought in professionals to safely trap him again. And when they did, Leslie herself offered to foster him. Fittingly, she named him Hyatt, in honor of the place he had so faithfully returned to.
Hyatt’s departure from the hotel stirred up some emotion — he had become a familiar face to many. Though it was time for him to move on, everyone who’d cared for him felt a mix of sadness and joy to see him finally getting the help he needed.
Adjusting to life in a home wasn’t easy at first. “I don’t think he’d ever experienced love from a person or even laid on a couch before,” Leslie said. But slowly, with time — and help from Leslie’s own dogs — Hyatt began to adapt.
“The pack has been teaching him how to be a dog,” she explained. “If they go outside, he follows. If they come in, he follows too.”
In the two months since Leslie took him in, Hyatt has transformed. He now hops onto the couch and even climbs into bed for affection — still timid, but blossoming more each day.
Though Leslie adores him, the ultimate goal is to find Hyatt a forever home. He’ll thrive best with patient adopters and other dogs who can continue guiding him on his journey.
After months of sleeping under stars in a parking lot, Hyatt is finally ready for something more permanent — a family of his own.
If you’re interested in adopting Hyatt, you can submit an application here.
