Nine years ago, Jillian Reiff and her partner adopted a small Chihuahua–rat terrier mix named Rufus from the San Francisco SPCA. From that moment on, Rufus became more than just a pet — he was family.

“He was there for our proposal, our wedding — even dressed in a little tuxedo,” Jillian shared. “He was there when we found out we were having kids. And he was the first ‘person’ to meet our children.”

Rufus never left their side. Whether it was snuggling under the crib Jillian’s husband built or lying protectively on her baby bump, he was the children’s silent guardian. When the kids were born, he instantly took on the role of protector, never far from their side.

But in April, at age 16, Rufus passed away suddenly due to gallbladder failure — leaving a void so deep that Jillian thought no dog could ever fill it.

Until she met Ziggy.

The night they said goodbye to Rufus, Jillian’s daughter couldn’t sleep. To comfort her, they snuggled up and began scrolling through local dog rescue pages — something they often did together.

“My daughter pointed and said, ‘Mom, look at this dog,’” Jillian recalled. “At first, I thought she was looking at an old photo of Rufus on my phone — that’s how much Ziggy looked like him.”

The head tilt. The coloring. Even the ears were exactly the same.

Jillian couldn’t stop thinking about him. “That photo haunted me for 24 hours,” she said. Eventually, she contacted Muttville and scheduled a meet-and-greet with Ziggy.

When Ziggy walked into the room, it felt like time stood still.

“There was this magical feeling — like little sparkles were in the air,” Jillian said. “It felt like watching my Rufus walk back into our lives.”

Ziggy climbed onto Jillian’s daughter’s lap like he belonged there. The decision was immediate. They brought him home.

He jumped out of the car, ran up the stairs, and walked through the house as if he had lived there forever.

As time passed, the similarities between Ziggy and Rufus grew stronger. It was uncanny. So Jillian decided to run a DNA test using Embark, mostly to confirm the breed mix.

The results: Ziggy was a 50/50 Chihuahua–rat terrier — just like Rufus. But then she noticed another tab labeled “Relatives.”

There, in bold letters, was a name she never expected to see: Rufus — listed as Ziggy’s father.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Jillian said. “We loved Rufus for nearly a decade, and now — without even knowing it — we brought home a part of him again. Right when we needed it most.”

It’s a story that shows how love, fate, and perhaps something beyond understanding can bring the right souls back into our lives — even when we least expect it.