Van Gogh The One-Eared Rescue Dog Lives Up To His Name

Van Gogh, a boxer/pit bull mix dog with one missing ear has become famous by living up to his name as a talented painter. The cute dog lost his left ear in a dog-fighting ring and it was so badly damaged, it had to be removed. However, despite this, Van Gogh, 7, went on to find himself a permanent home, while selling his artwork to help other rescue dogs.

Dog named Van Gogh becomes a talented artist

A boxer/pit bull mix was named Van Gogh, due to him having lost his ear in a dog-fighting ring. However, it turns out it wasn’t only his ear that relates to the famous artist. Jaclyn Gartner, the founder of Happily Furever After Rescue in Connecticut was scrolling through the photos of shelter pups when she came across Van Gogh.

Meanwhile, a shelter in North Carolina was trying to get a home for the pup and Gartner knew that if he couldn’t find a home, he would be put down. She then enlisted the help of the nonprofit Pilots N Paws to bring Van Gogh from Connecticut in a private plane. Speaking of the pup, Gartner told Today:

When he came off, he was wagging his tail and rubbing up against everybody. He was so friendly right at the start.

Meanwhile, Jaclyn did find a foster home for Van Gogh. However, getting him adopted turned out to be a challenge. Whether it was his age (7) or breed, no one wanted to adopt the cute pup. According to Gartner, “Not a single application came in,” adding, “I couldn’t believe it. He was the cutest dog ever.”

After four months, she knew she had to get creative to find Van Gogh a home, and wondered if the one-eared pup could live up to his name. Jaclyn said:

I’d seen TikTok videos of other dogs creating paintings, so why not Van Gogh? He certainly had the name and the ear for it.

Gartner took a blank canvas and dotted it with several different colored paints and put it inside a plastic bag. She then spread a layer of peanut butter across the plastic. As Van Gogh eagerly licked up his favorite treat, his tongue moved around the canvas, creating a colorful “painting.”

Jaclyn said, “He has a fast and creative tongue.” Meanwhile, she said it takes more time for them to get the canvas ready than it does for the pooch to lick off the peanut butter, spreading the paint around.

One-eared dog gets his own art show

It only took a week for Van Gogh to create enough artwork to have his own doggie art show. In fact, on October 23, 2022, Gartner held an exhibition to showcase the artist and his work. Two people who came for the exhibition each bought a $40 painting to benefit Happily Furever After Rescue.

Readers can view some of his artwork in the Instagram Reel here.

Despite this, the pooch’s adoption prospects seemed dire until Gartner posted his story on the animal rescue’s Facebook page. The post immediately went viral, selling out his remaining 30 art pieces almost immediately, with orders for dozens more. However, the best part of the post was that a local foster volunteer, Jessica Starowitz fell in love with the one-eared Van Gogh and decided to adopt him.

While he is now happily living in his new, permanent home, Van Gogh reportedly keeps up his artwork to help other rescued dogs at Happily Furever Animal Rescue find their own families.