This Dog Hasn’t Stopped Smiling Since He Was Rescued From A Shelter

"One benefit to having a fat dog is that he's extremely treat motivated," Reilly explains. "He's also extremely toy motivated and loves to play. So he's willing to 'work' for any toy or treat, which makes taking pictures of him so easy."

Sometimes Meaty accompanies Reilly's husband to his job at the police department, so he becomes “McMeat the Crime Fighting Dog”. Meaty is really lucky to have found such a loving family.

"He's truly a mama's boy, though, and just wants to be next to me all the time," Reilly says. "It's great to have, though, as you really can't have a bad day when he's around. I'd dare anyone not to smile being near him."

If you’d like to see more of Meaty, you can follow Lisa Reilly’s Instagram account, @loveabulllisa. If you’d like to adopt a bully breed dog you can visit www.fresnobullyrescue.org, which is a non-profit organization that loving temporary homes for their shelter dogs.

Now, we’ll share with you more information about Meaty’s breed.  Pitbull is the common name for a type of dog. Formal breeds often considered in North America to be of the pit bull type include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bully, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Many of these breeds were originally developed as fighting dogs from cross breeding bull-baiting dogs (used to hold the faces and heads of larger animals such as bulls) and terriers.

The term pit bull is often used loosely to describe dogs with similar physical characteristics, and the morphological (physical) variation amongst "bully breed" dogs makes it difficult for anyone, even experts, to visually identify them as distinct from "non-pit bulls".

Pit bulls were created by breeding bulldogs and terriers together to produce a dog that combined the gameness and agility of the terrier with the strength of the bulldog.

Pit bulls successfully fill the role of companion dogs, police dogs, and therapy dogs.Pit bulls also constitute the majority of dogs used for illegal dog fighting in America.

In an effort to counter the fighting reputation of pit bull-type dogs, in 1996 the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals renamed pit bull terriers to "St. Francis Terriers", so that people might be more likely to adopt them.

Pit bull breeds have become famous for their roles as soldiers, police dogs, search and rescue dogs, actors, television personalities, Seeing Eye dogs, and celebrity pets. Meaty has definitely become an Instagram celebrity.

Historically, the Bull Terrier mix Nipper and the American Staffordshire Terrier, Pete the Pup from the Little Rascals are the most well-known. Lesser known, but still historically notable pit bulls include Billie Holiday's companion "Mister",and Helen Keller's dog "Sir Thomas".

Despite their reputation, Pit Bulls aren’t considered great guard dogs by those in the know. They’re too trusting of humans, and may greet an intruder as a new friend.

A dog’s temperament depends on a variety of factors including breeding and upbringing (much like children.) A statistical analysis says that 86.8 percent of American pit bull terriers have passed their temperament testing according to the American Temperament Test Society, Inc.

According to barkpost.com, “It costs taxpayers roughly 2 BILLION bones a year to round up, shelter and euthanize homeless animals. Wouldn’t you rather pay that tab with ruv and belly scratches?”

Science shows that dog owners are less stressed thanks to hormonal and chemical changes that occur from spending time with their pups! Do you really need more reasons to get a shelter buddy?

Did you know adopting a pup can help you lose weight? Dog owners are more active than their pet-less counterparts. (Sneaking in exercise through walks and fetch doesn’t hurt, either!)

5 to 7 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. That’s so many chances for you to find a best friend.