Emotional Bond Between Elderly Woman and Newly Adopted Dog Caught on Camera

— -- Jerri McCutcheon may have been the one to adopt her new little Chihuahua named Minnie, but make no mistake, she’ll tell you that Minnie is the one who rescued her.

“She brings back that presence in my home I didn’t recognize was gone,” McCutcheon, 73, told ABC News of Minnie, a teacup Chihuahua weighing only 3.9 pounds. “Now the house doesn’t feel as empty. I haven’t had anyone to talk to. It was a void and she has filled that.”

McCutcheon had another dog -- a Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix named Bandi -- for 11 years before it died last May.

“I swore that I wouldn’t have another dog,” she said. “I just thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore at age 73. I just can’t go through that.’”

But her granddaughter Breanna Meuchel could tell McCutcheon just wasn’t the same since losing Bandi.

“She’d say, ‘Nana, you look so sad. I think you need another puppy,’” McCutcheon recalled.

Meuchel knew she needed another dog, and she couldn’t have been more right.

“Back even before Christmas, I started looking at all of the humane societies to try to find her one for Christmas. My theory is, adopt, don’t shop. But I never really found anything. It wasn’t until I looked at the Missoula humane society and found Minnie. The very next day I went up to meet her. Shortly after, I had my grandma go up and look at her.”

Instantly, it was a match made in heaven. The staff at the Humane Society of Western Montana in Missoula snapped these heartwarming photos of their emotional first meeting which quickly went viral after sharing them on their Facebook page.

“This little girl is starved for love and I’ve got it to give,” McCutcheon said of her new pup, who is estimated to be about 10 years old. “When I take them, I take them for life. She’s probably the most loving dog, and I’ve had several. We’re going through some learning processes but that’s what makes it work.”

Minnie has only been living with McCutcheon for a week now, but she’s already made herself right at home.

“She’s just skipping around,” said McCutcheon. And she’s claimed the couch. It used to be mine, but it’s hers now.”