Residents and staff members at Sunrise Senior Living of Chevy Chase couldn’t stop gushing about the facility’s newest member, described as full of love, hugs and affectionate face licks.

It has been a long road for Journey, a 6-year-old dog that almost didn’t make it. She was set to be euthanized in rural Virginia, but one day before her last, she was found by Amy Creel, with Knine Rescue in Montgomery County, Maryland.

“She was living in a cage her whole life and then, when her owner died, she ended up in an overcrowded shelter,” Creel said.

Now, at Sunrise, Journey is bursting with life. “It’s like she walked in and belonged here. She just owned it,” said Kathy Tyler, the facility’s executive director.