When Jerad Ryan, a volunteer at 4 Luv of Dog Rescue in Fargo, N.D., approached Fargo Brewing Co. with his idea, there was no way he could predict the response. “I’ve been a volunteer at 4 Luv of Dog Rescue for a little over four years now, and the harder-to-adopt dogs, sometimes labeled as ‘One-der dogs,’ have always had a special place in my heart,” says Ryan. “During my first three- and-a-half years volunteering at the shelter, I would spend extra time with the dogs that had been there long-term, mostly because they don’t do well living with any other dogs.”

Always trying to spotlight the one-ders, Ryan finally had a light-bulb moment while working at his day job at Northern Plains Label. “I approached my boss about donating labels to a brewery willing to feature the dogs,” he explains. “He loved the idea. I asked Fargo Brewing if they would be willing to do this for us and they loved it, too.”

The brewery was familiar with the organization, having worked with it previously on other events. For this project, it chose to package its Fargo Original Lager in cans featuring loveable but long-sheltered pups. It also donated $1 from each pint sold and proceeds from 6-pack sales to the shelter.

Response, says brewery cofounder Aaron Hill, has been “incredibly overwhelming—from all over the country. None of us expected this to turn into what it did. We just thought it was a neat idea, and we could use our platform to help shed some light on dogs who need a home.”

Results have been positive all around. The beer is currently sold out—“It sold very quickly,” says Hill—and multiple dogs have either been adopted or are in the process of being adopted. Hill is already looking forward to a second round, but not just yet: “Hopefully when all of these dogs find their forever home, we can run more cans with different dogs.”