When Donna from Stray Rescue of St. Louis responded to a call about a pitiful stray, she wasn’t sure how the Pit Bull was going to react to her. After all, the petrified pup had likely never known a gentle hand before.
But this former breeding machine went from cowering in a corner to melting into her rescuer’s arms in less than five minutes flat!
As Donna approached, the black and white Pittie peeked around the corner of a brick building. The petrified pup did her best to run away when she saw Donna moving in. But she was trapped between the building and a fence. There was no way for her to escape.
“I just kept talking to her and approached really slowly,” Donna said.
As Donna crept closer, she did her best to come across as friend, not foe. The dog let out a tiny growl and multiple barks to let this stranger know she was uncomfortable. Hunched and cowering, she backed herself into a corner, curling her tail under her body and releasing a stream of urine.
“They say make yourself small, so I think me kneeling down was enough for her to know I wasn’t there to hurt her,” Donna said.
In an attempt to earn her trust, Donna threw the pup some tasty treats. The skinny stray was too scared to even eat. Self-preservation was her only priority.
But once she realized that Donna meant her no harm and was there to help, everything changed. Her tail started wagging, and she slowly started to approach her savior.
When she was close enough, the pretty Pittie put her head against Donna’s chest, rolled over, and looked at her with big beautiful eyes. She went from cowering in a corner to collapsing into Donna’s arms in only three minutes!
Slowly but surely, she followed Donna out of the alley. She went on to get a warm bath and a full belly – the best possible end to a trying day. Donna aptly named the once-petrified pup Sweetie Pie, and she is now thriving in a loving foster home.
“She definitely understands now what it means to be loved and to have people pay attention to her in a positive way,” Donna says.
You can hardly recognize her as the petrified pup from the alley. Sweetie Pie is finally getting all the love and affection she truly deserves.
Check out the video of Sweetie Pie’s three-minute transformation below, and follow Stray Rescue of St. Louis on Facebook for more wonderful rescue tales!
Featured Image: YouTube
Toledo, United States.
