It’s always unsettling moving into a new home and getting your bearings, but especially so when you’ve started out with a bad lot in life and don’t know who to trust.
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Benji was picked up as a stray last year and brought to a Los Angeles shelter, but the likelihood of anyone adopting him was slim at best. He’d not only lost most of his coat to a bad flea infestation, but he was terrified of humans and wouldn’t let anyone get too close, instead snarling and snapping to keep them at bay.
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He looked like the saddest pup in the world. But that’s exactly what drew Jessica Williams’ attention when she was scanning photos of available shelter dogs. She and her boyfriend, Jared, had recently moved in together, and Jared had planned to give Jessica a dog for her birthday. That was still months away, but the moment she saw Benji’s face, she knew he was “The One.”
The amazing thing about this story is the lengths to which this couple went to meet Benji: They lived in Sacramento, nearly 400 miles away. That called for a roadtrip.
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They hit the road, and six hours later, walked through the shelter’s doors. By that time, Benji had already been there 10 days, but the adoption coordinators had already all but sealed his fate. Even when Jessica told them they were there specifically to meet Benji, they tried to talk them out of it.
“The shelter also told us he wasn’t friendly and refused to take us into a calm waiting area to get to know him because ‘he wouldn’t be a dog that would come over to us to be cuddly,'” said Jessica. “We knew that he had a high possibility of being euthanized and didn’t want him to die.”
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But Jessica’s and Jared’s hearts were set, and they left that day with Benji. Most dogs would be ecstatic to finally be going to their forever homes, but Benji still acted as though he were resigned to his fate. He remained wary and standoffish, not just on the long drive, but even when he got to his new home.
Show anyone enough love and consistency, though, and they’ll eventually come around, which is exactly what happened with this pup! Within days, he’d made the transition from wary and aloof to happy and playful, and he’s now just as happy dining with them on outdoor patios as chilling at home.
So this is what I’ve been missing out on all this time!
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He loves to come up and lick our faces and play with his toys. He is such a goofball now! He has crazy zoomies after he gets bathed. He will also start barking the second we get in the car as if to say, “We have to start moving! Let’s go!”
This is truly one lucky pup! Thank goodness Jessica zeroed in on this sweet boy, came to his rescue, and refused to give up.
Share Benji’s sweet transformation with all your dog-loving friends today!
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