What were the Magic Words that Turned this Scared Stray into a Lap Dog?

Being on your own is a scary thing, and it makes you even less likely to be trusting. After all, there’s nobody there to hold your hand when things go wrong.

Nobody knows this better than a little dog named Oakley who was found roaming the streets, dirty and alone, tired and terrified.

Eldad Hagar, founder of Hope for Paws, an animal rescue group in Los Angeles, California, has dedicated his life to helping such animals trust again.

Once he heard about Oakley, he headed out to try to save her life.

H knew that to do that, he would have to earn her trust. But how on earth do you do that with a dog that runs screaming as you approach…?

A lot of people would have given up after a day or two of trying and failing to make friends with a dog that obviously had no intention of ever trusting a human again.

But not Eldad! He was determined to rescue this poor pup.

He knew that beneath that gruff and dirty exterior was a terrified little dog that just needed to be loved.

So, he kept trying. And eventually, late one dark night he got close enough to the little dog to get a leash on her.

Poor Oakley. She had finally decided to trust a human again, and look what had happened. He had trapped her!

She began to fight the leash and then just leaped into the air and ran as hard as she could away from Eldad.

What did he do? Well, he knew that fighting Oakley would just make her more terrified and afraid to trust.

So, instead of tugging on the leash and exerting his dominance, he simply trotted along behind Oakley.

He let her decide where she was going to go, and how fast.

Once she realized that the strange man wasn’t trying to hurt her, Oakley sat down and just looked at him, trying to figure out what the catch was.

Eldad sat on the ground, getting down to Oakley’s level, and said the words that all of us long to hear when we’re alone and frightened.

“It’s OK,” he told her.

And Oakley must have believed him. She took one step closer to him…

And then she took another. And another…

Until finally she was allowing Eldad to pet her and tell her again that everything was going to be okay now.

Eldad kept reassuring Oakley that they were going to be friends, and everything was going to be all right.

But, he told her, she was going to need a bath pretty quickly.

“You smell like you’ve been on the street for a long time,” he said as he gently loaded her into the passenger seat of his car.

Still, he kept petting her and showing her affection.

Once back at the shelter, they headed for the tub.

As frightened and unsure as Oakley must still have been, she behaved like a perfect lady as the soap and water soaked into her filthy fur.

It was hard to tell exactly what Oakley really looked like, when she was covered with all the grime and dirt from the streets.

But soon that dirt and grime went down the drain, leaving behind a snowy white Oakley!

Before long, Oakley began to relax a bit and enjoy the attention.

She must have once belonged to someone who had lovingly bathed her before!

Throughout the whole process, Eldad kept reminding her how beautiful she was going to be once the bath was over.

He continued to promise her that her life was about to get good again.

And by this point, Oakley very likely believed him.

She had decided to trust again!

Eldad had done the near impossible, and with nothing more than kind words and gentle hands.

Look at the adorable beauty that emerged from the grooming room!

After making so many promises to Oakley, Eldad didn’t want to make her feel like he was letting her down, so he took her home with him.

She was exhausted after the drama of her rescue and the grooming, so she dropped right off to sleep.

I’ll bet her dreams were good ones for the first time in a very long while!

Thanks so much to the people like Eldad who go above and beyond to find the wonderful dogs that are hiding beneath terror, dirt and grime.

Good luck, Oakley! May you never lose your trust in humans again!

Source: Honest To Paws