“All she needed was time”

On a mission to save 10,000 dogs in Thailand, Niall Harbison came across an extra-special pup one day who was in desperate need of help. He was used to taking care of sick and injured dogs, but this case was different.

“I called her Hope because she had none,” Harbison wrote in a tweet.

When Harbison first spotted Hope walking around his property, he could tell she was injured right away. He wanted to help clean her wounds as soon as possible, but the pup was scared and wouldn’t let anyone get close.

“We couldn’t catch her for 10 whole days,” Harbison wrote in another tweet. “A team of five people tried everything, but she was just too scared.”

Harbison’s team spread out around the perimeter of his camp to make sure Hope didn’t leave their sight. After a few failed attempts, they eventually had the dog in their arms.

“We had finally caught this beautiful, scared girl and could get her to safety,” Harbison wrote. “She is in a safe place, will get care now and never have to face being attacked again.”

Harbison showered Hope with love and carefully tended to her wounds every day. Her body started to heal quickly, but Harbison could tell that her spirit was still broken.

“For weeks, she would stare at the wall. She [wouldn’t] move. She’d barely eat or go to the toilet,” Harbison wrote in a separate tweet. “I knew it was going to take a long time …”

The rescuer and his team knew to be patient with Hope, and before long, her personality started to blossom.

“With the help of McMuffin and some puppies, and lots of patience, training and love, she got her confidence back,” Harbison wrote. “All she needed was time.”

Finally, Hope was feeling just as good on the inside as she was on the outside. In between playing with the other dogs in Harbison’s care and running laps around the property, Hope loved being by her rescuers’ sides — but there was still something missing. The sweet pup needed a forever home.

One day, a woman named Steff visited Harbison’s camp and was eager to meet all the dogs in his care. She greeted every pup she came across, but one, in particular, caught her eye: Hope.

At that moment, Steff decided she couldn’t leave Thailand without Hope. She extended her flight home to the United Kingdom for another two months in order to make sure Hope could go with her.

Finally, four months after she’d initially arrived, Hope was ready to leave Harbison’s property. She sat perfectly still as Steff placed a brand-new collar and leash around her neck, then proudly trotted off the grounds alongside her new mom. Harbison could tell by her face that the dog was overjoyed.

“Look at that smile,” Harbison wrote in an update tweet about Hope.

Hope has since settled right into her new life in the United Kingdom. Harbison and his team miss having the joyful pup running around their yard, but they are beyond happy that she finally has the loving family she’s always wanted.

To help pups like Hope get the help they need, you can make a donation to Niall Harbison’s mission here.

To keep up with Harbison’s rescues, you can follow him on Twitter or Instagram.