Whenever a family adopts a rescue dog, it’s always hit or miss if the pup will be comfortable with them right away. Some rescue dogs are still healing from past abusers or aren’t used to people being close to them. When that’s the case, you have to take things slow, because you don’t want the dog to bite you in defense.
A dog named Ernie was rescued from the meat trade industry. His new mom, Anna, and his new siblings, JJ and Alice, spent over an hour trying to coax Ernie out of his kennel when they first brought him home.
In the video, hearing JJ and Alice speak to Ernie will make your heart burst. They don't yell at him or scream; they simply talk in quiet tones and tell him it's OK.
“You can come out whenever you’re ready,” one of them says.
At one point Alice says, “I kind of felt a little scared because I thought he would never love us.”
At first, Ernie spent most of his time sitting outside by himself, and he avoided his new family members for months.
Anna started to feel a little scared that maybe this wasn’t the right home for him. She knew he needed companionship, but maybe a house with kids was too much for him. Little did they know, all he needed was a little friend to join him.
The family adopted another dog, Hester. When Ernie and Hester met, they were standoffish at first, but the dynamic between the two quickly changed. Ernie initiated play for the first time. After that, Ernie kept following Hester around.
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Ernie started to act like a completely different dog with Hester by his side. Now that he had Hester for comfort, he went up to the family and interacted with them, and while he was playing, he let Anna’s husband pet him for the first time.
The first night that the family had Hester, Ernie decided it was time to be with the family in the same room. With Hester joining the family, Ernie officially made the choice to be close to his new family, as well.
To see Ernie’s full story, click the video!
