A dog’s spirit is strong and their will is unbreakable. This we know for sure. But it takes time, after trauma, to get a dog to trust again. Gia arrived at a local shelter in Texas, that wasn’t much of a shelter. There aren’t enough volunteers or staff. She cowered in a corner shaking. Any time a human went near her, she would shake even more. If she was touched, she would urinate herself and just lay there, in her urine, too fearful to move.

Gia was severely abused. She was tied to a tree by a monster who was supposed to love her. He would then beat her with a belt. Her trauma was both physical and emotional. She needed more support than the small local shelter could give her.

Thankfully DallasDogRRR stepped in. Dallas Dog Rescue Rehab Reform is an incredible organization that will take in the hardest cases and through love, patience and kindness, will work to reform dogs like Gia.

Gia is now with Dallas Dog in their shelter and is already making progress. When humans come near her, she hides beneath the bed.

However, when humans leave and she thinks no one is looking, you can see on camera that she LOVES to play with the other dogs. She comes out from hiding and plays like a puppy! She understands the dogs are never going to hurt her.

The resilient dog is getting ready to go to a special foster home with a foster mom who has a lot of experience with traumatized dogs. Her foster mom will work with her every day to get Gia more comfortable around people. It’ll take time for Gia to understand that not all humans are bad. It’ll take time for her to see that she is now safe and no one will hurt her again.

UPDATE: As of this morning, Gia is on her way to her new foster home. She just had a checkup at the vet and is okay. Her foster mom wrote this:

Update from Gia’s foster ❤️

Gia is here. She’s not moved from the crate that was used to transport her, the poor love is so fearful although she’s not shaking but she is just not prepared to move from this spot just yet.

Her ears pricked up at the sound of my little Boston, Austin, so I’m hoping that he can entice her out.

She’s only been here a few hours, after having her spay surgery, so I’m not expecting great things for a while. But we will be spending a lot of time together, and we will go at her pace and comfort level to interact.

She is safe, and warm, and surrounded by people that only want the best for her. We will love and care for her, for as long as she needs us.

We are certain Gia will live a happy life. Dogs are amazing creatures!  With a strong spirit, Gia will prevail. We can’t wait to follow her story and see her in her forever home. Can you send Gia hugs and prayers? To see more about Gia, click play on the video below. You can also follow her progress on DallasDogRRR’s Facebook page.