Last year, 17 dogs rescued from a hoarding case arrived at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. The dogs had been severely neglected for years and were all weighed down by heavy, matted fur.
“This is definitely the worst case [of matting] I have seen,” Best Friends Animal Sanctuary senior lifesaving care specialist Jenny Dolan told The Dodo. “We do frequently get dogs coming in with mats, but this was so severe.”
One of the rescued dogs, Crawfish, stood out to Dolan because of his sweet, gentle personality. While many dogs who go through such extreme neglect are understandably terrified of humans, Crawfish was comfortable with Dolan right away.
Crawfish’s fur was so overgrown and thick that he could barely see. Its weight prevented him from walking and even made it difficult to stand.
Eager to get Crawfish more comfortable as soon as possible, Dolan and a team of caretakers got to work shaving off his mats. After hours of careful grooming, Crawfish was finally free of the weight he’d been carrying around.
“We didn’t know what [he] looked like under all that hair,” Dolan said.
It turned out that beneath his filthy, knotted mats, Crawfish had a beautiful light brown coat. Most importantly, once he was shaved, he finally felt like he could breathe again.
Despite everything he’d been through, Crawfish thankfully didn’t have any major health concerns. In fact, Dolan was shocked by how quickly he bounced back and started showing off his playful, curious personality.
“He’s very affectionate,” Dolan said. “We were surprised.”
Crawfish needed a lot of help learning basic life skills, like walking on a leash, getting in and out of cars and lying on a bed. Even eating treats was something he had to learn.
“I would hand him a dog treat and he’d crunch into it, and most of the biscuit would fall on the ground,” Dolan said. “But he didn’t care. He was just so happy he got a treat.”
With each passing day, Crawfish experienced something new for the first time. His positive attitude toward learning new things amazed Dolan.
“He was this happy-go-lucky guy,” Dolan said. “And nothing really scared him. He just was all, ‘This is the best day of my life. I can’t wait to do this. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m going to do it.’”
After a few months at the sanctuary, it was time for another first for Crawfish: getting adopted by a loving family. As hard as it was to see him go, Dolan couldn’t have been more thrilled that the sweet pup had found a forever home.
“[He] has spent the last five months coming into his own,” Gavin, Crawfish’s adopter, told The Dodo.
With his family, Crawfish gets in lots of practice doing his new favorite activities: eating treats and lounging in bed.
