California Dog Found Exhausted In The Hills Gets The Second Chance Her Heart Was Waiting For

After being found exhausted and matted in the hills, a timid Malinois needed time to heal. With the help of a dedicated foster family, she finally learned how to be a dog and found the perfect forever home.

A Discovery In The Hills

The story began when a local California resident was out and spotted a lone Malinois wandering in the Oakland Hills. The poor dog looked lost and in need of immediate help.

Determined to make sure the pup was safe, the man’s daughter, Josey, and her family stepped up to assist. “I am gonna go over and see how the dog is,” they noted, hoping to get her out of the elements.

They quickly put out the word to their California community. They pleaded, “Let me know if anyone knows about this dog,” hoping an owner was looking for her.

Shut Down And Exhausted

When the family first brought the Malinois, later named Mali, into their home, she was incredibly shut down. The trauma of being on her own had clearly taken a toll.

“When we first got her, she was really scared, really timid,” her rescuers recalled. She didn’t know what to make of her new indoor surroundings.

To cope with her fear, Mali would seek out a quiet corner where she felt secure. She just needed a place to decompress and realize she was finally out of danger.

The exhaustion was so deep that she could barely keep her eyes open. In fact, her rescuers noted that she slept for almost two days straight just trying to recover.

Searching For Answers

As Mali rested, her rescuers noticed the physical signs of her past neglect. “The hair on her bottom area was very matted,” they observed.

This severe matting led them to believe she had been laying down for a long period of time before being found. It was a heartbreaking clue about her previous living conditions.

Hoping to reunite her with a family, they took her to see if she had a microchip. Unfortunately, they quickly realized she didn’t have one.

They didn’t give up there, checking local Nextdoor posts and contacting the SPCA. However, no one had posted about her, and no one came forward to claim the sweet dog.

Learning To Be A Dog

With no owner in sight, the family focused on helping Mali heal. But they soon realized she was missing out on the basic joys of being a dog.

When they offered her a snack, she looked completely confused. It seemed as though she had never even had a dog treat before.

Toys were another mystery to the beautiful Malinois. “She seemed like she had never played with toys,” her foster family noted, watching her hesitant reactions.

Slowly but surely, they introduced her to these small comforts. With gentle encouragement, Mali began to realize that these new things were actually fun.

Finding Comfort With Grandma

One of the most beautiful parts of Mali’s recovery was the bond she formed with Josey’s grandmother. The gentle dog felt incredibly safe in her presence.

“Mali would love being around Grandma, like, even when she was doing her work,” Josey shared. The two developed a quiet, comforting routine together.

Grandma’s kitchen became one of Mali’s favorite spots in the house. When Grandma was cooking, Mali would happily keep her company, watching her every move.

They shared sweet moments of play and quiet companionship. As Josey described it, “They had a relationship of love and respect.”

The Loyal Escape Artist

Another major turning point in Mali’s foster journey happened when she went to stay with Josey’s dad. She quickly attached herself to him, following him everywhere he went.

One day, her dad stepped away to use the bathroom and left Mali out on the deck. Being a clever Malinois, she proved to be quite the escape artist and managed to get out of the gate.

For about ten minutes, she wandered outside the house, but she wasn’t trying to run away. Instead, she was frantically going left and right, looking for her dad and trying to get back inside.

When her dad finally looked outside and opened the door, he was shocked. “Oh my gosh, how did you get outside?” he laughed, relieved that her only goal was to be right back by his side.

A Difficult Decision

As the weeks passed, Mali truly began to blossom in her foster home. “Once she got really comfortable, she really started to shine,” Josey recalled.

The family had fallen completely in love with the sweet, loyal dog. At that point, they seriously considered adopting her permanently.

However, there was one major hurdle: Josey’s own dog was highly reactive. They knew that keeping Mali wouldn’t be the safest or fairest situation for either pup.

Putting Mali’s needs first, they made the selfless choice to find her a different forever home. They began looking for other alternatives, hoping the perfect person was out there.

The Perfect Match

Just when they started their search, the universe provided the perfect answer. “So things really fell into our laps with Chuck,” Josey explained.

Chuck came over to meet Mali at Grandma’s house, and the connection was instant. “I was surprised that she warmed up that quickly,” Chuck recalled about their fantastic first meeting.

Mali immediately showed her affectionate side, clearly asking Chuck for a hug. It was a heartwarming moment that proved this was exactly where she was meant to be.

Today, Mali is living her best life with a dad who adores her. As Chuck perfectly summed up their beautiful bond, “I think a lot of times, dogs pick you out.”