𝘐𝘧 𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

“She can barely stand,” Molly Shelley, the dog’s foster mother, told The Dodo. “Her back legs were almost in a bent position. Every time we touched her, we felt great because of how small she was. But she just curled up with her head down.”

In November, a road worker discovered the underweight dog, now named Gracie, in the middle of a wooded area in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “They say she came out of the woods and headed toward him,” Shelley added.

While no one really knows how Gracie injured herself alone in the woods, Shelley has an idea.

“Gracie was most likely bred to be a hunting dog, but she didn’t hunt as well as they wanted,” Shelley added. “So they either cut her leash or left her in the middle of the forest, probably planning for her not to survive.”

However, somehow, Gracie survived.

The road worker contacted the Canine Compassion Fund, a local animal welfare organization, and a member of the group picked up Gracie and rushed her to the vet. The rescue agency then arranged for Shelley and her mother, Marilyn, to care for Gracie.

At first, Gracie was afraid of everything and everyone, especially Shelley and her mother.

“The first week was kind of tough,” Shelley said. “She was desperate and was kind of walking around, not really knowing what the problem was.”

Their main concern was Gracie’s weight. She barely weighed about 20 pounds, when she should have been about 40 years old.

“We fed her anywhere from five to six meals a day,” Shelley said. “Just very small amounts. And she was so hungry she ate them up.”

Little by little, Gracie gained the weight she needed, and with it, gained confidence.

“My mom would probably sit with her for three hours on the couch every day, just petting her and showing her that everything was okay, that she was in a great place now,” Shelley recalls.

Another thing Gracie had to learn was how to play. At first, she didn’t know what to do when Shelly showed off her dog’s toys. But one toy soon caught her interest: a duck doll.

“I’m going wild about it,” Shelley added. “It was a transformation in her personality. Since then she has been full.”

Today, Gracie loves every toy she can get her snout on. “She’s a quirky dog who loves to play,” Shelly said. “We have all her toys in a box, and she’ll pick them out and describe them and give each toy two or three bites. She’ll rush them to you, and she’ll play tug of war.

“She turned out to be a great dog,” Shelly said. “It took time and attention, but she can sit now, walks great on a leash, and eats two or three meals a day. She probably gained 10 to 12 pounds, which she needed. She wasn’t able to stand when we first received her “So her improvement has been amazing. Her personality has come through, and we simply loved her presence.”

After Gracie gains more weight, she will undergo treatment for another medical condition – heartworm disease. During this procedure, you will continue to stay with Shelley and her mother.

But after she makes a full recovery, Gracie will be put up for adoption – and Shelley is convinced she’ll be a perfect family member for someone.

Shelly added: “She is so happy to be around people and to be loved and to enjoy the fun she is having.” “I suppose it’s because of everything she’s been through, and all the loyalty and appreciation she has. I let her out of the kennel in the morning [and] she rushes out, gets up on the couch. She licks your cheek, and she’ll nuzzle her head into your neck.”

“She realizes the importance of the relationship she has with my mom and me,” Shelley said. “And it was so nice to be able to bring her back to a place where she could be adopted.”