Have you ever met a person who puts on a tough exterior to hide their inner pain? Well, Phoenix is the dog equivalent of that.

After years of abuse, he learned to be aggressive to protect himself, but with a little love and care, he learned to trust in humans. That helped him on a remarkable journey of transforming from an attack dog to a cuddly, loving pup.

After witnesses reported the dog’s owners for animal mistreatment, local authorities rescued Phoenix from his former home.

These law enforcement officials, based on the Greek island of Crete, where Phoenix lives, came in to protect the dog. But when they rescued him, they noticed that he was extremely defensive and did not seem to want to be around any human.

They placed him in a cage to transport him somewhere safer, but the dog was constantly snarling and trying to bite at them.

Police are not equipped to deal with a dog like this, so they took him to Takis Animal Shelter.

The shelter understood that a dog acting like this was only doing so because he was afraid of people. He wasn’t genuinely aggressive, he just wanted to put on a strong front so that no one else would hurt him.

Heartbreakingly, the shelter workers also pointed out that in between many of his scary barks, Phoenix would whimper. This indicated that he truly was just afraid of people, rather than hostile towards them.

The owner of the shelter, named Takis, knew that rehabilitating this dog would be a long and slow process. He also knew that it would be so worth it.

Takis had his work cut out for himself trying to get this dog to trust humans again. But he refused to give up.

His first step to prove that he was safe to this dog was to put his hand inside a thick padded glove and then to put that glove in Phoenix’s cage. He was going to try to pet Phoenix.

But Phoenix wasn’t interested. All knew was violence, so he responded to the hand by barking and snapping at it. Takis didn’t push the point. He simply withdrew his hand and waited for a few hours.

After giving it a few hours, Takis once again tried to pet Phoenix.

This time, Phoenix let him! It looks like the dog learned pretty quickly that Takis was not going to hurt him.

For the first time in what is likely a very long time, Phoenix allowed a human being to touch him with love and affection.

Now that Phoenix is relearning what love and safety looks like, he has become an entirely different dog.

Thanks to Takis patience and kindness, Phoenix is learning that he doesn’t have to fear humans. He is learning what love feels like.

Because of the kind humans who rescued him and tried so hard to be gentle with him, Phoenix does not live in fear of abuse. Now, he runs around the shelter happily.

He plays with the other dogs and he greets guests kindly and excitedly. He is so much happier and more confident these days.

Anyone can change, it just takes some love and understanding.

It’s hard to believe that the dog that was snapping and trying to bite people is now the happy and loving dog he is today. It’s beautiful proof that everyone just needs some patience and some gentle love to grow to be happier.

Watch the video below to see this dog’s transformation for yourself!

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Source: Takis Shelter, Takis Shelter – YouTube