This Rescued Doggo Went From Being In Too Much Pain To Be Touched To Constantly Cuddling His New Dad

This is one heck of a transformation!

Elana

• Published in Animals
• February 19, 2018

If you've ever been involved in the process of rescuing dogs in any capacity (volunteer, employee, adopter) then you know the power of transformation that occurs before and after a dog finds their forever home. It is undeniable that some souls are meant to collide and in the case of ZIB, no words could conceivably be truer.

ZIB was not always ZIB. Before he was ZIB, he was a severely neglected 1-year-old Border Collie suffering miserably in Claremore, Oklahoma. Known at the time as Kong, the dog was living in a shelter and being treated for a painful skin disease and sunburn! Kong was in so much pain that he couldn't bear to be touched and bursts of bright red, painful patches of skin scattered through his fluffy, white fur in shocking contrast.

Truly, at this point in Kong's life he was suffering.

The next stage in Kong's life was being transported to Texas, where the Border Collie Rescue & Rehab in Prosper was dedicated to returning the dog to his glory and health.

On the organization's website, Kong was listed as #387. It would be detrimental to inevitably find him an owner, and only that person would have the right name for #387.

While some people need names to connect with animals, this was definitely not the case for Curtis Hartsell. He definitely did not need #387 to have a name to fall completely in love with the dog while browsing the website. All he saw was a little white dog with big, sweet eyes, and a genuine, eager smile.

Recently, Curtis spoke with The Dodo and said:

Despite his immediate affection for #387, Hartsell was concerned that his lifestyle was too busy and too active to properly care for the dog. He was working as a cyber threat intelligence analyst with a credit bureau based out of Little Elm, Texas and was the very definition of busy. But none of that mattered when every bone in his body seemed to scream at him that adopting #387 was the right thing to do.

So, Hartsell submitted an application. He spoke fondly of the process:

Adoption is serious business.

Before Hartsell's application could be approved he went through a rigid application process including multiple interviews and a home visit. And finally the big day came, the day for the two to meet for the very first time!

And from that day, #387 would be renamed ZIB by Hartsell in honor of a famous Soviet space dog!

Hartsell explained the significance behind the name:

The moment that Hartsell arrived at ZIB's foster house, someone whipped out a camera and the moment captured speaks volumes. It is quite clear what was witnessed was a lost, broken dog, finding his true home. His place where he belonged was with Curtis Hartsell.

Curtis remembers it like it was yesterday:

Today it is immediately present that ZIB is where he belongs. Once a pupper in too much pain to so much as be touched, ZIB cannot get enough snuggles from Curtis.

Additionally, Curtis's initial concerns that he didn't have time to take on a dog have not only been obliterated, but Curtis is firm that his life has been significantly improved. He is no longer sure who saved who.

Hartsell says:

Curtis added:

Elana