ZIB the Border Collie had a difficult start to life. The 1-year-old Border Collie, who was previously known as Kong, was discovered in terrible conditions in a shelter in Claremore, Oklahoma. He was suffering from sunburn, alongside a painful skin condition that caused his fur to fall out in places.

Thankfully, Kong was rescued by Border Collie Rescue & Rehab, in Prosper, Texas, and the sick dog was soon nursed back to health. After a traumatic time in the shelters, workers decided that he would be happier in a foster home where he would be cared for until he was adopted.

Kong was listed for adoption on the shelter’s website, and he immediately caught the eye of Curtis Hartsell, a cyber threat intelligence analyst from Little Elm, Texas.

“I looked through his profile and just immediately fell in love with his single picture and the description they put on the page,” Curtis told The Dodo. “His foster mom described his temperament and personality and I described my life to her a bit and she said we sounded perfect for each other.”

Curtis worried that his busy job and active lifestyle wouldn’t fit with owning a dog, but he followed his heart and decided to apply anyway. After a couple of interviews and a home visit, Curtis was overjoyed to be approved, and when the day finally came for him to meet Kong, Curtis recalled that it felt as if he already knew his dog.

A fresh start.

Now was Kong’s chance of a happy ending, and Curtis wanted to mark the beginning of the rest of his life with a name change. He renamed Kong ZIB, after a famous Soviet space dog, and the name has a special meaning to Curtis.

“The original was just a lost dog running around base that they sent to space for successful flight,” he explained. “I felt this was fitting for my ZIB because he was just a lost dog until someone picked him up and helped nurture him back to health. Now he and I are off to the stars together!”

As Curtis was introduced to ZIB for the very first time, a friend managed to capture the special moment on camera.

“I was handed his leash … I got down in front of him and gave him his new name and asked if he wanted to come home with me,” Curtis recounted. “‘ZIB, I’m going to call you ZIB. Do you like that? How would you like to come home with me, ZIB?’ He was sitting in front of me, looked into my eyes and then hugged me and bowed his head. It was adorable; I’ll never forget that moment.”

ZIB is now settling happily into his new life with Curtis, and his transformation is truly amazing. As a dog who once was in so much pain that he couldn’t stand to be petted, ZIB is now one of the happiest, cuddliest most loving dogs you’ll ever meet – and it’s partly thanks to Curtis for deciding that he could offer a caring home to a neglected dog.

“I cannot even begin to describe how much happier and fulfilled I feel,” Curtis said. “Knowing that this poor puppy was once neglected and all he wanted was to be loved — and that I get to give him that love every day now, it’s incredible.”