Pablo the pit bull just needed someone to love him.
The poor boy had been through a difficult past that had made him fearful and aggressive. The result was that he ended up spending quite a lot of time at a rescue center called the New York Bully Crew- since every time he got adopted, it never lasted for long.
A couple named Ina and Manny had been on the lookout for a dog for a while, and against all the odds, Pablo pulled at their heartstrings.
The couple frequently checked the New York Bully Crew’s Instagram page, and it was there that they first fell in love with the pooch. They noticed that Pablo’s little ‘mug shot’ would crop up quite often, and they were intrigued to find out more.
The poor pup just couldn’t catch a break.
Every time he was adopted, his owners would end up bringing him back to the shelter again. He was so traumatized from his past that he would lash out over the smallest thing.
Many people tried to give him a chance – but in the end, their safety had to come first.
After observing the number of times Pablo was brought back to the shelter, Ina and Manny were heartbroken. They decided to go and pay the pup a visit, to see what he was like for themselves. They realized that if they didn’t adopt him, then no one else would be willing to give him a chance.
“They just brought him back like he was nothing,” Ina told The Dodo. “He’s not nothing, he’s everything- just not for them.”
When the couple arrived at the rescue center, Pablo was his usual aggressive self.
“I reach and he bites my coat, and rips and shreds the one arm,” Manny recalled. “Everybody just got quiet. They were like, ‘they’re never going to take this dog now.'”
But the couple were already committed.
“I knew nobody else was going to take this guy, (so) I said, ‘This is going to be my dog, I love him to death already, and I’m not afraid of a little bit of a challenge,'” Manny said.
A few days later, Pablo was given the all-clear to go home with his new adoptive family. Everyone was hoping that this time would be his last.
Manny and Ina already knew that it would be.
“We knew that we were going to be dedicated in terms of the love we give and the patience we have, ’cause what we understand about Pablo is that, we don’t know what he’s been through,” Manny said.
The couple took Pablo to the vet, where the truth about the poor dog’s past began to come out.
An x-ray to the mouth appeared to show that Pablo had been kicked in the face when he was younger. Suddenly, all his fears and nervous energy began to make sense.
While Pablo grew attached to Ina straight away, he seemed to be really terrified of men and would often try to attack Manny. It was an incredibly difficult situation for Manny, since he just wanted to give Pablo affection in the same way that Ina was.
It was going to take some time and patience for Pablo to fall in love with Manny. It was clear that he had been hurt by a man in the past.
Eventually, Pablo began to let his guard down. As he observed Ina’s calmness around her partner, he realized that he had nothing to be scared of.
The first time that Manny could pet Pablo was the beginning of a big breakthrough.
A few days later, Manny was lying on his bed when Pablo came and cuddled up right next to him. All this scared dog had needed was some time to get used to his new owners.
Nowadays, Pablo is still a mommy’s boy at heart, but he now feels completely comfortable around his dad, too. He’s completely transformed from the dog he was at the beginning, into a brand new pooch.
And it’s all thanks to Manny and Ina for deciding to give him a chance.
“He’s one of a kind,” Manny said. “There’s no two ways about it- this dog’s a star.”
Take a look at Pablo’s adorable story below:
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