Putri: She Shocked Everyone With Her Epic Transformation
Putri had been living on the street since she was a puppy. She had survived distemper. She was a hairless skeleton. And then, with the right people around her, everything changed.
Found Near a Temple, Barely Surviving
Putri was found roaming around a temple, completely emaciated and without a single patch of hair left. It was clear that if she wasn’t caught and rescued soon, she wouldn’t have survived much longer on the street. The team eventually managed to catch her in a net.
She spent almost two weeks at the vet afterward, terrified the entire time. It became clear she’d heal better somewhere quieter, so she moved into foster care.
Three Weeks Hiding in the Bushes
When Putri arrived at her foster home, she was let out of her crate, and within moments, she vanished. Her foster carer eventually found her hiding deep in the bushes at the edge of the yard. That’s where she stayed, for three full weeks.
It felt wrong to leave her out there, but rushing her wasn’t an option. So the process started small: food placed just outside the bushes, watching her eat it from a distance. Eventually, her carer would sit nearby with food in hand, and Putri would slowly poke her head out to eat directly from her palm. The moment eye contact was made directly, she’d vanish back into the bushes. It took a long time, but she was learning to trust, one small moment at a time.
Milestone After Milestone
The progress, once it started, kept building. One morning, her carer found Putri on the other side of the yard with the resident dogs, tail wagging for the first time. From there, new milestones came almost daily: she began coming inside in the evenings to sit and watch TV before heading back out on her own terms. The first time she lay on her side with her stomach exposed, it was a clear sign she finally felt safe enough to be vulnerable.
Watch Putri’s transformation, as seen on The Dodo:
Learning to Be a Dog Again
The biggest turning point came when Putri was able to start leaving the house for walks. That’s when everything really shifted. She began building real confidence, experiencing the world again, coming home from walks with a fresh case of the zoomies. Watching the resident dogs, in many ways, taught her how to be a dog again.
Today, Putri waits at the door when her carer comes home. She loves being petted and has developed a personality all her own. She’s largely a normal dog now, though she’ll always need an understanding family, ideally one with other dogs rather than young children, and someone patient enough to know she’s a little different. For anyone she chooses to trust and love, the reward is enormous.
Healing Takes Time
As her story reminds us: rescue is easy, adopting is easy, but healing a broken soul due to human neglect isn’t. It takes time, patience, and love. Putri got all three, and love healed her.
Putri Is One of Hundreds
Dogs like Putri, surviving illness and street life with no help at all, need more than a rescue. They need the patience to heal fully, not just physically. Mission Paws’ible exists to give them both.
Want to help more dogs like Putri get their own happy ending?
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Donate monthly and help fund rescue and medical care for dogs like Putri. Just $5 a month saves lives.
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Adopt and give a rescued dog their forever home.
Together, we can save them all.
