A German Shepherd puppy, likely a young adult, with distinctive coat coloration and pointed ears, held by an adult male in a home setting. The scene is brightly lit, suggesting daytime. 9:37
The Asher House channel icon The Asher HouseOriginal creator 1.9M views Save

Shy shepherd Xena climbs up for a hug

Xena came out of a cage thin and afraid of men. A man from The Asher House, an animal sanctuary, sets out to change her mind with patience and a handful of treats. more

Before that, the cage was most of what she knew. A German shepherd, she was kept shut in and underfed until a family stepped in and got her out. Then a man from The Asher House took over, knowing she was scared of men. So he didn't rush her, and when he saw his phone was making her nervous, he put it away.

He let a few treats do most of the talking, and it worked well enough. When it was time to leave for the vet, he walked her out to his car the same way, with treats in his hand and a soft voice. On the road she wouldn't lie down for a second. "This dog is petrified," he said, but he could tell she was starting to trust him a little.

The vet was running behind, busy with a surgery, so they made a stop at a café. He picked up coffees for the vet staff, since he knew how busy they were, and a Puppuccino for Xena, the little cup of whipped cream cafés keep for dogs. Back on the road, she finally lay down.

At the clinic she got a checkup. The vet's orders were simple: get some weight on her and watch her closely for the next four to six weeks. Leaving, she was calm for the first time, and he took it as a sign that she felt safe. Then it was back to the sanctuary for something she had never had, a bath to get rid of her fleas.

Clean and dry, she went out to meet the rest of the house. On the way she kept turning around to make sure he was still behind her, and he was. German shepherds, golden retrievers and Labradors came over to say hello, and the pack made a fuss over her. "That's a success if I've ever seen one," he said.

The next day she was out exploring the grounds with her new friends, and she never strayed far from the group. She was small for a German shepherd, which he blamed on the food she never got. "She never gave up," he said.

Later she climbed up onto the man who had spent two days winning her over and stretched out across his chest. A dog who had been scared of men was holding on to one.

A German Shepherd puppy, likely a young adult, with distinctive coat coloration and pointed ears, held by an adult male in a home setting. The scene is brightly lit, suggesting daytime. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Xena came out of a cage thin and afraid of men.

There's weight to put on, and a few weeks of close watching ahead. But the fear, it turns out, was the first thing to go.

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