An older dog with long, matted brown fur near a fence, petted by two adults; setting suggests spring or summer day

5:07

Hope For Paws - Official Rescue Channel channel icon

Hope For Paws - Official Rescue Channel 15M views Save

Under all that matted fur, a different dog

Benji had lived on the street his whole life, and he wouldn't let anyone come near him. more

The Hope For Paws team got the same treatment. When they came for him, he peered out through a chain-link fence, half hidden in the grass.

A shaggy light brown dog peers through a chain-link fence, partly hidden by tall grass. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — At first, Benji keeps his distance from the rescuers.

Catching him took a long time, and once they did, he fought hard. He had never known a person's touch. When he finally calmed down and they got a leash on him, he lay by the fence and let two of them pet him.

Up close, his coat was in terrible shape. The rescuer said it was the worst matting he had ever seen. Hair hung so thick over Benji's eyes that he could barely see. Another rescuer asked him if he was ready for a better life.

At the vet, they shaved it all off. Benji lay there calmly while they worked, as if he knew they were helping him, and under the mats he was covered in fleas. Shaved, he looked like a whole different dog.

An older dog with long, matted brown fur near a fence, petted by two adults; setting suggests spring or summer day. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — Benji had lived on the street his whole life, and he wouldn't let anyone come near him.

Feeling better took longer. For days he wasn't himself, but the team didn't give up on him.

Two other dogs finally brought him out of his shell. With them around he grew more trusting and more playful, and before long he was lounging in a pool with his new friends.

A fluffy white dog with a red collar rests on a blue surface near grass, eyes half closed. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third. — Days later, the hard part is over and lounging can begin.

He spent his whole life on the street keeping people away. Now he lets them come close.

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