Eventually, she summoned the courage to emerge from her hiding place on her own.

Rescuing Ellie

Source: The Dodo

When the puppy – later named Ellie – came out from under the car, Abigail (Ellie’s rescuer) quickly slipped a leash on her.

Ellie was utterly terrified. “She just kind of went into turtle mode,” Abigail told The Dodo.

But, at that moment, the most important thing was to get her to the vet as soon as possible. They thought she had parvo – a highly contagious and deadly virus if left untreated. 

Source: The Dodo

Luckily, it wasn’t parvo.

“Our vet told us that she had been eating so much garbage, her stomach was really suffering. But in a few weeks she should be good as new,” Abigail said.

The poor baby survived on eating garbage for who knows how long, but thankfully, she came to the right person who was going to help her heal.

At the vet, Abigail learned that Ellie was only about six months old, so she was still just a baby.

Although you could never tell just by looking at her dry and scaly coat, Ellie was actually a Golden Retriever mix.

Source: The Dodo

For the first couple of days at Abigail’s house, Ellie was still pretty much scared.

“She was completely unresponsive for the first couple of days. But she learned that we weren’t going to hurt her. It was really just a matter of trying to get her to come out of her shell,” Abigail said.

Growing Into A Beautiful Golden Girl

After a couple of days, she finally gained some energy to go outside.

“The tennis ball, she saw it and she was immediately just hooked. She wanted to play, she has that in her. From that point onwards, she was just so much better,” Abigail said.

It was so nice to see Ellie being playful and acting like a puppy should act.

Source: @goldiemuttellie

Slowly, she blossomed into such a spunky and funny little dog. Her skin and coat was also getting better and healthier each day. 

“We really made sure that she allowed herself to feel comfortable.” 

Ellie is now a completely different dog – almost unrecognizable. She grew up into a beautiful Golden girl with a luscious coat and lots of personality. 

She adores car rides, sticking her head and paws through the window, and going to the beach.

Source: @goldiemuttellie

The first time they took her to the beach for a celebration of her recovery, she was the happiest little girl ever.

“She started digging and she got an insane case of the zoomies and she was running around the beach, staring out into the ocean. She loved it. It was such a monumental moment for her.” 

Ellie is a true fighter and she worked hard to get to the point where she is now. She made such an amazing recovery. 

Ellie has her own Instagram account if you want to follow her and see more of her life.Make sure to follow Artemis Animal Rescue, Texas as well, and support their rescue program.