A heartwarming video of a rescue dog receiving love from a household with seven golden retrievers has reached over 1 million views on TikTok.
Karisa and Erik Saethre first welcomed home a golden retriever in 2016, and over the years the fur accumulated in their house. Karisa told Newsweek that, little by little, they brought in more dogs that needed rescuing. At one point, they had 11 living in their Arizona home. She couldn’t stop. Once she rescued one, she had a “yearning to rescue and help more.”
However, their latest addition, Sadie, needed extra attention because her spirit was completely broken. Karisa believes Sadie came from a puppy mill, based on her observations and talking with the vet. She looked overbred, malnourished and dirty.
“I have never seen a golden or even a dog in my life look this way in my years of rescuing and adopting,” she said.
Karisa belongs to various Facebook groups where she constantly searches for more dogs that need rescuing. One popped up with a link to an ad on Craigslist. Sadie was listed for $200. After messaging the person, Karisa learned that Sadie had just had puppies. But something wasn’t sitting right with the story she received about Sadie’s background. Still, all she was focused on was saving Sadie.
The couple met the person selling Sadie at a gas station. The person opened the car and there she was, curled up in the fetal position covered in dirt. Sadie was “limp” and “frozen in fear.” She wouldn’t even lift her head.
They worried about bringing her home to the seven other dogs since it could be overwhelming for her. So Erik took all the dogs outside while Karisa stayed with Sadie and they walked through her forever home. Cautiously, Sadie examined her home, guardedly with each step.
They then brought in the other dogs to meet Sadie one by one, and they knew immediately that the dogs’ love was helping to heal her. A recent TikTok video (@say3goldenfarm) shows how welcoming the other golden retrievers have been with Sadie, as if they could feel her pain.
In the clip, they surrounded her and started smothering her with kisses. They wanted to “love her back to life.” Meanwhile, Sadie looked up with thankful eyes. She knows she’s safe now.
@say3goldenfarm/TikTok
“Every time they surrounded her she was so happy,” Karisa said.
Despite the trauma Sadie carries with her, she has made “huge progress” since being in the Saethre household. Karisa noticed the different improvements at the three-day, three-week and three-month marks, which is common for dogs. This is known as the 3, 3, 3 rule.
They found Sadie loves playing with a tennis ball. She’ll fetch it alongside the pool while the rest of the dogs are swimming.
“I have a feeling by next summer she’ll hopefully get in there too,” Karisa said. “She’s super curious and gets to the edge but hasn’t taken the plunge yet.”
Touched by the other dogs wanting to help Sadie, viewers fell in love. The video has amassed over 150,900 likes and 809 comments as of Monday.
“She’s got 7 new babies that she gained out of love and not greed,” said one TikTok user.
Another added: “You can see the pain in her eyes. It’s wonderful that you rescued her!!”
A third pointed out: “It takes time to heal from trauma. She is in good paws now.”
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