A dog who was never allowed indoors is finally learning what it means to be loved after being rescued—and she is just discovering that it’s safe to be inside.

Prior to being rescued, Faith the pit bull mix was living outside a home near Detroit, Michigan. The owners also had a male dog, and as neither of them was neutered, the canines had an accidental litter. As a result, Faith was kept outside at all times, while the male dog lived inside to ensure no more puppies.

After being approached by concerned neighbors, Faith’s owner agreed to surrender the dog, and Happy Paws Haven Co. asked Kaitlyn Marcinkowski if she would foster her. Of course, upon learning about what Faith had gone through, Marcinkowski told Newsweek that it was “the simplest yes of [her] life.”

When Faith arrived at her foster home, the 18-month-old dog had lost a lot of fur on her ears due to the harsh living conditions.

“She’s fully healed now, but she does have some scars on her body that we don’t know how she got. She seemed to be a decently healthy weight, but I can promise you she’s gained some since being with us,” Marcinkowski, of Metro Detroit, said.

Helping Faith settle into her new home has certainly been a challenge, but she has made such great improvements. She was easily scared and would start trembling, even refusing to walk or go to the potty at times. She wouldn’t eat when Marcinkowski was in the room and didn’t get along well with the other dogs.

But perhaps the greatest difficulty was helping Faith feel comfortable inside the home. The dog had only ever lived outside, so she completely froze any time she went inside. As a result, Marcinkowski and her partner had to carry Faith around in their arms because “she wouldn’t move otherwise.”

Marcinkowski said: “I knew it wasn’t the best thing for her, but, sometimes, we didn’t have 45 minutes or three hours to wait for her to walk inside or come out of her crate, so we scooped her up.

“When I don’t carry her, she really takes her time. She will start shaking at times, and if we are outside, she runs to the grass, rolls on her back and wags her tail and waits for belly rubs. She’s a silly girl, even when she’s nervous.”

Once it became clear that Faith was growing in confidence, Marcinkowski said she started to push the boundaries. She would wait even longer before picking up Faith, or getting her to edge further inside before doing so.

Now, Faith is doing so much better and has gone three days without being picked up up. “My body thanks me because she’s a 50-pound meatball,” Marcinkowski said.

After a few weeks in her foster home, Faith is much happier, and her personality is certainly shining through. Faith is now happy to eat when people are in the room, will accept pets off just about anyone, and even gets along with the other dogs, Lando and Enzo.

For Marcinkowski, it felt like “the greatest moment” to finally see Faith feel comfortable enough to play with together with her other pups.

“Sadly, she can’t run and play too much because she’s undergoing heartworm treatment, but I swear my dogs know and they’ve been laying in the bed with her and gently playing that way. It’s all been nothing short of incredible,” Marcinkowski said.

Once Faith has completed her treatment, she will then be spayed and put up for adoption. Her adopters should be patient, willing to take introductions slowly, and the home should be somewhere where Faith won’t be alone too often. If she is left unaccompanied for too long, Faith will gladly become a couch potato.

Marcinkowski has been documenting her time with Faith on TikTok (@kaitfosterlife) and many of the posts have gone viral. A video showing Faith plucking up the courage to walk inside after 18 months of living outside has amassed more than 6.9 million views and over 1.4 million likes at the time of writing.

Not only does Marcinkowski hope to show how amazing Faith is, but she also wants to highlight the importance of fostering.

“People think we’re abandoning her when we adopt her out, but the reality is we are her bridge home, a safe landing spot for her to learn to trust and become a dog.

“I promise, when Faith leaves us, she will be surrounded by love with her new family, and I’ll be the one that’s more heartbroken,” Marcinkowski said.

With over 7,800 comments on the viral TikTok video, social-media users were heartbroken for Faith but so delighted that she is finally learning to trust.

One comment reads: “She didn’t wanna come in because she thought she’d get hurt.”

Another TikTok user wrote: “The way I gasped when those back paws hit the floor.”

A third person replied: “People who foster dogs deserve the world.”

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