Woman Adopts Former Lab Test Dog In California, Now Watch Her Heartwarming Reaction To Love
There was something about her eyes that stopped Callie in her tracks.
She was barely visible at first. Just a small, trembling shape hiding under a bench, trying to disappear from the world. You had to squint to even notice her.
Her name was Maggie, and she had already been through more in her short life than most dogs ever will.
Callie had been searching for a new friend for her rescue dog, Murphy. She wasn’t just looking for any dog, she wanted to help a beagle who truly needed a second chance.
That’s how she got in touch with the Beagle Freedom Project, an organization in California that rescues dogs from laboratory testing.
And that’s how she met Maggie.
Maggie had spent two and a half years in a lab. Two and a half years without grass, without toys, without love.
Her whole world was a kennel. No soft blanket to curl into, no gentle hand to stroke her ears, no one whispering sweet things into her floppy ears.
Just cold, sterile walls and clinical routines.
Callie was heartbroken the moment she laid eyes on Maggie. The poor pup was frozen in fear. She wouldn’t look up, as Callie shared in a YouTube video:
“Maggie was just completely terrified. She was shaking. She didn’t want to look at me.”
But Callie knew that from that day forward, Maggie’s life was about to change for good.
When Callie brought the pup home, it was like introducing her to an entirely new world. It was Maggie’s first time inside a real home, one filled with comfy dog beds and warm-hearted humans.
At first, Callie kept her separated from Murphy, just to give her time to adjust. But Maggie made it clear that she wanted nothing more than to meet him.
She’d stare at him from a distance and whine like she was saying, ‘Please let me say hi.’
When Callie finally let them meet on their own terms, it was like a light switched on inside Maggie.
That moment was everything.
It was the first that she relaxed, even if just a little. Murphy became her anchor, the one thing that made her feel safe.
In those early weeks, everything was new and overwhelming. Even little things, like Callie putting her hair in a ponytail, would bother Maggie, as Callie explained:
“She doesn’t like short hair or even if I put my hair in a ponytail. I suspect that most of the people that worked at the research facility were either men or women who had their hair up.”
Something had left a mark deep inside her, and undoing that would take time. A lot of time.
It was nearly four months before Maggie let Callie get close without darting away. And then, one morning, something amazing happened.
Maggie walked up to her mom… and gently kissed her hand.
That simple, tiny gesture left Callie in tears. Because in that one little kiss, Maggie had said, I trust you.
From that point on, Maggie’s progress was obvious in so many ways. She began to wait by the door when Callie came home and showered her with kisses every morning.
She leaned on Murphy for comfort and he truly became her emotional support brother. Their bond was so pure and deep, as Callie shared:
“She is the most at ease when she’s with him. She would not be the dog that she is today without Murphy so that bond is probably the deepest bond that I’ve ever seen between two dogs.”
Callie sees every milestone as a celebration. Every time Maggie takes a step closer or shows a bit more trust, it feels like a victory.
Maggie is learning to live, to love, to be a dog again, and Callie is there for all of it.
She’s cheering her on, loving her deeply, and promising her that from now on, the only thing she’d ever have to fear… was running out of kisses.
