According to Redditor martin-tenbone, when his girlfriend brought home Kreacher (bonus points if you can identify the origin of that name) about two and half year ago, the dog was so dehydrated his eyeballs bulged from his sockets and he was connected to a tangle of IVs for days.

It is not known what kind of horrors the dog experienced prior to arriving at the clinic where martin-tenbone’s girlfriend works, but we can say Kreacher is in a much better condition now. These photos attest to that. Martin-tenbone said that Kreacher’s condition was so dire (he was found in a box in the woods), the office where his girlfriend is a vet tech considered euthanizing him, but she advocated for the stray because “his tail would wag when she talked to him.” That little spark of life was enough for her and she took the dog home and nursed him back to health.

A week and a half later, the couple took Kreacher out for his first walk, when he had finally gathered enough strength to support his own weight. But the real triumph came when Kreacher could eat on his own and put on some much-needed weight.

Now Kreacher barely resembles the dog who once clung to life, barely finding the energy to wag his tail. Major thanks to martin-tenbone and his girlfriend, who saw more than Kreacher’s skin and bones and will be rewarded with one of the best dog friends a person could ask for.