A terrified little poodle, who was saved from a puppy mill with about 700 other dogs, is finally starting to experience what human kindness feels like — but it was a long time coming.

The pup, now named Jordan Knight, was rescued from a licensed breeder in Georgia earlier this month after inhumane conditions came to light and police became involved.

In a very heart-wrenching video, a little poodle, who was saved from a puppy mill along with 700 other dogs, has shown the world the traumatizing horrors of puppy mills. The brave little pup, who’s now been named Jordan Knight, was rescued from licensed breeder in Georgia after an investigation resulted in inhumane conditions being brought to light.

He’s now experiencing human love and kindness for the first time in his life, but his first night, his foster mom Melissa Lentz captured a video of Jordan, which is perhaps the best, yet extremely heart-breaking testament to life in a puppy mill. Jordan was wandering around, adjusting to the massive change in his life. When he went over to his dog bed in the corner, he didn’t lie down. Instead, he rested only the top of his head on the edge of the pillow, and fell asleep while still standing.

Releash Atlanta, the organization that rescued Jordan and placed him in his foster home explained, “He was so used to standing to sleep due to his cramped cage, he did the same thing on his first night in his foster home.” 

As sad as it was to witness, Jordan thankfully didn’t take long to realize that he had a new lease on life and that things would be different in a good way.

For example, he quickly realized that the other dogs in the house – a group comprised of both fosters and forever-homed – are a fun and happy bunch. He also learned that there was loads of room for him to go exploring, and there’s even more room for a nice lie down. In addition, Jordan got to experience his first spa day and seemed to take well to the warm bath followed by cuddles in nice fluffy towels. He has become quite the snuggle monster, taking to the couch with the other dogs. Plus he really, really likes dinnertime. He has even taken to sitting on foster mom Melissa’s lap.

Jordan has made leaps and bounds since his first night in foster care, and we couldn’t be happier for him. Every dog deserves a happy ending.

“With a lot of love and attention from his foster family, he’s finally settling in,” Releash Atlanta wrote. “These dogs have been traumatized emotionally and mentally … To expect them to suddenly change overnight is impossible, but we are doing our best to erase their past and replace it with love, attention and comfort while they learn this whole new world of theirs.” 

Right now Jordan is still recovering, but soon he – as well as hundreds of his other puppy mill survivors – will be looking for their forever homes. And we wish them the best of luck, because again, every dog deserves to be someone’s much-loved happy little pupper.

Melissa told The Dodo, “He will be [up for adoption] as soon as he’s physically and emotionally ready!”

If you are interested in adopting Jordan when he’s ready, or any of the other survivors, you can inquire with Releash Atlanta and if you can’t adopt you can always help the survivors by making a donation to Releash Atlanta.