At first, she thought she’d spotted a wild animal — but then she got a closer look.

“She couldn’t believe what she was seeing,” rescuer Suzette Hall told The Dodo. “It was a dog.”

The dog was sitting alone, at the end of a narrow dirt road. She was hiding behind the slope of the path, so the woman who spotted her couldn’t reach her. But the woman knew just what to do to save the sweet pup.

First, the woman set up a makeshift feeding station at the top of the slope, hoping to draw the pup out of her hiding place.

“The dog would come up the slope and eat,” Hall said. “When she was done, the woman would take the food away so that the predators wouldn’t follow her.”

Then, the woman called Hall for help facilitating the rescue.

Hall set up a trap near the feeding station that night, hoping that the pup would wander into it after dinner. But when the two women returned to the forest the next day, the dog was nowhere to be found.

Hall left the trap overnight again and came back the next morning to check on the pup.

“Finally, she was in my trap,” Hall said. “And she just kissed me when I got her out.”

Hall took the little dog, whom she named Trekker, to her local animal shelter.

Staff members scanned Trekker for a microchip and found that she’d been adopted just 4 days before her first sighting.

The owners relinquished Trekker to the shelter, who then released the pup to Hall.

Hall quickly found a foster home for Trekker, where the sweet pup stayed until her new adoption was finalized.

“She went from an amazing foster home to an amazing forever home,” Hall said. “She’s just living the life now.”

According to Hall, Trekker is now enjoying her new life with her new humans. She loves to play, cuddle and go on hikes with her forever family.

“Her past is totally gone now,” Hall said. “She’s such a  survivor.”