Three years ago, Benjamin Tan, a real estate negotiator in Puchong, Selangor, took his family to a pet fair in Mid Valley Megamall to find a companion dog for Blacky, their poodle who was 12 at the time.

As there are hundreds of abandoned dogs looking for a forever home, they asked Brenda Chia, a volunteer with Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better, to choose for them.Chia picked out Zudy and the Tans immediately fell in love with the little dog.

However, as dog lovers, they were horrified when Zudy joined them. She shook and shivered with nerves.

“It took us a while because she was terribly afraid,” Tan says. “She’d shake all the time. People can be cruel and you have to wonder what they did to her.”

Poor Zudy was too scared the first few days to even eat. But after months of gentle care, she relaxed.

“It took about nine months for the shivering to go,” Tan remembers.

Although the new pet became confident around her new family and home, the Tans noticed Zudy was different. Dogs make lots of sounds from huffing and whining to yipping, yelping, barking and howling but Zudy was surprisingly quiet.

“I thought she might be mute,” Tan confesses. “She made no noise at all.”

As Zudy relaxed, Tan took her out and about with him. There is a dog friendly park near their home so the two would go there for walks.

“At first she was shy and hid by my side. Very slowly she was less nervous about strangers. We let her sniff a while and then she’d be okay,” Tan recalls.

But for the first year or so, Zudy remained silent.

“I could see her make the gesture but there was no noise,” Tan says. “She wouldn’t gesture in the park, she was too timid for that, but at home, when Blacky would bark at the delivery man, security people passing and anyone in the street, Zudy would put her head up and mimic but there was nothing.”

As Zudy was adopted from love, not to be a guard dog, her family accepted her quiet attitude.

Finding her voice

But one day, when Zudy had been with the family for a year or so, Tan heard Blacky barking. Then a second bark joined in.

“Blacky has a good bark,” Tan laughs, “but the bark that went with it was even louder. I thought, it can’t be little Zudy, can it?”

But it was. Zudy had found her voice.

Ever since, she has been happily vocal.

“Blacky is 15 now and Zudy helps him bark at the security guard on patrol,” Tan laughs. “She hunts lizards and when the birds at the back of the house sing, Zudy yaps along. Sometimes I tell her to be a bit quieter even.”

The little dog has also found her courage in the park.

“She doesn’t run and hide anymore when people say hello. She sits and waits to be approached,”

Tan says proudly. “She’s actually quite brave. When we release her to play, she runs around and isn’t afraid.”

Best of all, Zudy is now so confident, that she gives orders.

“We give her dinner at 8pm. If we’re a few minutes off, that’s okay. But if we are sidetracked and it hits 30 minutes, Zudy will come and bark at us,” Tan laughs.

And best of all, she gets served instantly.

Zudy had a shaky start but thanks to being rescued and then homed, she now barks with the confidence of a heart that knows it’s home.