A two-year-old pit bull named Cruz is in desperate need of a loving home — and he’s about to steal your heart away.

When Cruz was brought to the shelter, he was originally on a choke stick and labeled as “aggressive.” His coat was filthy. He must have been a left outside or living as a stray for a very long time, as he was also infested with ticks.

The first 60 seconds of the following video show Cruz inside his kennel run for the very first time. As you can see, he’s a shy dog who is very hesitant to approach the kind woman named Maria. He refuses to look into her eyes, he sits with his back toward her, and he hangs his head low. This heartbreaking behavior is that of a damaged creature, so neglected and stigmatized by the world that his true self has been repressed.

But then comes the second half of the video. Maria refuses to give up in her efforts to connect with Cruz. Eventually, the dog allows her to stroke his head, and closer and closer he gets. Within a couple of minutes, Cruz knows what it’s like to feel comforted by a kind hand. As it turns out, that’s all he’s ever wanted.

“You can see from his video he isn’t aggressive, he was just scared. He was so happy to get out of his kennel and into the play yard. He just has such a love for life,” Maria told us. Maria continues to upload videos of Cruz to reveal his progress in the hopes someone will step forward to rescue and adopt him.