Smoke the pit bull puppy has a difficult past, but he doesn’t show it. His former human stabbed him at least seven times, injuring his windpipe and jugular vein. If Brad Chambers didn’t have such a good heart, Smoke wouldn’t have survived, writes Molly Weinfurter of iheartdogs.com.

Today, Smoke is one of the happiest and most affectionate dogs we have ever seen. She shows no signs of a traumatic past and all her wounds have healed. But none of this would have been possible without the help of her new favorite friend.

Chambers first met Smoke as a skinny dog crawling under his truck in Virginia. When he approached her, he realized she was bleeding. The poor dog was hiding safely from the man who had injured her. She had been stabbed several times and didn’t look like she would survive.

Fortunately, Chambers, a former police officer, knew exactly what to do. He had a trauma kit in his car that saved the puppy’s life. He then took her to a nearby veterinary clinic for further treatment. Her injuries were so severe that she had to be transported out of state to the North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine for surgery.

,,She has fully recovered from all the operations, has a lot of energy and is very loyal.” says Chambers. Medical expenses after all the operations totaled at least $15,000. Chambers paid some of the money out of his own pocket, but managed to raise the rest through donations. That’s when he realized that Smoke needed to be part of his family.