Solo has had a life that no dog deserves to live. He fended for himself on the streets of Los Angeles for over a decade. Solo grew unwell over time and became too elderly to keep up with the other dogs.

Ultimately, he was too exhausted and weak to walk further and sat down on a woman’s doorstep. When the woman spotted him, she called him Solovino (Spanish for “he came alone”) and contacted Rocket Dog Rescue for aid.

The rescue flew him out to San Francisco where he went to live with a foster. Regrettably, Solo was adopted out numerous times but was always returned through no fault of his own.

But one day, Carol Messina spotted a photo of Solo online and knew straight away that she had to save him.

“I knew he was going to remain with me forever no matter what when I saw him and saw how unhappy he was,” Messina told The Dodo.

Due of Solo’s history, he was quite hesitant and still didn’t fully trust people. He didn’t react properly to others around him, and he flinched anytime someone caressed him.

But Messina quickly learned that this was less of a trust issue and more of a hearing one. Solo’s hearing was significantly worse than anybody had expected – he was almost deaf. This explains why he flinched when anyone touched him; he didn’t appreciate people creeping up on him when he couldn’t hear them approaching.

His teeth were also really terrible and giving him a lot of pain. Finally, Messina got him the surgery he needed to correct his teeth, and he acted like a brand new dog after that! The pain had certainly altered how he acted as well.

Solo is now a contented dog who likes running about outside and meeting new dogs to play with. Messina has also learned new strategies to cope with his deafness-related anxiety.

He wears a harness that reads “deaf dog” everytime they go for a stroll so that people don’t pet him without asking. She also flickers lights on and off when she enters a room so he knows she’s approaching and isn’t frightened.

Despite his age, Solo has a lot of life still in him because to Messina. He will now live the remainder of his days in a loving family, never having to worry about living on the streets again.

“I’m quite happy of his progress,” Messina told The Dodo. “It is the finest thing I have ever done with my life, and he has encouraged me to adopt additional older dogs that require hospice care.”