Three years — that’s how long Milo and Princess, two pit bulls living in Fort Worth, Texas, spent chained up in their owner’s yard.

It’s likely they forgot life had anything else to offer them other than a little plot of land with a ramshackle dog house. Their expressions were totally devoid of hope.

But when Judy Obregon, founder of local rescue organization The Abandoned Ones (TAO), arrived to help the pit bulls, they seemed to start to perk up.

Milo and Princess strained against the pull of their chains to try to get closer to their rescuer.

“Milo and Princess were originally part of our community outreach program,” Emily Walker, a volunteer with TAO, told The Dodo. “We were working with the family to get them neutered and spayed and off of their chains.”

Then Hurricane Harvey barreled down on Houston, and TAO knew there would be a lot of work helping relocate needy animals left homeless by the storm. “Our team was about head to Houston, we could not leave not knowing the fates of these two,” Walker said.

But then rescuers had a stroke of luck — the owners finally decided to surrender Milo and Princess to TAO instead of keeping them chained in the yard. “After three years they are free,” Walker said.

And the two dogs made no secret of just how happy they were to go with Obregon, far away from where they’d been chained for so long.

Tails wagging and tongues licking, Milo and Princess were sure to thank their rescuer, who brought them to the vet to get up-to-date on vaccinations and get spayed and neutered.

A whole new life is just beginning for the dogs, who will need foster homes very soon so they can get acclimated to what it’s like to be an actual part of the family.

“The change from the picture you posted before to the video you posted now … totally different personalities,” one commenter observed on Facebook.

“Our favorite part of rescue,” TAO replied. “The change from sadness to happiness.”