Washington - Dog owner Billie Wensveen had slowly but surely come to terms with the fact that her Chihuahua Joey didn't have much time left – but a special encounter suddenly breathed life back into him.

Little Joey's life hasn't been easy. Billie explained to Newsweek that she rescued the Chihuahua from a shelter in the south of Washington state.

Joey had already been through a lot, as he arrived at the shelter in a pitiful state, with limited vision and near-total deafness.

Important surgeries even had to be canceled due to his poor condition.

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Nevertheless, Billie wanted to give the little guy another chance and took him home with her.

She now provides her new family member with lots of medication and is a regular visitor to the vet with him.

When Joey would lay quietly suffering in his bed, his owner became increasingly worried, but in a new TikTok video, Billie captured the special moment when life returned to the Chihuahua!

In a rare moment when Joey was tempted to go for a walk in the yard, he spotted Billie's chickens and ran after them at full speed!

"POV: you think your foster dog is on death's door and then he meets the chickens," Billie wrote under the clip, which heard her yell "Joey!" as the senior dog sped around the farm.

Further footage from the past few days shows Joey in much better shape – and still happily chasing the chickens!