Cherry, a black male pit bull which was among the dogs trained for fighting by former football star Michael Vick, has almost recovered and is ready for adoption.

When he had arrived at the Best Friends animal sanctuary in Utah in January, it seemed almost impossible to change his fearful behavior.

Michelle Besmehn, the dog care manager at the sanctuary, said Cherry was the only dog that would not walk on a leash, but instead, he “just flattened to the ground.”

But fortunately, nine months of intensive training and therapy at the shelter turned Cherry into a playful and friendly dog who does not even chase cats.

Besmehn said the next step for Cherry would be to go to a foster home and learn real-life skills.

The black pit bull is one of the 48 dogs which were seized in 2007 from Michael Vick’s dog fighting training camp.

Twenty-two of the rescued dogs were assigned to live at Best Friends, an organization which cares for 1,500 dogs, cats, horses, goats and other animals. All the dogs have made big progresses since they arrived at the sanctuary, both physically and emotionally.

At arrival, the dogs were either scared to death of people, couldn’t walk, had no teeth or were terribly aggressive, but now the caretakers, who have been working hard to heal their emotional and physical scars, are hopeful they will be adopted.

“I want people to realize that just because they have a bad history doesn't mean they're bad dogs,” said Besmehn. “They were chained or taken out for fighting, and now we're showing them basic life skills.”

You can watch the traumatized dogs making progress during the two-hour season premiere of “DogTown,” Friday night on the National Geographic Channel. The show does not focus on Vick’s crimes, but on the good things that happened to the dogs since they were rescued and brought at Best Friends.