Valerie the Dachshund turns from feral survivor to playful puppy as she settles into domesticated life

New video footage has been shared of Valerie the dachshund wriggling around in her bed and playing with her old toys after surviving solo in the Kangaroo Island wilderness for 500 days.

Valerie became the world’s most famous sausage dog during her incredible rescue last weekend after going missing 16 months earlier.

Kangala Wildlife Rescue coordinated her rescue and are temporarily looking after her.

The wildlife charity shared a short clip of Valerie and captioned it “play time” which sparked hundreds of comments from viewers who have been following the story from around the world.

“My god she’s in good nick for the adventure she’s had. She obviously knew how to look after herself. Loves her toys,” one person commented.

“Great job in keeping her safe while she decompresses and remembers her life as a pampered pooch. Looking forward to her reunion with her hoomans.”

Rescuing Valerie was not an easy feat, Kangala Wildlife Rescue representatives Jarred and Lisa Karran described it as a “rollercoaster”.

“We were able to rip little strips off of it, and we started the process of just adding more and more bits towards the trap site as we went along,” Ms Karran said.

Ms Karran wore another of the owner’s “tatty” t-shirts while sitting in the cage, and eventually the nervous sausage dog dropped her defences and approached her rescuers.

Ms Karran said they had to wait until Valerie was in the right part of the trap and calm enough to ensure she would not attempt another escape.

“She went right into the back corner, which is where we wanted her. I pressed the button and thankfully it all worked perfectly,” Mr Karran said.

Valerie is now in the safe hands of Kangala Wildlife rescue and is “decompressing” before she’s reunited with her owners in the coming days.