According to doctors and medical records, she was a normal child at birth,[3] but was later neglected by her alcoholic father at age three, and she lived surrounded by dogs.
[2][4] When Malaya was found by authorities, she was seven and a half years old, but she could not talk, lacked many basic skills, and physically behaved like a dog.
[4] Malaya was eventually transferred to the foster home for mentally-disabled children in Barabol (rural Ovidiopol Raion of Odesa Oblast).
Upon adulthood, Malaya was taught to subdue her dog-like behaviour; she learned to speak fluently and intelligibly[5] and works at a farm milking cows,[1][5] but remains somewhat intellectually impaired.
In 2013, Malaya gave an interview on national Ukrainian TV, on the talk-show Hovoryt Ukraina, where she talked about herself and answered questions.