Doggie Love

This is Bella, aka Daddy’s Girl. Like our other dogs, she is a mixed breed. Based on her ears and temperament, we believe she has some Border Collie. She loves to play fetch with the tennis balls and plays with the smallest dog as well. Like Ruger, she showed up as a stray.

Before finding us, Bella had a tough life. She showed up the day after Christmas 4 years ago. I remember seeing her chasing a truck down the dirt road earlier that day but didn’t see her again. Later that evening, my husband came home and told me there was a black dog sitting next to my car. I had a feeling it was the same dog I saw earlier. She didn’t respond to my husband but I managed to get her to the porch by enticing her with food. This poor thing was so skinny you could see every bone in her rib cage as well as her hip bones. I got her inside where I had a big crate set up for her to stay in while the others sniffed her out. I was so happy we got her inside because that night the temperature dipped down to 17 degrees. She wouldn’t have survived that night with the shape she was in. I don’t know how long she was left to fend for herself, but she didn’t mind being safe and warm even in a crate. The next morning, we let her out to do her business and she ran off. I prayed that she would come back and amazingly she did later that afternoon. She must have felt safe enough and knew that we would feed her.

After a couple of weeks and her deciding to stick around, we made an appointment with the vet to get her checked out. It was also time for Brewer to get his annual check-up, so she tagged along. Once we started down the road, she started whimpering and whining. My husband started petting her to help calm her down and he was shocked to find that her heart was racing. This poor dog was so traumatized that she was afraid we were going to dump her out. We made it to the vet and scheduled a time for her to get spayed. (All my dogs are spayed/neutered.) Once we got back to the house, she wasn’t scared anymore and ran around the entire yard. Now she loves going for car rides.

Since she still had tendencies to roam, I got a collar with her name on the front and our information engraved on the back. I have never seen a dog smile, but she did when I put that collar around her neck. She knew she finally belonged with a pack. The day before her spaying appointment, she went into heat. The vet said they couldn’t do the surgery and to bring her back two weeks after she was done. That wasn’t the ideal thing at the time, but it ended up working out for the best. We didn’t want her roaming around and risk getting pregnant, so my husband fashioned a leash with an 8-foot rope attached. This gave her the illusion of roaming, but also help us show her the boundaries of our yard. Soon she had her surgery and after she recuperated, she was free to run around outside unsupervised. Surprisingly, she didn’t go as far as she did before and started staying closer to the house. Now that we have fenced in a big part of our backyard, she doesn’t want to leave that boundary.

She is definitely a daddy’s girl, which is what her new collar states. She tolerates me but only when my husband isn’t available for attention. (Since the other 5 dogs like me, it’s only fair that one of them prefers him.) She gets very vocal if he leaves the yard on the golf cart without her. I believe there is a little bit of separation anxiety but it’s not as bad as the beginning. Even if I stay home when my husband leaves, she will still get upset and cry at the door. It doesn’t take long for her to settle down but she no longer chews or tears things up. She has become fat, happy, and content with our pack. I couldn’t imagine it without her.