Sunday, May 10, 2009

Bella has a new home - in time for Mother's Day!

I cannot imagine a more suiting occasion for Bella - to receive a new furever home just in time for Mother's Day!... (and as someone's birthday present to boot - what a double header as they say!)...

Bella was/is a GREAT mom and despite all the hardship and trauma she went through, having her litter of puppies and almost dying as she tried to nurse all five, she certainly has my vote for "Canine Mommie of the Year"... I could NOT have wished for a better home for her...

She has a beautiful back yard of her very own to play in and two lovely young girls to grow up with... I am positive they will keep her as busy as she will keep them~~!!!... Bella deserved this family and this is one of those bittersweet moments in rescue for me...

I'd taken Bella to the dog park in the morning as another foster mom was doing a 'meet & greet' with her foster... I 'child-tested' Bella with some of the children there yet again... And midway through, turned Bella off lead and worked her through some of the 'heel', 'watch me' turns, 'come,' etc... Each and EVERY time she responded on command and I couldn't have been more proud of her if I'd have birthed her myself!.. For a pupper that didn't know what a collar, halter or leash was when she arrived here, she did outstanding!

Bella also disliked moving vehicles when she arrived here (who could blame her, having birthed most of that litter in a moving shelter truck?) and she fell asleep in the back seat coming home from the dog park... We had a fairly long drive to her new furever home, and although I gave her the favorite bone she's been working on this week, Bella slept all the way there too!

I had prepared her new furever parents for Bella's hesitation with new people...

Ya know?... You can tell people that "this is a GREAT dog" but when the dog doesn't warm up instantly, I'm sure everyone thinks you're not telling them the truth... But Bella IS a great dog and I will ALWAYS cherish the months she allowed us to share her life as we watched her puppies grow and Bella reverted back to being a puppy again... She was too early of a mother and had too big of a litter, but it has been a sweet, sweet reward watching her run around the backyard with my crew, attempting to catch lizards or geekos (whatever those critters are called!)...

Bella's new mom has that quiet heart that is as big as Montana, and despite that I suspect Bella will form a quick bond with her new dad - he is the one she was most interested in (just as Bella so has loved my husband)... Bella has always been an 'in your lap' kind of dog and after the transition period passes, she'll be loving life with this great family too... I couldn't ask for a better furever home for this precious treasure...

I have to admit (you all know me by now... real to the very last period or exclamation point here)... I started to choke up a bit as I finished up the last of the paperwork... I didn't anticipate that I started to feel as I thought back about the weekend we almost lost her and I wasn't sure I could save her AND all five puppies if we took over hand feeding them...

I thought about those anxious hours as she was in ICU and I worried so many times afterwards in the weeks to follow as we lowered her nursing times with them, the every 4-hour meds, dramatically changed her diet to counteract the calcium depletion and increased the puppies' intake of formula at the same time... Then dropping the calcium intake levels so she wouldn't get too fat, but get healthy again... I really pride myself on turning shelter dogs around, but I don't think I'd ever questioned my abilities like this before... One dog, yes... But a mom and five VERY tiny and young puppies at the same time?... All six needing me so very much - and all at once?... I wasn't so sure I could do this at times...

And as I thought about all of this, all of the feelings just washed over me like a flood from a levee break... I'm usually very good about containing my feelings (at least I hope I do), but although I was extremely happy for Bella, it saddened me that she was moving on...

I'll miss that lump that lays on the top of my pillow and occasionally rolls over and lays her paw on my shoulder in the middle of the night... I will ALWAYS have the memory of the day she took on all five Chihuahuas and beat them each time in a game of 'catch me if you can' in the backyard... I will always be impressed how she could run like that and jump with puppy abandon, no longer having the responsibilities of being a mom too early in life... And I will add to my memories the ones Bella will now have as she has two children of her very own to run, jump and grow up with...

She deserved it for Bella is one very special dog...

And she has a new name too - "LUCY" - for one of the girls in the family has the same name (Isabella - Bella for short)... Guess Lucy will still come when called for awhile when she hears that name... What a great gift this has been for me personally on Mother's Day too... These are the times I am grateful for doing what I do in rescue...

I'll keep you posted if the new family keeps on blogging about Lucy and her great new adventures in life!

Hugs... and Happy Mother's Day to all you moms and dads out there!

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