Bella in Virginia– ADOPTED!!

This sweet little lady is 9 months young and all puppy. Bella was returned to her breeder after she started experiencing weakness in her back legs. The breeder's brother gave her to a friend who eventually surrendered her to FBV when she realized she couldn't care for Bella with her hind end issues.

Bella has partial paralysis in her back legs that according to the neurologist will never get better and may get worse without proper lifestyle management and ongoing care. While she does have some control over bladder, she occasionally has trouble completely emptying her bladder leading to accidents. She can and will hold her bladder overnight in her crate though. She also has some control over her bowels but her realization that she needs to potty is often shortly before she goes which can lead to accidents. However, her bowel schedule is fairly predictable with scheduled meals, so accidents are easier to manage. Bella will need a family who is willing to keep her on a tight eating schedule.

Bella gets along wonderfully with everyone, but we are not sure how well she would do with cats. She plays well with her Frenchie foster brother and with a German Shepherd friend (who she is not even afraid to steal toys from). She has been to doggie daycare several times where she won over the entire staff with her cute looks and sweet personality. She also played very well with the smaller and/or calmer dogs at daycare. She seems to love all humans, but especially her 11-year-old foster brother. A home with older children and dogs who will not be too rough with her would be best. Although she loves to run and play rough, her new home will have to carefully manage her to ensure she doesn't play too hard or fall off of furniture which could further damage her spine.  

While Bella doesn't need a lot of attention, she definitely loves it! She is content lying at her foster mom's feet with a chew toy while she is working or cooking. Bella is also content taking a nap on the couch without a human but if one sits down, she is definitely going to snuggle up. With her sweet little face and slight underbite, it is hard not to fall in love with her and when given a little love and attention, she falls in love right back.

She loves, loves, loves to play with her doggie foster brother or any of the humans in the house. Despite her limitations, she will occasionally get the zoomies (like any other puppy) and race around the yard like a crazy gremlin with her back legs dragging behind her. She also likes to put her wheels on and take very short walks outside. She loves smelling new things and meeting new people and dogs while out on strolls. Bella has no idea she has limitations.

Bella’s favorite toys are the really hard plastic ones made for aggressive chewers. She also loves to lie in the sunshine on nice days and chew on a stick. She will pick up every single stick (and half of the larger chunks of mulch) from the yard and try to bring them in the house. Because she is still a puppy, she is still learning what is appropriate to chew and what isn't (there was one time when she chewed up one of foster mom's books…ooopps). She's a tiny daredevil so she should never be left unattended. She will attempt to jump off furniture herself so she should never be left alone with furniture and all stairs must be blocked off. 

She is starting to learn sit and down (or at least her version of those commands given her back end issues). She is also starting to get the hang of "wait” and comes well to her name. She is highly motivated by food and praise. Her foster brother has an electronic doorbell on the bottom of the back door that he rings to go out. She has started to run to the back door when he rings it, but when she needs to go potty, she will go sit by the door. She hasn't quite mastered ringing the bell yet.

The family who adopts Bella must understand how fragile her spine is. Her paralysis is only partial for now, but it could get worse without proper care or even just naturally over time from degeneration. Her control over bladder and bowels may someday get worse, so her new family will have to be prepared to deal with those changes if they come. She is such a playful loving puppy that it makes the work worth it, but she is just a puppy so the family who adopts her needs to be prepared to meet her potential future challenges.

Bella is such an incredibly sweet, amazingly loving little dog. She will loyally love whoever adopts her. She deserves someone who will truly love her and take care of her forever, despite the challenges that will come with caring for her and the fact that she snores louder than a freight train.