Bella #22 Chocolate Labrador Retriever Mix Female 9 Years Old ID#3024

Bella is a 9 year old female spayed tricolor mix with the sweetest face you will ever see. She was abandoned in an apartment in North Philly when her owner died last August. Remarkably, she is perfectly healthy (just about 12 lbs underweight!) and has maintained the most loving, easy going personality. Please read Bella’s blog from the bottom up to learn more about this sweet girl.

December 19, 2022

Hello there!

After more than a week here with is we think we have seen Bella’s true nature. She loves routine, loves people, and is the biggest snuggler we have known. She sleeps 10-12 hours (without a peep) in her crate overnight, she has not had an accident in 6 days (now that she knows which door to ask to go out), eats like a champ, is fast friends with our resident beagle, and is so low impact we forget she is here from time to time. She loves to carry around a squeaky bear (that came in our BLRR care package, thank you SO much!) and snores softly when she sleeps at our feet. She is an absolute gift.

Here’s a sweet video I took of her. I tried all morning to get a video but she wouldn’t give me enough space to get her in the shot, so I leashed her to her crate and got this gem!

Also including a photo of the dogs sleeping near each other… I think Bella is comforted by his presence. 

December 12, 2022

It’s as if Bella has always been a part of our family! To say this is the easiest foster transition to date would still be an understatement. Bella has laid claim to “her bed” as well as “her area” near my feet (two places she alternates between all day when she is not out walking.) She is the sweetest little love with melty milk chocolate for eyes and fur as soft as a fleece blanket. Bella is in a great routine. She has three small meals per day in an effort to put some of her weight back on. She is not a huge fan of treats, but she takes her meals seriously. She wakes between 7-8am (after sleeping quietly in the crate all night) and has a meal and a walk. She does the same meal/walk routine around 1pm and then again at 6pm. We stop water and food after that so she is comfortable overnight. The rest of the day she cuddles in bed, does *a little* bit of playtime with her squeaky elephant (thanks, BLRR!) and hangs out with us. In only three short days we have already started trusting her to leave her in the gated kitchen with our resident dog when we go out for 2-3 hours. She seems soothed by his presence and is happy to sleep in bed while we are gone. She is SO happy to see us when we get home that she literally cries… it’s adorable.  We have nothing but love for this little creature who probably saw a really sad side of humanity after her previous owner died. But it’s very clear to us that she was loved and adored when her previous owner was alive. She is trusting, affectionate, a quick learner and eager to please. This little sweetheart will steal your heart as she has ours. 

December 10, 2022

Bella is a gorgeous, petite tricolor mix that looks more like a hound dog than a lab, but she has some lab traits for sure! She arrived at our house yesterday and has been an absolute joy. She loves the car, and was easy to transport.

Upon arrival we took her for a walk and introduced her to our resident beagle, Moose. It was the fastest and easiest intro we have ever done. It typically takes 1-2 days for us to feel comfortable leaving a foster gated in the same room with Moose, but this only took about an hour. Bella doesn’t give other animals the time of day, shares treats, toys, food and water and sleeps in her own bed (she knew right away which one was hers and which one was Moose’s!) We weren’t sure what the housetraining situation would look like. Bella has not been walked regularly in four months (maybe longer) and has been using the vacant house where she lived as her bathroom, but we were cautiously optimistic. She had one accident within the first few hours and we were not surprised. But once she knew what door she would be going in and out of and that regular walks would happen, all of those activities were done outside. She has been a model citizen since then and we have no reason to believe that accidents will be a regular thing, but we will keep you updated.  (She does “signal” to go out by pacing near the door.) We also weren’t sure about the sleeping situation as to our knowledge she had never been crated. We decided to just try and see how it went. We took her for her last bathroom break at 10pm and then enticed her into an extra large crate in our finished basement that contained a treat, a thick bed, and some blankets. She went right in like it was part of the routine she has always had! We put on some soft music, left a nightlight on, and covered the crate with a sheet. We did not hear a peep from her all night, not even a whine. When I went down at 7am she was VERY glad to see me and enjoyed a brisk morning walk. We are in love… can you tell? She is a snuggler, loves to be with her people, and snores softly when she falls asleep. Stay tuned for more on this beauty… Bella, indeed.