Alumni Update: Bella

Bella was featured in our book Lost Souls: Found! Inspiring Stories about Great Danes. Her story was one of my favorites: After a rough first introduction to her new Bulldog brother, Tonka, they really hit it off, and she actually served as his umbrella, shielding him from the rain he loathed when he needed to pee. How cute!



Bella's mom, Debbie, sent me an update the other day:

We recently adopted another Great Dane from Great Dane Rescue, Inc. (GDRI). This "little" guy is approximately a year old and was picked up as a stray in North Bay, Ontario. He spent some time in a shelter there before GDRI picked him up. GDRI did a great job in telling us all about him, and we were prepared for an "obnoxious spotty boy."



We adopted him on August 11 of this year and named him Beau. We thought it would be cute to have Bella (beautiful) and Beau (handsome), but what we got was beauty and the beast! (kidding)

Beau is a fawnequin with one blue eye and one brown eye. He came into rescue with NO training and weighed 102 lbs. He did not respond to being called or know sit, down, or well, any other commands, really. We are working hard, and he is learning. He now knows sit, down, and is getting better at coming when he is called.

Bella is trying hard to teach Beau the rules of the house, like, for example, he should NOT jump over the couch when he is excited and wanting to play. This guy is a challenge, but we are committed to his rehabilitation. He is a sweet and loving boy and cracks us up with his silly antic. His favorite thing to do is stick his head under the floor length curtains in our living room and then slowly walk out from under it letting it drag over this whole body. Too cute. He also likes to lay on his bed and wait to be covered up with his blanket. He is a hundred-pound lap sitter. We just love him.

Bella continues to do well; she is so wonderful and easy going. Every night during our walk we are joined by our neighbor's little girl who is 10. Bella is so easygoing even she can walk her. Whoever says to stay away from shelter and rescue dogs because they have too many problems really should meet Bella; she can show them that sometimes bad things happen to good dogs and that rescue dog make the best friends. With time and patience and love we are sure that Beau can do it, too.

So there's the update. Note that I'm taking a little break from fostering right now so that my husband doesn't leave me (kidding!), so I'll continue to share alumni updates until I have some new fosters to complain, I mean rave about. :)