Welcome Home Bella!

Once we made the decision to adopt Bella it was truly torture waiting to get her! I chatted frequently with Bella’s awesome foster mom and she even sent me pictures:

Some friends of ours recently lost their dog. It was very sad. She’d been going downhill for a long time (they weren’t sure how old she was) and they offered to give us some of her dog stuff. They wanted it to go to a good home, which was so generous of them. They gave us her crate (and she was a chow, so the crate was really big), a bed, some toys and food. Not only that, Bella’s foster mom sent her to us with some goodies, too. A bed, toys, leash, harness, food and a booklet. The unbelievable generosity was so nice! As a thank you to Bella’s foster mommy we got her a gift card and a card. It wouldn’t cover everything she’d done for Bella, but we wanted to do something.

We picked Bella up after work. We played with her at her foster mom’s house for a little bit before packing up the car. She did really well in the car! Michael put the seats down and she had the whole back of the car. We weren’t sure if the crate would be appropriate, so we left it at home. I need to find a dog harness for in the car. Not sure yet what I’m looking for! So Bella just chilled and liked the car ride.

It was pretty late when we got home so we didn’t do much. We took her outside to get some energy out and to pee and then it was bedtime. I decided to put the crate in the bedroom with us for awhile. She got in the crate at bedtime and she was good ALL NIGHT! I’m sure all the parents out there reading this are laughing but I was expecting her to be anxious and whining all night, or the cats to be hissing at her through the gate. But she slept all night. Not a peep!

Friday we both woke up early (7am) and took her out for her first walk. It was a very cold morning. She did okay. She was super amped up and was pulling on the leash but by the end of the walk she’d calmed down and wasn’t doing it as much. A neighbor was out walking her little dog and Bella started barking but once the neighbor got close to us and she saw that it wasn’t someone scary she calmed down and even rolled onto her back for belly rubs.

Friday afternoon Michael and I were working in the yard because it was such a nice day out. While we were out there we also played ball with Bella. I’d throw the ball and she’d chase it while I pulled up the veggie garden. I thought she’d be scared of the lawnmower but instead she followed Michael around the yard while he mowed. 🙂

We need to work on her barking and growling at people and pulling on the leash. But other than that, she’s very well behaved. How are the kitties?

Maya is so terrified she let me pick her. That’s pretty much unheard of. The first night we had Bella, Michael took her outside to pee and I found Maya in the living room corner, flattened on the floor like if she did that no one could see her. I picked her up and held her for a long time. Poor baby. I knew she’d be the most scared of the two.

Fat Kitty was NOT happy. He hissed and then hid in the bedroom. That was to be expected. The first night he slept on the bed and would periodically check on Bella in the crate, hiss, then hide. On Friday we started to make a little progress. Fat Kitty came out of the bedroom and hid behind the couch. Except that he was growling like a jaguar the whole time. Bella was curious and would walk over to the side of the couch and then he’d hiss and she’d get scared and back away. Later that night Fat Kitty came out while Bella and I were sitting on the couch. He came up to the couch and then….Bella got super excited and chased him. 🙁 So much for the progress!!! Bella just wanted to play and Fat Kitty was pissed. He hissed and ran away.

It’s clearly going to take time!