Puppy Love

So, I had this picture of a bird at the feeder I was going to post. Then I went to sit with our pups when Bella (white pup) rearranged herself to lay on Riley (black pup). I quickly grabbed my camera hoping that by the time I got back they would still be in this cute position. Bella always needs to lay next to someone. If Riley is close by she lays right up next to her.

Bella is a unique dog. Bella was only 12 weeks old when someone dropped her off at a gassing shelter. My husband and I foster dogs in danger of being gassed. We agreed to foster Bella until she found her forever home. We only had Bella for a few days when I said to my husband something isn?t right with this dog. She became aggressive with our dog just out of the blue and then would turn around and play with her just fine. She would growl at people and snap. As time went on we realized she was fear aggressive. We tried to socialize her and get her used to people and things but her fear wasn?t getting any better. We decided that she wasn?t going to be able to be adopted. We feared that someone would mistreat her or she would bite and be put down. We just couldn?t stand the thought of that happening so we decided to adopt her. Bella has been a struggle/challenge but, I know there is a reason she has come to us.

We took Bella to the vet to have tests run to make sure there was nothing medically wrong which, there isn?t. I have trained with Bella, tried TTouch, and work very hard to try to help ease her anxiety. It seems that no matter what we do it isn?t helping. About three months ago I was ready to call it quits. I was stressed and didn?t know what to do with her any more. She was starting to lunge at people and had nipped at two. But yet with us she is a complete love bug and with my mom, she absolutely adores my mom. She turns herself upside down and pees all over the place when she sees her. When people hear Bella bark and see her lunge they look at her in fear or dislike. It breaks my heart and I wish everyone could see how sweet she really is.

I have shed more tears over Bella than any other dog. Every time I feel like I am at the end of my rope Bella must sense it. She gives me a look with her sweet face that says please don?t give up on me. We finally decided to try medication. Bella is on her second set of meds. Finally we think we found something that might work. We hope and pray that the meds work so that Bella can live a happier life. But most of all we hope that she knows how much we really love her.