BELLA

BELLA AB#18-169 – F, 4 1/2 Years

Gender: Female

Age: approx. 4.5 years

Size/Weight: 50 pounds

Color: lemon/white

Breed: Hound mix (Honorary English Setter)

Good with Children:yes but maybe best with older kids as she is excited and jumpy.

Good with Dogs: Yes

Good with Cats: dog savvy cats only. She likes a good game of chase

House trained: Yes

Crate trained: Yes

Leash trained: She needs work

Behavior: She has a lot of hound in her so it would be a good idea to read up on Foxhounds or Harriers.She likes her prey to run so she can chase. She knows a few commands: High five, leave it and No.She will test you to see if you really mean “sit” or “time for bed”. I think once she is settled down in a home, she wouldn’t need a crate. We are working on her not to jump on us. She is not fond of fireworks and most likely thunderstorms.She knows she is ok in the house but doesn’t want to be outside even after the banging stopped hours before.She only goes out in the rain if necessary.

Activity Level: Moderate. She enjoys going outside and “hunt” anything that may move.

Fence: Fence is recommended.

Medical History: Bella was spayed as a younger girl and is up-to-date with her vaccines.Back in 2016, Bella did go through heartworm treatment. She has tested negative since.

History as we know it:Bella didn’t come to rescue by any fault of her own, she really has been dealt a bad hand in life up to this point. Back in 2016, Bella found herself in a shelter and heartworm positive. Luckily she was adopted and went through treatment. Life was very good for her she even had an older canine companion but not long afterwards, her adopter lost their job.Fast forward to September 2018, her adopter still has not found a job and has failing health, Hurricane Florence and foreclosure is in process and the home will be gone December 1. Her adopters looked for different rescues to help but because of the hurricane, local rescues and no kill shelters were full. Left without options, the hard decision was made to take the two canine siblings to a kill shelter.Sadly, Bella’s brother didn’t make it out, deemed too old to be adopted, leaving Bella alone and on her own. Above & Beyond English Setter Rescue heard her story and quickly secured a foster home.

Foster Comments:  Bella misses her former family, you can see it in her eyes, and you can hear it in her whimpers at night as she sleeps.We know she loved and was loved by her former family and we want her to find that love again. This girl has a very sweet soul, she has seen the inside of a shelter twice in her life, and she is appreciative of a warm home, a comfortable couch, and a loving hand. She is at that perfect age where the puppy in her is gone and she just wants to hang with her family and go on adventures with them. She favors men but gets along well with all people.She gets excited and jumpy and easily knocks over our toddler aged granddaughter. She is very close with her active PointSetter foster sibling when outside, hunting birds and squirrels, at the same time she likes to hang out with her Husky sibling, playing and having fun.She doesn’t like the other dogs around her food but is ok with me putting my hand in her bowl and hand feeding her. She is gentle when taking treats.

UPDATE: January 28, 2019, Bella has started to really settle in her foster home, she no longer feels the need to be protective of her food dish, has even let the littlest foster sibling (7 pound pup) push her out of her own dish.  She has really taken to the snowy Midwest.  She plays hard when outside and comes in for nice warm naps, either on the couch or in her crate.  This girl maybe extremely stubborn on doing “tricks” and sometimes even knowing her name but really would be a great girl for a first time adopter, just a very easy going girl. She would be a fun girl to take to the local dog parks; she does listen when it really counts. She doesn’t jump on us like she did when she first got to us but she does like to jump up for a hug & greeting when I get home from work.  She does get jealous if one of the other dogs is jumping on me and has to jump too but never gets nasty with the other dogs.  Since I first wrote her bio, we can say for sure that Bella is very fearful of storms and doesn’t like rain, very understandable after living through a hurricane or two. She feels safe in her crate will wait them out there.  For a girl with a lot of hound in her, she isn’t barky.  She barks when she wants back inside, when playing with the resident pups (it’s like kids on the playground) and at teasing squirrels.  She has not yet joined the choir of barks when company has stopped in. Most of her barks are to get my attention; a firm “No bark” ends any inside barks. Bella is always ready for a good tummy rub!

Adoption Fee: $300.00

Foster Location: Waterloo, IA

Volunteer transport can be arranged in the Continental US within a 1,000 mile distance between adopters & foster home. Typically, we are able to transport your adopted dog to within 2 hours of your home. *Dogs can be adopted outside the 1000 mile transport distance; however, adopters must be willing to either fly their adopted dog, drive to a location within the 1000 mile transport range, or make independent transport arrangements for their adopted dog  

BELLA