Bella, previously known as Sierra is home...

When Bella arrived on April 15th, she was quite anxious and nervous and had not spent too much time inside a house. She had no reaction to a door knock or a bell, and she had not had a walk with a leash and collar.

So many things were new to her. Pati nursed her back to health after finding her with hook worm, a real good case of fleas and a horrible kennel cough. God bless Pati.

We found some scars from prior injuries, one a cut from her nose, down through her upper lip, which healed cleanly, but separately. We do not know who could do such a thing. Her ears have cuts in them and scars on all four of her skinny little legs. She is fiercely afraid of fire extinguishers, even though she is a fire truck pooch, and of men, especially tall ones scare her.

She is really coming around, and believe it or not, although our Vet thought she was between two and three, after four weeks, she has grown two inches taller. Just from consistent nutrition and tons of love. We better keep an eye on all those snacks too! We believe now that she is younger than originally thought, we have given her birthday of April 15th, the day she came to her forever home, and in 2008 will celebrate her third birthday.

We are so blessed to be able to bring her to work with us; she has so many people who just love her like crazy. This has helped her progress immensely.

She is getting along well with other four legged friends, an occasional aggressive nature, with certain dogs, reason, yet unknown. She is making great strides in this department from her first weeks with us. She now walks with two new buddies in the neighborhood: Henry and Louie. She has decided Henry is her true love.

We hope to someday soon find Bella a little sister; we want to give her a bit more time to build her assurance that this is her forever home. She is still licking the remains of her giraffe toy, which came with her when Pati dropped her off. At first, that giraffe was with her or in her eye sight twenty-four hours a day, and now, she plays with it occasionally.

Thank you Pati for bringing us to Bella Sierra. Several friends have told us; "you girls are so good for rescuing Bella Sierra"; to which we respond, "oh no; it is Bella Sierra who rescued us."

Ms. Edie and Barbara Duffy