Bella

Here is Bella sporting her new Tripawed bandanna! Of course this was 1000000 pics later since she likes to run and hide when the camera is out :-/

And GREAT news! Bella is going up and down the stairs all by her self! ~Does happy mom dance!~ As a matter of fact, she pulls me down them when time to go out…lol.

Her health is good, she is getting more comphy in her surroundings and we are working on the whole liking other dogs thing and men. Now that, will take a lot of time I am afraid. She still doesn’t like any strange man near her. Now a woman she is ok with. That comes from the aduse she got before, I am assuming its a man maybe and that sets her off? I am not sure.

But other then that we are good. I do have one concern maybe someone can help with. She seems to pant ALL the time. She cant walk down the road with out being out of breath. Even laying down she is breathing hard. I was wondering if this is normal? I have a appointment with the vet next week to have a look. It just worries me.

Last Friday we went to the vet for our weekly check-up (and I say us because I am more into the visit then she is) and the vet said everything is GREAT! However, she is still on pain meds and now taking something for some nasty lil worms that the shelter never got rid of.

Vet cleared her for go on a bath and Sat. afternoon, Bella went for her first bath!!! Yeah, she wasnt thrilled about it, but the groomer said she was well behaved. She didnt growl  just eyed wided the whole time. We are assuming that was her first REAL bath. We got her special shampoo so it wont bother her wound just incase and the groomer was SO sweet! She adores her already.

We have mastered going up the stairs with no problem, however, going down ins a whole nother subject. I threw my back out when I lefted her Friday to go outside :-/ Looks like I will be seeing the human medical doctor Wends.

I worry a bit about her though. I read how all these dogs are running around and actice after just a short time and Bella is still very much a lug. She seems so tired out just using the bathroom. The vet said give it a couple more months, I guess I just worry too much. I want her to be happy and start enjoying life as her short years she has not been able to. Although she is much happier these days. She smiles and waggs her tail a LOT more. That is a plus. Maybe with her background it will just take a while.

Christina AKA Mom

So Bella went to the vet last Friday and had her wound looked at. Everything looked fine however they needed to drain her because she had a couple of fluid pockets. They re-wrapped her and said so far everything was looking great.

Today I took her back for her weekly check up and her wrap came off and stitches came out!!!!! The vet was amazed at how well she has healed after her surgery. I got the run down of keeping it clean (She still cant have a bath till next Friday) and making sure she keeps on her pain meds. Bella thought a reward would be to go into the neiabors yard and roll around….lol They have real grass and down here that is a rare thing.

We took her to the dog park to just walk around seeing as how Bella is not a very out going dog. She doesn’t seem to like the larger dogs but didn’t mind the lil ones in the small area. I am hoping now that she has healed a great deal we can get her out and about more.

I am having her eyes checked next week because she doesn’t seem to see that well. My son will be walking up to us and she growls and barks until he gets close enough for her to smell. Even at the vets office the vet tech, which she adores and has since day one, she growled until she smelt his hand. Then of course he got smothered with kisses.

I guess it is a learning process to everything that is wrong with her as she came from an abused home.

The only concern the vet has was getting her one good front leg more in shape. Right now she is bow-legged when walking. She doesn’t have the strength to walk much and still gets very tired fast. We are going to start walking a lil each night after it cools off. First starting off with a block then slowly moving our way to more.
But I think she would rather just chill on the sofa then anything…..lol

My oldest son had his 15th bday Sunday and of course he wanted me to take pics of him and Bella. So he thought since they had a “bday” so close together they could both enjoy the party.

She is coming out of her shell lil by lil. She wags her tail more and still has a smile when I come home. Amazenly for her being a dog that was kept outside her whole life, she has yet to have one accident in the house. She whines around the house and that is her saying “I gots to go mom!”.
She has learned to go up the stairs and the down part is still in training. She is a bit scared and prefers to be carried. I am looking into getting her the harness here to help her with her walking and getting up and down. Since I drive a SUV, she has to be picked up and put in. I think the harness will do her wonders 🙂

Christina (mom)

Well today marks the 6th day after surgery. Although around the house Bella gets along wonderfully, she tires outside very fast. I also noticed that she gets hot very quickly even in the house. She is still on her 7-8 pills a day and this Friday will be her check up. The stairs still scare her but she will at least come out the front door without having to be picked up. Of course she will head right next door where my brother lives and whines there.

I have seen she is not to good with strangers outside the home. Now anyone can enter as long as they pet her but outside she tends to bark at people. So once she is healed good enough we will do weekly trips to the dark park here to try to socialize her a bit more. I am not sure if there is an issue as she doesnt get crazy barking so she might just be protecting me. So I think the lil doggy section will be a good start.

As far as the no ‘accidents’ it has been such a blessing! I cant believe that her being chained up outside her whole lil life she has yet to use the bathroom inside. This is a wonderful thing as I start back work tomorrow. I am a bit worried about this but I gave my brother my extra key and he will check on her throughout the day to make sure she is doing well. I am leaving a tv on for her so she has some noise in the house.

The other night I thought my son was awful quiet and so I went to inspect and stumbled across this……………

Chico is warming up to her and decided that he was going to take a doggy nap with her.

Then the other day I caught her sharing her bed with Cudjo……..

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww peace in the home!

Christina AKA Mom

Bella came to me from Miami Dade Animal Shelter. She was posted on facebook through volunteers that that go into the shelter and take pics of the dogs and cats in hopes that someone might adopt them.

Bella was known then as Cherry. Her background was one of many in there-the hand of a worthless owner. She was chained up outside her whole life. The chain had once gotten around her paw breaking it. The break was never seen by the vet and became deformed. The deformation cause nerve damage and her front left leg was useless.

There were three dogs at the time listed with MDAS. One was a puppy and the other a pitt. Both already had the amputation and were healed. They were owner surrenders. Bella had a lot of people wishing and prayer for her but no one stepped up to take her in. I watched both the other dogs find a home and leave while she stayed where she was. Even though Bella is under a year old I guess she was not ‘beautiful’ enough to some. Also she had at least 2 litters already by the looks of it. Watching her sit there as others left happy and safe I cried. I knew her time was short there.

On 8-24-11 After much back and forth with myself on if I could handle this, what I would have to do, what would it be like for her ect. I called a rescue group and told them to put a hold on her. 180.00 was raised through facebook to have the shelter amputate her leg. I paid 50.00 to pull her out the shelter and the day after her surgery I drove a total of 6 hours round trip to get her. No one told me what to do or how to do anything from bandage change to helping her. So on my way through the Florida keys (as I live in Key west) I stopped by a vet and spoke a little with them and they gave her some pain meds as the shelter provided none until her vet appointment the next morning.

Through out the car ride she was perfect and only whined once ehich is why I stopped at the vet.

After getting her home I was at a loss so to speak. I didnt have any clue what to do now. She slept the rest of the day and that night.

On 8-25-11 She saw the vet. My vet said she was healing fine, nothing looked wrong and in fact she was the sweetest dog she had ever meet after not only having her leg taken but being fixed at the same time.

This day I had A LOT of worry. She had yet to use the restroom and seemed so sad I was worried she was in too much pain. Luckily my vet is understanding and didnt mind the 10000000000 phone calls I made that day. By the end of the night she had used the bathroom (yes, I did a dance for this!) and after the pain meds seemed a bit more relaxed.

Today just after 4 days she is showing her true colors. She is the sweetest thing I have eve meet. She greets me no matter what time of the day or night with a smile and tail wagging. She LOVES to give kisses and I allow her to give her fill. She is still a little scared of going out the door by herself but we are working on it. She is moving around so much better. She is rather hard to keep still to tell you the truth. I don’t have her in a create as the sight of it for her put her in this shell and she tugged her tail and back away. Instead we put a twin mattress on the floor and she seems rather happy with that. She has had no ‘accident’ in the house and goes right to the door when she needs to go out.  Because I live on the second floor I carry her up and down the stairs when we go out and let her walk or sit in the sun shine as much as she wants or doesn’t want. We kept her away from my lil furbabies until she felt better to handle them. Today she allowed my 6 month old Chi (who is also a rescue dog I got at 2 months old) to share her bed. Was a moment that I made 15 phone calls! I was so happy to know that she was willing.

She still has the compression bandage on as she has no drains in. They will be removed this coming Friday and then the following Friday, stitches will be out! I will admit I am scared to death for this because up to that time she can get an infection. But we make sure she stays dry and the bandage stays tight. As a matter of fact I think she might go back Tues for a change because her moving has loosened it a bit. Again I am thankful for a vet that has a heart!

So that is Bella’s story. The rescue group called her a Rag to Riches dog as she went from the worst condition to home. She has become a part of the family from the minute I made the choice to take her and I have yet to regret a moment of it!

As I stated before, I am new to this world and so is she. Its a learning process for us both. And simple things like the bathroom and sharing make me giddy! My only prayer is that each morning she wakes up a bit stronger and that soon she will be able to be a normal and happy puppy.

Christina AKA mom

Hello! I am rather new to this world and am looking for some advice on anything anyone can give. Things from day to day, how to help her learn to move and be active. What is the best form of exercise? Everything really.

Bella has only been out of surgery a couple of days and I am just allowing her to rest and move on her own time. But being a puppy still she wants to play and she is not sure how.

Thank you!

Chrsitina

Bella’s mom 🙂