Bella Noelle, an adorable 9 year old chihuahua mix, was running out of time. She had lived with the same family for many years but the recent addition of two young children and a third one on the way seemed to be stressing her. In addition the kids were allergic. The third baby was due shortly and they haven’t been able to find a new home for Bella. They reached out to us for help before they took her to a shelter. They told us Bella can be fearful around strangers and we worried about how she would fare in a shelter. Would any adopters take the time to get to know her when there are so many friendly social dogs needing homes ? Would she become so stressed that she would be deemed “unadoptable”? We have seen things like this happen and knew Bella’s best option would be to find her a foster with someone who could fairly evaluate her in a home environment.
Just a day before the deadline, a wonderful foster stepped up for Bella. This foster is also an amazing dog trainer. We couldn’t believe our luck! We then picked up Bella from her old home and drove her three hours to her foster home. When we picked her up, she stared out the window for an hour, back in the direction of her old home. Her mom had given her to us with tears in her eyes and no doubt, Bella felt the sadness too.
When she got to her new foster, her mom knew to go slow and just let Bella settle in at her own pace. It wasn’t long before she was playing with the other dog in the home, hanging out with the cat and relaxing while the human toddler groomed her. We were all happily surprised at how well Bella fit in. She not only fit in, she was thriving. It was clear that Bella had found her new home. Her fosters made it official and have affectionately nicknamed her Portabella Snaggletooth.