Meet a Lowcountry Dog: Bella

We got Bella from the Animal Shelter in Sumter 7 months ago. The rescue was for two reasons: one to try to help fill a void left by the passing of our sweet old dog Lilly, and two to give another dog a chance at a good home. There were so many deserving dogs that day, it is one of the hardest decisions for an animal lover to make. How do you choose? I wanted them all with those sad eyes. I must have walked 2 miles thru those kennels trying to decide. My daughter Carson had given up. She was having the same problem.

On about the fourth go around, I noticed a very sweet looking pup, pure white with big brown eyes. She was kind of standing off to the side of her kennel. I had passed her before and for some reason nothing hit me. But this time we just locked eyes. It was the same way it happened with Lilly. She got up from the cement block wall and wandered over to the chain link door. I put my hand in for her to smell, and instead she popped my hand up to rest it on her head. The more I talked to her and showed her attention the more she began to come out of her shell. I asked the shelter volunteer to please take her out. We were put in a small room where we proceeded to look her over. She was extremely thin, as she had been brought in as a stray. We gave her treats, which she gingerly took from my daughter's hand. A good sign. A ball perked her up even more. I was beginning to see some personality.

Being that she was a stray, she had to stay at the shelter for a certain number of days in case her owner came looking for her. She was on the last three days of her mandatory stay, and I have to say it was the longest three days for us! We wanted her to find her way back home, but secretly we really wanted her to be our dog even more! I was so glad to get the phone call that they were sending her to be spayed, and that I could pick her up the next morning! Yay!

She has fit in very nicely here with us in the country. She is never far from our daughter Carson. We have a pond in our back yard that has afforded the retriever in her hours of fun. Her arch nemesis is the giant bullfrog that lives on the island in the pond. Bella takes a daily swim over there just to see if she can get close to him. She has a stash of tennis balls and frisbies that are her prized possessions. She's very rarely seen without something she can offer to be thrown. She also enjoys the occasional ride in the golfcart, and is always up for good belly scratch. Our neighbors have dubbed her their "third child" as she has adopted them also.

If you don't mind a sopping wet hug, Bella will be glad to ablige. So glad I picked that particular day to visit the shelter!

submitted by Jenna Windham

Would you like your dog featured in an upcoming Meet a Lowcountry Dog spotlight? Send us up to 3 photos, and a short {500 words or less} write up of what makes your dog so special OR fill out the Meet a LCD Questionnaire posted on the website.  Email the info to gillian@lowcountrydog.com using the subject line: Meet a Lowcountry Dog.