Straydog UPDATE posted SUNDAY 9/21/03 at ~6:10 p.m. CT

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 21 2003

Today it's been raining a slow rain most of the day

     Normal routine and schedule were followed, and all the dogs had a good day, tho all of our caregivers/kennel helpers were soaked by the end of their shifts.

Erin's report from yesterday on the adoption of Bella

     Volunteer Pat Seward had known of my mom and our shelter since reading the first newspaper article about Straydog in March of 1997 in The Dallas Morning News. She started reading the website updates after another little piece about our shelter was published a couple years later (also in The Dallas Morning News). "Your mom was a saint," Pat Seward said. After reading the last article about Mom this past June 3rd, Pat Seward began volunteering on Adoption Days.

     So, being a volunteer Saturday morning Pat Seward was in an excellent position to adopt Bella before anyone else saw her. (She was calling the beautiful puppy, Bella-Bear at the store.) Pat fell in love with Bella through reading about her and seeing her on our website, and she'd called us a few days ago to see if we could make a home visit this weekend.

     Pat Seward and her husband have two other dogs, one is another rescue from Operation Kindness named Charlie, and the other is Molly, a dog who finally was caught in a field by Pat's house, after three weeks of feeding (and chasing).

     Molly and Bella got along right away, but Charlie is timid and a little territorial around all other dogs. Pat's husband knew that he had to comfort Charlie and take things very slowly, so he pet and talked to Charlie for quite awhile while Bella paced the other side of the fence. Charlie never growled or barked at Bella, but he sure gave her some dirty looks!

     All three of us spent time walking all three dogs together then. They sniffed each other a lot, and were fine together in the back yard.

     When in the front flower garden, Bella got in a few licks of Charlie's ear and he did snap back at her. We were prepared for this with leashes and harnesses on all three dogs, so there wasn't a problem.

     All three dogs did fine in the house together too, though we didn't want to take Charlie's leash and harness off just yet. He didn't growl at all at Bella, but continued to throw a few 'sneers' her way in between his tail wagging and getting pets.

     Both Pat and her husband were in love with Bella, and they have a way to separate the dogs until Charlie comes around fully, so we thought it would work. Pat left her husband and Bella with a cool drink and doggie biscuits. They were outside where he could be walking his new pup and playing with her in their large yard while Pat drove me back to Petsmart to finish the paperwork and purchase some things for Bella.

     Pat's husband, Greg, called a couple of times while we were were driving back to PetsMart (and after we got back to the store) to say what a fun time Bella was having with a cow hoof, and to ask Pat where the baby gate was.

     All sounded very fine and dandy, and we look forward to hearing updates on Bella, the Great Pyrenees puppy, once a stray dog, who has now become a very, very lucky dog!

Email from Pat Seward, who adopted Bella at Saturday Adoption Day at PetsMart

Hey, Erin,

Gosh, what a wonderful and tiring day! After getting home and playing with all the pups, we then gave them a bath. Bella first and my gosh that pup is white now! She is absolutely beautiful (Bella means "Beautiful" in Italian as you told me.) I will be sending photos on Monday. About 4:00 Molly and Bella were out alone in the back yard, and they starting playing. And run and run they did! Great bonding time by themselves without Charlie. Then we went for a walk around the neighborhood where our friends live and all the girl kiddos (seven total) swamped us. Bella, of course, was the big hit. Bella is so gentle with and tolerant of children. The walk for all three pups was for further bonding, and it worked. As soon as we got home, Charlie's temperament changed, and they started wrestling and running and tumbling with no snarls. They have bonded, and so has Molly bonded with Bella. I am so thankful to Straydog and to God that Bella and our pups have been brought together and will live in harmony. Bella also went "swimming" and did pretty good (we're having our second lesson tomorrow), but she got in two times after her lesson by herself (only on the first step) to drink water. Bella is never in the back yard without one of us watching, believe me. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to have and love Bella. She is so happy, and the photos I send you on Monday will prove it.

Pat, Greg, Charlie, Molly and Bella Babe Seward