Belle
On a cold day in
October of 2008, WIN rescued 12 Wheatens from a Kansas puppy mill
where there were over 400 dogs on the property. These 12 were among
several to be destroyed because the miller didn’t want to feed them
over the winter and they were not “producing.”
Little Belle was one
of these dogs. She was flown to us in Atlanta weighing in at about
21 pounds. She’d been shaved, of course, and the most remarkable
thing about her besides her diminutive size was those terror filled
eyes.
She remained in her
crate for a week, wouldn’t even take food from my hand. She ate when
alone, turned her back to me when I was in the room. If she couldn’t
see me, I wasn’t there. Our two guys gave her wide berth, unlike
their treatment of all other fosters we’ve had. They sensed
she was fragile.
She had never felt
grass on her feet, having lived in a cage her whole life. Our
Wheaties taught her how to be a dog, they housetrained her and
showed her about chewy toys and getting affection from humans.
It took her over four months to allow us to pet her, but she
eventually did, though only occasionally. She was always
skittish and never comfortable with men and when our two played or
had words, she tried to become invisible, eyes cast down, not
moving.
I noticed that when
women came to our house, she was curious. Once when the Book Club
girls came, she ventured into the doorway of the living room to see
what was going on. That was a huge step for this little girl.
I began to formulate the perfect home for Belle. It needed to be a
single woman who worked from home or was retired, in Atlanta (so I
could get her quickly if needed) with one dog.
After 17 months of
fostering this little one (who looked like a cast member of “Honey I
Shrunk the Wheaten”), I found an application that met most of my
criteria. Kelly Ward lives in Atlanta with her Wheaten Paddy. Her
older Wheaten Farley had recently passed away. I explained to Kelly
that Belle wasn’t the typical exuberant Wheaten and that she had a
rather sad past, but that she was a brave girl and had come very
far.
Kelly came to meet
Belle and I found that she is very soft spoken, a plus when working
with a puppy mill dog. By the time Kelly left my house, Belle
was sitting in Kelly’s lap, something she never did with me and
making close up eye contact. I was amazed. This was a match
made in heaven. We decided a trial run was a good idea over
the Easter weekend and Kelly would make her decision by Monday.
I had already made mine. Kelly was already in love with Belle,
but wanted to make sure that Belle would be comfortable in her home
with Paddy and her. When I took Belle over to Kelly’s, Paddy
met us outside, gave Belle a big wet kiss on the nose and then left
her alone. He is generous with his toys and his “station
commander” spot on the sofa by the window. Belle has never
paced at Kelly’s as she did even in our home on occasion.
Before the weekend was up, Kelly said, make the announcement to WIN,
Belle is in her forever home. They are all three living
happily ever after!
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