Pet Love is Unique…

It’s selfless, it’s un-demanding and it’s very unique. I have always been a dog lover…actually I take it back. I have always been a Pet lover. Be it a cat, a dog, a turtle, a hamster or even a chicken. I have always loved pets but dogs hold that extra special place in my heart. I had two dogs at some point of my life while I was growing up but it was a long break before we got Bella in our life. This blog is about her story and how our journey with her has been since she came into our lives. It’s been only three months but it feels like we have known her for years already…thats the bond we share with her. This is how it all started. I wanted to have a pet dog since a very long time but sometimes the journey of being ready emotionally to being responsible for a new being takes time. We have an amazing family in our neighborhood – parents to a beautiful golden retriever. They and their dog Ginger are the reason we all had practice rounds on poop picking, playing and knowing when we were ready to take that next step to dog ownership.  My sister adopted a dog from a rescue and I think I was very inspired by her open heart that for me getting a dog from a breeder was never really an option. It had to be done right , which meant saving a life of a dog in need. There is nothing wrong in getting a dog from a breeder but personally for me, I knew I had to adopt one, no matter what “baggage” they come with. Kids and me had visited our local shelter multiple times and almost adopted a dog but something told me they weren’t the right one. Sometimes you trust your gut.. just because you know. So we started watching a few rescue organizations and one that I realized was amazingly active was the GGLRR. I saw how they were rescuing their dogs. They came from different locations, different scenarios and the GGLRR folks took their time to foster their rescues and find them great homes. They shared a great amount of details about their dogs, which made picking the right one for your family situation easier. Then one day it happened.. I thought I found a great dog and asked one of the reps if I could meet the dog. As fate had it, that dog was already being adopted by another family but knowing my criteria, GGLRR rep Sarah told me there is another one matching my needs coming up. What my needs were you wonder?! Well I knew I wanted a year or two-year-old female dog which doesn’t need to be potty trained but has the age on her side share years of love with our family. We wished for a dog who would be a constant companion for kids as they grow knowing how much joy and love a pet can bring into your life. Soon after on the GGLRR website (www.labrescue.org) we saw the post that made us fall in love with our Bella. Thanks to Daisy and Evelyn Photography I have photos of Bella from the start of our journey together.  GGLRR folks had rescued Bella when her previous owner was selling her for free on Facebook. There were lots of people interested in taking her so she would be used as a puppy mill. The rescue had intervened and there was Bella on the posting sharing her life story through her eyes. I know for me it was an instant connection. I knew we had to meet her. So soon after seeing Bella’s post and sharing that with my family, we reached out to Liz, Bella’s rep asking her if we can meet Bella. Liz shared that Bella would be at a fair at San Jose and that meeting her in person would be the way to go. So that weekend with a lot of excitement we drove over an hour to meet her. Kids were excited beyond words and I had to keep reminding them and myself that we need to keep our hearts open to any dog if we don’t get Bella in our family.   Once we got to the fair, we met a few other dogs and let me tell u, they all were adorable and had such unique personalities. There was this one Labrador that went howling just like the volunteer who was playing with him. It was just adorable. Anyways we met Bella, walked her and spent some time, which felt so little and flew by fast. I would see a lot of folks showing interest in adopting her. People were filling up forms to take it to the next step. She was Ms. Popular there. After all a young female dog that is unusually calm isn’t someone u see so frequently.   Once we got home we sat down as a family and chatted about Bella. We all agreed that we loved her and that we were ready to move to the next level. It was finally happening. So I emailed Liz soon after and confirmed that we want to move ahead with her application.   The next two days were a painful wait and honestly seemed like a long wait. Liz called us once she had all the interested people’s applications and asked us a ton of questions. It felt like an intense interview which I thought was so weird for a dog adoption form a rescue. It took me a while to understand why the rescue is so intense in their screening process. This is their way to reduce return rates of dogs and ensures folks understand the commitment needed when you adopt a dog.   For someone like Liz who has been volunteering for this job I know it can’t be easy. To ask the right questions, to read between the lines and to know what people actually mean when they say things. It was a start of a journey from “whoa- too much interviewing process” to “wow that’s the right way to do it”.   A couple of days later we were told to go visit Bella again but this time visit her in her foster home. I took it as a positive sign and that we will get a chance to find answers to questions we have been thinking about. We were so ready. Meanwhile we had been learning so much from Cesar Milan who opens up your mind to get into what is needed when you own a dog and what changes it would bring to your life. God bless that man because I learned so much from his show.   Meanwhile I got in touch with Stacy Bella’s foster mom and we worked out a time to go meet her. What I didn’t know that time was this was a beginning of a new friendship and how I will find an amazing friend on my journey that lies ahead….   PetPhotographer,SanRamonPhotographer,BayareaportraitPhotographer