Sebrina (Bella 13-263) [1]

09/08/2013:

Bella is new to RAGOM. She's a purebred Golden with a big blue birthmark on her tongue. Not much is known about her original home, but she does know some commands. If you have treats, she'll sit and drop her ball on command. If you don't have treats, she'll still sit but will try to entice you to take the ball from her mouth by leaning back on you and pointing her open mouth up and over her back. She is really just a big puppy! Bella absolutely loves human contact. She loves nothing better than to lean on you and be petted for as long as you're willing.

When Bella first came, she was a little bully looking for dominance. She had to challenge our resident golden, Eva, who rules the roost around here. Eva quickly put Bella in her place. Then Bella challenged our other foster, Journey, who is very submissive and just wants to have fun. So, Bella found herself a place in the middle of the pack during her first couple of days, and now she seems content with the other dogs.

She weighs 60 lbs. and is very strong physically, with broad shoulders and a wide head. If you let her, she'll push her way into places she shouldn't be - like between me and my laptop on a TV tray. It's wobbly, and not a good place for a strong, pushy dog to be. There have been many times I have had to lovingly but firmly move her away from that area. She only gets into that place when she wants my full attention, but I have to show her that I'm the boss, otherwise she'll continue pushing and shoving her way into dominance over me.

We kennel Bella when we leave the house, and she seems fine with that as long as there's a treat involved. Her energy level is high when we first go outside to play, but she's soon back sitting next to me with or without her ball, watching the other dogs run and fetch.

Here are some other things we observed about Bella during her first week with us:

• She loves going for walks but pulls when being leashed to a flat collar.
• She loves children but might be too pushy for toddlers.
• She gets hot easily during these 90+ degree days. Needs to rest in the shade or air conditioning.
• Scratches and chews on herself frequently.
• Will jump up on humans for attention.
• From previous temp. foster, Bella should NOT be in a home with cats. She seems to have a strong prey drive.
• Needs to be trained to respect humans as authority in home.
• Knows her name but doesn't always respond to the "come" command.

Despite her few faults, Bella is a very sweet, young girl who will make a wonderful family pet. She is intelligent and would excell in a controlled training class. Bella is from a puppy mill, and although she is a human-loving girl, she still needs the guidance of a confident resident dog and no children in the family younger than 10 years old. Because Bella is a little headstrong, I believe it's in her best interest to have a fenced-in yard.