So, I think Bella tricked me into giving up my spot on the couch. Last night, I was sitting in my favorite spot, which also happens to be her favorite spot. She tried to jump onto the couch but her hind legs slipped on the wood floor so she came up short. She was half on the couch and half off and struggling hard to make it all the way up. I got up to help, but whilst I was walking around the ottoman, she miraculously made it all the way and plopped down in our favorite spot.

Well played, Bella. Well played.

Since all of the pictures I've posted have been of Bella laying down - which is what she does most of the time - here is one of her standing.



She looks a little fat in this picture, but she's really not. I think it's just the way she's standing. I bought her an elevated food and water bowl thingy yesterday, but I think it was too tall for her. She didn't seem to want to eat out of the bowl until I put it on the floor.

Note to self: Never brush a German Shepherd Dog when she's laying on a wool blanket. The wife and I had Bella on a wool blanket on the bed (because the small wool blanket is easier to wash than the queen sized down comforter) whilst we were brushing her. Afterwards, I was taking her out to the backyard to potty - Bella, not my wife - and I reached down to give her a pet. My pinky was about a 1/4 inch from the tip of her ear when a spark shot between us. She yelped and my pinky was actually numb for a few minutes.

Bella has started playing a little. But only a little. I hadn't mentioned this before, but I think she is more comfortable with my wife and step-daughter. We have a couple theories as to why. Either she was abused or neglected or both by a man or she was not raised around men. So, the first time she played - which was only a few days after we adopted her - it was with my wife in the backyard whilst I was in the house. She has been a little playful around me, mostly with a little plush fox/squirrel thing that my wife bought and a little with the tennis balls that I bought.

When we first adopted her, I bought a large Kong ball, but she didn't seem to want to play with it. Granted, she won't chase a tennis ball, she just kinda bats it around a few times and then walks away. She acted like she was trying to eat it once, but I think that was her way of telling me she was hungry. I'm interested to know if she might play with the Kong ball now that she seems to be a little more comfortable with us, but I left it in the backyard and can't find it after a storm rolled through last weekend.

Something else we tried when we first adopted her was to see if she would sleep on a dog bed, but she didn't seem to like it. We also picked up a crate the first time she peed on the carpet whilst we were at work, but she didn't like it either. I couldn't even coax her into with a treat. We also tried a harness instead of a standard collar - I don't really like collars, plus the harness I picked up has a restraining handle which I planned on feeding the seat belt through it to restrain her when we take her somewhere in the car - but she didn't like it either. She let me put it on her and get it adjusted, even though she kept trying to lay down. She seemed very uncomfortable walking around in it and when I tried to get her to jump onto the bed, she acted like her back legs were broken and she would only put her front legs on the on the bed. Instead of trying to adjust it better, I just took it off and decided to try again later. We need to take her to the vet to make sure she's been spayed - according to her foster "mother" the vet thinks she's been spayed, but we need to make sure. Apparently, "Sterilization of the animal is required by Texas law (Chapter 828, Health and Safety Code)" within 30 days of adopting an animal. Plus, we need to register her with the city and they offer chipping for an additional fee, so we'll need to take her in for that.

I've always liked closeups

I let Bella onto my couch one time and now she thinks it's her's. Even though she'll bounce from one end of the couch to the other, she almost always starts at this end. I'm not sure it's a coincidence or not that this is the end of the couch where I normally sit.

So, a little more information about how we found Bella and my plan for this blog.

We found Bella through the North Texas German Shepherd Rescue. And, we found them through The Fort Worth German Shepherd Dog Club. We decided to adopt for a couple reasons:

1. I've never liked the idea of puppy mills - Once a female dog is old enough to start having puppies, stick her in a cage, throw in a male dog, sell the puppies, repeat.

2. A lot of pet stores get their dogs from puppy mills.

3. I've wanted a German Shepherd Dog for a few years. When I started looking at reputable breeders, I realized they all mostly bread show dogs. They base their prices on how well the dame and sire.

The main reason we decided to adopt is because there are just too many dogs out there who are abandoned and need a loving, caring home.



My plans for this blog are to provide our experience with adopting a German Shepherd Dog and what we learn. I also plan on posting information that I've found and links to helpful sites.

INTRODUCING --- BELLA!!

We adopted a German Shepherd Dog (GSD) this past Saturday. She had been in foster care since late January. Catherine (the woman who took her in) said she was just sitting beside a country road 4 miles from her house where she thinks she was abandoned and that the dog followed her home.



Catherine said the dog didn't look like she had been on her own for too long because it looked like her collar had been recently removed. Not knowing the dog's name, she called her "Girlfriend." She took "Girlfriend" to the vet to make sure she was up-to-date on her shots. They said her heartworm test returned a "light" positive and they prescribed 6 months of Heartgard Plus and said she should be retested after. The vet she is about 4-5 years old and in good health.

She had been an outside dog most of the time she was with Catherine so we tried to give her a bath shortly after we got her home, but she didn't want anything to do with that. She didn't fight us or anything - no growling or biting - she just would not stand still for it. I think we were just trying to do too much in the short time we had known each other. Since we've been letting her sleep on our bed, we took her to Petsmart last Monday and they were able to give her a bath. The groomer even said that Girlfriend was a perfect angel the whole time.



She's starting to open up more. She'll usually come to me when I call her, unless she's already laying down :-). She's even started wagging her tail when she comes to one of us. She seems to really like sleeping on our bed, even though she doesn't leave much room for me. At first we had to coax her onto the bed, but now she'll jump up there on her own.

We've been trying to think of another name for her and finally came up with Bella.