Hello everyone! In case this is your first time reading, my name is Bella Rose, and I’m a 9.5-year-old terrier mix. I tell stories about my life, and today I want to share how I met Momma and Daddy!
The Shelter
Momma adopted me from a shelter 8 years ago. Back then, she actually worked at the shelter! I don’t remember much from before the shelter (I was only three months old), but I was wandering the streets with another doggy when a human found us. The human brought me to the shelter and told Momma and the front desk lady where she’d found me. Since I didn’t have a collar on, I was considered a stray.
Momma said there were a lot of procedures at the shelter. Even though she immediately fell in love with me, she couldn’t just take me home. Strays had to stay at the shelter for a couple of weeks to see if their owners came to claim them. If no one showed up, then the pet would be put up for adoption.
There were a lot of animals at the shelter. Momma said it was mostly cats and dogs, but at one point, there was even a guinea pig, a goat, and a regular pig! I spent the first few hours in the front with Momma and the front desk lady, but then Momma had to take me to the back for a physical. She gave me a collar, put me on a leash, and walked me past cages full of kitties and doggies.
When we passed one cage, a very big dog lunged at the gate and barked at me with a big, booming voice! I got so scared that I couldn’t stop shaking, so Momma had to pick me up for the rest of the walk.
It was better when we got to the lab, but I was still shaking. Momma and the vet tech talked for a while. They were really concerned because some respirtory fection [upper respiratory infection] was going around, and since I was so young, they worried I wouldn’t be able to fight it off. I’m pretty spunky, so I think I could’ve handled it, but I’m glad they were worried—it meant I got to go home with Momma as a foster puppy!
Foster Puppy
Momma told me that puppies go into foster care for different reasons. Some puppies, doggies, and kitties are too young to be around sickness, like I was. Others are pregnant, which is dangerous for their babies. And some other fosters are too sick or injured to stay in the shelter. Momma said that sometimes, kitties and puppies can also just get a little stir-crazy and need a break at a home so people can see their sweet side instead of their grumpy one. Momma has fostered lots of animals and hopes more people will consider fostering so that doggies and kitties can find forever homes.
Lucky for me, Momma was looking for a small puppy to take with her to college! She didn’t want to get her hopes up, in case I had an owner, but she said I was perfect—small enough for her apartment, and my fur didn’t really shed. Her roommate even came over to make sure my fur didn’t bother her allergies. I passed the test just by sleeping in the room with them!
After a few weeks, Momma took me back to the shelter. I didn’t want to walk in, so she had to carry me again. I thought I’d failed the test and she was taking me back! But it turned out Momma just had to fill out lots of paperwork to keep me forever. She also had to get me a microship [microchip]. I think a microship sounds cool—like a tiny boat I get to carry with me—but it was actually a little chip they had to put under my skin with a needle. I didn’t like that at all. Momma told me the microship was so a shelter could scan me and call her if I ever got lost. I still think it of my microship as a tiny boat underneath my skin with a tracking beacon, even though Momma says it’s just a piece of technology.
Forever Home
From that day on, Momma was my forever home! We moved a lot while she was in school, but we had so many adventures together. When I was two and a half, we met Daddy! I told Momma we should’ve found him sooner, but she said finding a good Daddy takes time. I love Daddy so much, so I’m glad she took her time to find him.
After college, we moved into an apartment, and I even got two kitty brothers—Quincy and Quinton. Quincy’s kinda chubby. He’ll eat his food, my food, and even Momma and Daddy’s food if they leave it out. Quinton was shy at first—he didn’t like it when I tried to play chase. But after a while, he started waiting for me every morning for our first chase game of the day. If Daddy or Momma picked me up, Quinton would stare at them until they put me down so we could play! He’d usually run up the kitty tree because he knew that was a safe base.
I miss my kitty brothers because we had to move again recently, and the kitties stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. We want them in our house again, but me, Momma, and Daddy had to move in with Gramma and Pop Pop. Momma and Daddy said they’re working on getting money for a new house, but it’s been hard for to hold onto jobs because some places don’t hold on to good workers. I told them I could get a puppy job to help, but apparently, puppy jobs don’t pay, so we have to live with Gramma and Pop Pop for a while.
Now I understand that a forever home isn’t a place—it’s the people who make you feel at home.
Even with all the moving and being away from my kitty brothers, I’m one of the happiest, luckiest puppies in the world! I love living with Daddy and Momma, and I have so much fun with them every day. I’m super happy they let me share my stories, so keep reading for more updates from this fortunate cuddle puppy!
I hope you’ve all found your forever home,
Bella Rose
B.R. Quinn 