Many of you have now met Bella “live-in-dog” and experienced just what an amazing dog she is. I’d like to tell you a little more about how she got to this point and became a Stiggy’s Dog.

Bella has never met a stranger. She wants nothing more than love and companionship. She’ll give you a big “pittie smile”, endless kisses and her belly for rubbing just because you gave her a moment of your time. Bella’s extremely loyal, trusting and smart. She learned all of her obedience commands in a few days and her minor behavior problems have almost completely disappeared in just 2 months. Her biggest problem: separation anxiety. She finally has a loving home and leaders she can trust and understandably doesn’t want us out of her sight. And once she’s had a good daily run, she’ll do anything you ask of her — if you can keep her from napping on the job. The more you ask of her, the more she performs and impresses you. Bella is an ideal canine companion.
In mid-July of this year, Audrey and I came across a man who took in a stray pit bull from the streets of Detroit. He couldn’t keep her and had no idea what to do with her. I gave him some info on training and re-homing her, and my phone number in case he needed anything else. He canvassed his neighborhood and sent some emails to rescues. But no owners turned up and no rescue had room for her. He had Bella for over a week and was about to take her to a Detroit shelter — a certain death sentence for a pit bull. Luckily, he still had my number and contacted me right before he made his final decision. We knew that this was a good dog and couldn’t let her be put down just for being a “stray Detroit pit bull”. We decided we’d foster and luckily, we found Waggin’ Tails Dog Rescue in Northville, MI to help us put her up for adoption.

We have 3 small terriers of our own and also foster for Cairn Rescue USA, from whom we currently had a foster on the way. This foster, a 5 yr old female puppy mill survivor, would certainly need a lot of time and attention for rehabilitation. And now we’re bringing this stray pit bull into the mix in our little home. There were definitely a few moments of “WHAT are we thinking?!?” — especially after we realized the Cairn foster, Kari, was dog-aggressive. Great. For nearly a month, we ran the house on a crate-and-rotate system keeping Bella, Kari, and our dogs all separated by gates and crates. Feeding, going potty, training and cuddles all had to be done in shifts until we knew everyone was properly introduced and could safely interact. Our 3 dogs finally got used to this energetic pit bull with a “happy tail” that has whacked each of them in the eye at least once, so Bella was integrated into the pack. She never once had a problem with them, even when they had a problem with her. And then something amazing happened. I took Kari and Bella on a walk together one day, and Bella suddenly became Kari’s best friend. She now follows Bella everywhere and snuggles with her. Bella is the only dog Kari has never had a problem with. We seized this socializing opportunity and now Kari runs with her entire pack. Bella has this amazing energy that seems to calm anyone she interacts with — even other animals.

Training was going exceptionally well when we happened to cross paths with Jennifer and Stiggy’s Dogs. I knew in my gut that this is the path Bella was meant to find. She has all the makings of a therapy dog — and what better forever home for Bella could we ask for? The idea of pairing of Bella with a veteran instantly seemed like the perfect ending to this story. Both can give the other the kind of love and devotion they deserve after all each of them has been through.

And so, Bella began polishing her skills to officially become a Stiggy’s Dog…