[dogbert]

This was written in March for the April 2009 Rescue Organizations Newsletter. The two photos that were with the article are in her album. It's the one of her in the snow and the last one I used in her avatar of her face with my Starbucks cup.

Adopting Belle

After the passing of our soon to be 10 year old Lhasa Poo we decided the void she left in our home was too great and needed to be filled. My friends said I'd get another dog but I wasn't so sure. I was still grieving, my heart was broken. I would look at adoptable pets from time to
time just to see what was available. I had a friend who was also helping to find another perfect pet for us. I had seen a little Yorkie twice online but passed on her due to her story. My friend called me to say she found a Yorkie and that I should check it out. I did, it was the same Yorkie I had already passed on twice. I started thinking maybe there was something to this since I had been led back to the same dog three times. The pet info had a number so I called it, why not? I talked to the foster mom for an hour. Bev said the Yorkie (Belle) would be at Petco for adoption the next morn­ing. Petco in Apple Valley is only a couple miles down the road from where we live. We were looking for a small female, that we hoped would like car rides and Yorkshire Terrier was one of the breeds on the list we were considering. Once again I thought maybe there is some­thing to this. My husband and I went to the adoption early the next day. There she was, a tiny little girl in a big cage all alone. We thought she was so CUTE almost swallowed up by the cage. We held her and asked basic questions, then took her to the back of the store away from the noise and crowd to get to know her better. She was very frightened and out of her element so we couldn't get much of an idea of her personality. Everything was new and scary for her. Our daughter and her boyfriend came by to meet her also and we as a family decided to bring her home. We didn't realize it till later but we had spent two hours with her in Petco! When I looked at her health record I saw that she was being spayed and readied for adoption at the same time our little Lhasa Poo was sick and dying. Then I noticed that we were adopting Belle on what would have been our Lhasa Poo's 10th birthday. I decided there was definitely something to this. Belle was meant for us. It's been 9 months since we adopted Audrey-Belle. She has made great progress in socialization, etc. She still has some fears but that's to be expected. She shows us a little more personality and humor all the time. She's a very smart little girl and a fast learner, she is house trained and knows where the treats are kept. She loves being loved and is thinking spoiled isn't too bad either! We couldn't have adopted a sweeter little girl.


(As you all know we changed her name a bit to Audrey-Belle)

Sorry we couldn't just post the article here but there didn't seem to be a way to do it with the photos due to space limitations, etc. I couldn't figure out how to make it work as an attachment either.