Meet Miss Bella! Sweet, spunky, and with an incredible zest for life, Bella is a big-hearted 4 year old GSD-rottie mix. Weighing in at about 85 pounds, she’s all grown up! She came to us from the San Jose shelter, and after a few months of socialization, she is ready for her forever home. She has all the makings of a perfect family dog - if this sounds good to you, keep reading! 

Miss Bella’s backstory: She was surrendered along with her brother, Rocky, to the San Jose shelter, and quickly became a volunteer favorite! (Some of their comments on Facebook). The shelter staff found that she needed some hip surgery - likely a previous injury - before being adopted out. She had a successful surgery, and has fully recovered with her foster home. She is completely healthy now, and as active as can be. 

With people: Bella is simply exceptional with all people. She’s trusting, loving, and simply wants to be with her family and be a part of everything going on! She’s been around very young children - supervised, of course! - and is wonderfully gentle around them; she seems to know she’s bigger and stronger, and is very careful and affectionate with kids. She loves men, women, children, people in wheelchairs, skateboards….no problems! She is also very responsive to verbal correction. With one caveat - she does hunt for squirrels when walking at our local park, and can be distracted and pull strongly then. 

At home: Bella has been home by herself (and with our dogs) several times, and sometimes for extended periods (~4 hours). She is respectful, non-destructive (no digging, chewing barking….)  - and is happy to be in a doggie play pen when needed. She’s also fully house trained, and knows to use our dog door, and our backyard to go potty. She sleeps quietly through the night, and is happy to chill & relax while we work during the day. She does LOVE her walks, and can get very enthusiastic / a bit rowdy when she thinks she’s getting one! She has a very powerful and expressive tail you’ll need to account for :-) 

With dogs: Once again, she’s absolutely exceptional with all dogs - no matter gender, size, age…She adores her canine foster brothers, and happily watches them rough-house and play!  She is mildly playful with dogs but doesn’t want to play hard, herself. She has no leash reactivity or sensitivity to other dogs… here’s a great video of her playing with another shelter dog. We’ve also seen her hold own very nicely with other dogs if they get too pushy for her taste. 

With cats: We do not have cats ourselves, but we’ve seen Miss Bella definitely notice cats. She stares quite a bit at them, but has not attempted to lunge or attack them. We think she’d be ok with dog-friendly cats, and can be redirected with treats if needed. 

Bella is spayed, healthy, microchipped, and up-to-date with all her vaccinations. Her surgery records are available as well. 

What Bella needs: Bella’s adopters should plan on making her a part of their family! She loves to be with her people. She can pull hard on walks - especially with squirrels around!  - and will need consistent training and reinforcement of good behavior. While great with kids and adults, she is a large and strong dog - you should plan on family time to be supervised, until she knows what’s expected of her in your household. 

Daily walks are great but not required. She would absolutely love another dog companion, but also not required! 
You should be committed to on-going care of Bella’s joints - always true for large breed dogs, and especially given her surgery! She’s currently on a low daily dose of anti-inflammatory medication. 

Curious to learn more? Please text Bella’s foster mom & dad at 408 772-0209 - or fill out an application at http://www.gepdaus.org/Adoption1.html. Email it to caroline.higgins5757@gmail.com and rfsabra@gmail.com for the quickest response. 

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