February 17, 2021

Belle (ACE Mirella)

 Monday, February 15, 2021

Let me introduce myself: my name is Belle. I was bought free by ACE from a killing centre in the area of ​​Mijas Costa (southern Spain). Speaking of happiness… Originally my name was Mariella, but my current owners, Vera and Bernard, found Belle easier. Oh yes, ACE stands for Animal Care Espana (Spanish dogs in need), an organization where Care is of paramount importance to me!



I looked like this then. Pretty cute, but neglected.


And now like this

After a loving stay I went flying for the first time and my backpack (quite heavy) came along. Flying was exciting in itself with all those strange noises and pressure differences, but even more exciting because I was ignorant of what was to come. Backpack also got restless. My destination turned out to be Belgium. There I was greeted by dear supervisors from the ACE organization and transported to a temporary shelter. What are they gonna do to me now? In the meantime, I was introduced to the public through the ACE site with the intention of providing me with a "parental" home. After a lot of pampering I thought I looked quite sweet and thought (perhaps a bit overconfident): who wouldn't want such a sweetheart? Fortunately, an adoptive mother was quickly found in the Netherlands and that is how I ended up at Mariucia.

It was as if I had stepped into paradise and my backpack chuckled. There was a dog armchair ready for me and I was allowed to go everywhere in the car. My awkward eating habits (what do you want from a bum) was encouraged with roast beef and cooked cod. I also got all kinds of toys, because I play to my heart's content (and preferably all day long).

Unfortunately I had to say goodbye to Mariucia due to unforeseen circumstances.

And so I ended up with Vera and Bernard, somewhere in North Brabant. So another new adventure. And that at my young age. But fortunately this turned out to be paradise and if the backpack could rejoice it was from that moment on. Fortunately, the welcome felt like a warm bath. Unfortunately, my wanderer past still accompanied me like a shadow. I was quickly startled by unexpected situations, but was also wary of men. The latter was of course very sad for Bernard who seemed nice to me and whom I really wanted to please. But how? The ice was soon broken with Vera (women together!).

But how could I overcome my reluctance towards Bernard and, for example, also my shock behavior in unexpected situations? My backpack could not help me with that either. Vera and Bernard found the solution to this problem in a behavioural expert. Fortunately, an afternoon visit - with many helpful hints and the advice: patience - turned out to be enough to make me, Vera and Bernard very happy. Bernard and I now play together a lot. We are real play buddies. And I really like to cuddle with Vera. They also find me very affectionate, but I made that happen myself. For example, when they watch TV, I jump on the couch without being asked and lie down between them.

Meanwhile, the days of cooked cod and roast beef are over (took some getting used to). Now I am used to tasty dry food and feel very happy with dog treats and chews. I've kind of turned into a stray pet.

All in all a happy ending for me and a lighter backpack

No comments:

Post a Comment