Bella

Bella was approximately 1 year old when she was found dumped in a local dog park with another Saint (2:00am on Memorial Day). The gentleman who found the Saints contacted us and we advertised, put up posters in the area as well as FOUND notices at the local shelters, all to no avail. When her previous owners were not located she officially became a Sunny Saint, ready to find her new and forever home! During her short stay with us Bella was all puppy enthusiasm and we quickly discovered that she would rather play with a ball than do just about anything else... including eat! She was very thin and the only explanation that we could come up with for her being underweight was her choice of the ball over a meal any day of the week! Thankfully, obedience training eventually helped to curb some of her boundless energy (and to promote for more time spent at the feeding bowl) and her fondness for getting right up in your lap to say "hello" ultimately led to her finding her Forever Family!

Update November 3, 2011

Hi Sunny Saints, Thought I would give all of you an update on beautiful Bella since it has been a month that we have had her in our lives. She is doing fantastic, she is still the total lover, still loves playing with her tennis balls, gets right in her Dad's face when she wants kisses (we are trying to break her of this though) and she still loves everyone and everything.

She is on her third week of obedience classes and is doing A+ work. She has learned watch me, stay, especially around other dogs and people, we are working on leave it but she does pretty good with that also. Her loose leash walking is fantastic, she walks right next to us and does not pull at all.

As all of you who have met her probably know she is quite a character. We bought a rug to put under her big dog feeding dish and she refuses to step on it. She won't eat if the rug is under the dishes. So, I guess we have to find another use for the rug. When we give her milk bones she hides them everywhere. We have found them in shoes, under the couch and when outside she trys to bury them in the rocks.

She still has not taken the plunge into the pool but she walks around it daily and looks like she is ready to take that plunge. Her favorite things are kids, chicken jerky and taking walks. We had seven kids here between the ages of 1 and 11 and she turned into Nana the Saint from "Peter Pan". She gave the baby all of her toys and got upset and tried to comfort her when she cried. The rest of the kids were in the pool and she was Nana for sure. When the older ones who were good swimmers went under she stayed until they surfaced. When the younger ones were in the pool with their parents she would not leave the area they were in untill they got out.

As you can probably tell we are totally in love with our Bella. She is our baby and the best thing we have done in along time. Thanks again to all of you, without you we would not have Bella. Bella sends hugs and slobber to all.

-Jeanne Pataska

Update: December 21, 2011

We are happy to announce that Bella has a new sister. The Pataska's adopted Sunny Saint Abby and have renamed her Lizzie.

Update: August 3, 2012

Hello Sunny Saints Rescue,

It’s Bella here, writing this to let you know how grateful I am that you found my forever family for me. Mom and Dad say today is my birthday because one year ago today I came home to Temecula with my new family. I thought I would give my rescue angels an update on how this year has gone. 

I was kind of scared when my wonderful foster mom Jana put me in her car and brought me to a place where I had never been before.  Waiting in the parking lot were two people who looked so happy to see me and it seemed like they really wanted me to come with them.  I barked at the man from the car and guess what it was my new Dad. He tells me now that I had him with that first hello bark. The lady was my new Mom and she just hugged and kissed me all over. I think I knew then that this was going to be ok.

My first month in my new home was a little stressful for me. My new Mom and Dad made me feel so loved but I missed Jana, the chickens, the goats, and Daphne who was rescued with me.  On my first day the neighbor’s next to my new house brought their boy Dexter (a Labradoodle) over. He was so much fun to play with, I had such a good time with him and he showed me where I had to do my business. Mom and Dad had tennis balls for me to play with and to this day one year later it is still my favorite toy. Mom and Dad took me on walks, it was the greatest, and I could explore my new surroundings. Then they took me to obedience school and wanting to please I aced two six week courses. I loved meeting new dogs and pleasing Mom and Dad. Dad taught me how to play with toys by getting on all fours with a stuffed toy in his mouth and crawling around the family room.

I met the rest of the family and really loved all of the little kids that came over. I was bit concerned when they went in our pool, so I watched them like a hawk and made sure that all of them were safe. My Nana is pretty old and I was very gentle with her when she came to visit.

Halloween came and mom and Dad let me sit on the porch with them to hand out candy to all the little goblins. I was like a princess, greeting everyone and getting a lot of attention from all of the children. They had masks on but they did not scare me a bit.

In November we took a ride to Julian so I could be an ambassador for Sunny Saints. I met Winston and his mom Pancho and Kim was also there. It was so much fun. I think Winston and me were the star attractions. I also had a play date with Georgie my first Sunny Saints love and we had a good time just hanging out at my house with our parents. 

Christmas time came and it seemed like such a happy time in my new forever home. Mom and Dad put three trees in the house and put all kinds of stuff on them. I never touched them because they were so pretty. Then on December 21st Mom and Dad left me alone for about four hours and came home with what they said was a present from Santa. Mom and Dad took me into the front yard to see this new present and all I could think of was are you kidding me! It was a dog that sort of looked like me. They told me her name was Lizzie and they both seemed so happy. Then they took this present into my back yard and all I could think was “are you kidding me?” They called this my Christmas present from Santa and all this little snot did was low growl at me and took my spot next to Mom and Dad outside. I was pretty sure this little snot came from Santa’s outlet store and not from Santa himself; he would never do this to me! The only thing this Lizzie dog did well was go on a pack walk with me and my parents. She wouldn’t even come into the house, and Dad and Mom had to carry her into the sunroom to get her inside. Mom slept on the couch because she was worried about her being outside in the sunroom. My thoughts were “are you serious, she doesn’t want to come in and all she does is low growl at me. I think Sunny Saints had something to do with this, not just Santa”. I know this because I would hear Mom talking on the phone to Kim almost every day the first few days. I know she was asking her for advice on how to get us to like each other, my thought was “fat chance”.

Lizzie and I lived separate lives for the first four days except for the family walk and that was fine with me. Then on Christmas Eve that little snot tried to take one of my treats.  I had had it with her nonsense and I showed her who was boss. I took her down big time and that day she decided I was ok and moved into the house. She now knew I was the Princess and she was the Duchess so everything was cool. 

In March we went to the reunion picnic and met so many wonderful Sunny Saints and their families. My favorite doggies were Crash and Duke. Crash because he is such a trooper and Duke because he was just a little guy with so much courage. I now knew why Lizzie came into our family. She is my pup now and I love her. Mom and Dad say we talk to each other. Sometimes we get into trouble when we do this but we are tied to the hip and both love our forever Dad and Mom.

I now weigh 95 pounds and my Doctor considers me a petite Saint. Mom calls me the lady of the family and Lizzie the clown. I am so happy and I thank all of the volunteers from Sunny Saints for being there for us. You are our angels and I love you all. This has been my best birthday ever.

Love to all,

-Bella