Mastiffs to Mutts Rescue, Inc. - MTM       

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Bella is a 3 year old female Neo who is an extremely sweet, loving and lazy gal. She is great with humans, new or old. She is house-trained and crate trained (sleeps easily all night with little disruption), though she would rather be out with her people lounging around. Bella has had a rough go of it but has gained enough weight to be considered healthy. Her personality has come out more recently and she is happy, goofy, loves to hop and bounce around, but for just a few minutes at a time. Then, its right back to lounging. She loves being loved and giving it back to her humans.  She will snuggle and nap with you any time you want and only requires little exercise. Everyone that meets her falls in love and her foster family cannot imagine anything less than a loving, happy life for her in the future.

Likes: Bella LOVES all humans, though she has not been around small kids yet. Kids of 8+ years old have loved on her and she is just her sweet self with them. Neck and belly rubs are her favorite and anything to do with food!

Dislikes: going into the crate (once she is there, she settles quickly), though with a treat and a little tug on her harness, she walks right in. She will give you the saddest face, though, so watch out!

Personality: extremely sweet, goofy, happy, smart and very loving.

Temperament: Bella is extremely sweet, loving and happy. She will take meds if they’re hidden in her food easily, but has also let her foster mom and dad put meds in her mouth and massage them down (literally, entire hands have gone into Bella’s mouth and she has never even flinched). She sits like the best girl for ear cleanings, receiving eye drops, having her paws rubbed with balm to help them heal and her foster mom even wipes her behind every night before bed. She enjoys learning and has mastered sit, stay (hold for food), down, give both paws and to take them “off” on command, and is working on heel as she goes on longer walks. She rides well in the car (50-minute ride each way to the vet and she sleeps most of the ride) and has started getting excited and jumping in on her own! She does not mind being handled and was a good girl at the vet, so much so that they get excited to see her now. Anyone who meets her immediately falls in love with this sweet girl.

Energy level: Bella is a total couch potato, but also likes to follow you around when you’re wandering the house and has gained so much energy and strength, she is trotting around the back yard in short bursts of fun and even hops around with excitement to go outside for a quick walk. After months of settling in, Bella’s personality is finally coming out and she will play briefly as she spins in circles, trots around and even runs! Do not be fooled, though, as just a few minutes is all she wants to play and then just wants to go back inside to lay around and be her best self.

Favorite activities: napping, snuggling and being loved on

Good with cats, dogs, and kids over 6? Bella would prefer to be the only dog in the house to soak up all the love you can give. She has not been exposed to cats or children under the age of 8-10 yet.

Not good with: Other dogs

Housetrained: yes

Crate trained: yes

Challenges: Bella lived a rough life before making it to her foster home and she is dominant toward other dogs, but her veterinarian thinks this may be because she had to fight for food or defend herself in the past. So, this may be something she can work on. You would not know humans treated her so poorly. She loves her humans with everything she has and trusts them implicitly.

Any Medical issues? Bella’s former veterinary record note that she may have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but in more than three months of her stay with her foster home, she has only had one bout of upset belly that was very early on and has had no signs since. Her new veterinarian thinks that she may just need time to recover from her tough former life and as she continues to eat good food and get lots of love. She has been healthy and regular for months, has gained 30 lbs and is now at a healthy weight for her breed.

Bella is scheduled for entropion surgery on 10/5/20 because her smushy face caused her eyelids to fold in and her eye lashes were scratching her eyes resulting in inflammation. This is common in her breed as is the surgery. She has greatly improved with just the addition of eye rewetting gel drops, so much so that she can see well out of both eyes. The surgery will prevent further damage and allow her to heal and improve her quality of life. At the time of surgery, she is having masses removed from her front paws, so once she is through that, she will be healing up and ready to move on to her forever family and life.

What would be the best kind of home? Bella is a pretty laid-back gal who will take all the love, pets and snuggles you will give. She would love a home that is pretty low activity and low key where she can do a lot of lounging and napping with a little bit of play here and there. She will become the best of buds with humans of most ages. She would likely prefer a home without other pets so she can soak up all your love. Bella is truly a wonderful dog. Her foster family can’t say enough about how good she has been over the months of healing and is looking forward to seeing how loved she will be in her forever home.

Fostered in Harrisburg, PA.

Application Fees, Adoption Donations and Rescue Policy: Please know that 100% of our funds are used for rescuing the dogs.

Our rescue policy requires the following:

• Adopters must have their primary residence in one of the following states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and parts of North Carolina and and parts of New York.
• We will not adopt a giant breed dog to homes where the dog will have access to highly varnished hardwood steps inside the home. Any inside steps to which the dog(s) have access, must have carpeting, securely fixed stair treads, or a non-skid surface. We encourage you to remediate potential safety issues while your application is under review, prior to the home visit.
• Applications for giant breed dogs must be submitted by the property owner.
• Homes with children under 6 years of age will not be approved for adoption.
• Homes with children should have a fenced yard.
• Pets currently in the applicant's home must have a history of appropriate veterinary care. Veterinary records will be checked.
• All references must be checked before any visitation of the dog is permitted at the foster home.
• All family members must be present during the home visit to the applicant's home.
• Any dog(s) in the applicant's home must have an introductory meeting with the rescue dog being considered, before any adoption can be completed.
• Homes with intact dogs will not be approved for adoption. Exceptions to this policy can be found on the Adoptable Dog Page.

For additional information please review our FAQs or contact: mastiffstomutts@gmail.com