Introducing Bella, my 3-year-old Golden Retriever
Let me introduce you to Bella, my 3-year-old female Golden Retriever. Totally obsessed with balls, lying on the couch or my bed, and — of course — going to the park. This is her story…
The search
Bella was born on the afternoon of April 2, 2020 (not entirely sure if it was in the afternoon, but I can imagine it). She was one of six puppies in a litter consisting of 3 females and 3 males. To understand her story with us, we need to fast-forward 20 days to April 22nd, the day we first saw her.
My girlfriend and I were absolutely obsessed with getting a dog, and even more obsessed with having a Golden Retriever. Blame it on the internet and its endless supply of Instagram videos featuring Golden Retrievers doing tricks, being adorable, being themselves. A couple of months earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic had started, and both of us were working remotely, which meant we had way too much free time on our hands. The combination of these two factors led us to pursue our dream of having a Golden Retriever.
It wasn’t an easy decision because both of us were living with our parents, and we knew they wouldn’t be thrilled with the idea. But the real challenge was that, during the pandemic, everyone seemed to want a dog. Having a dog during a pandemic was a perfect win-win situation:
- People living alone could have some company, and dogs absolutely love human company.
- In cities with stricter lockdowns, people could go for a walk with their dogs, and dogs absolutely adore going for walks.
Despite the odds, we embarked on our quest to find our future Golden Retriever. We searched on Google, some online marketplaces, Facebook, Instagram, and many other places. We spent about two months sending messages everywhere, and it seemed like every puppy already had a future home. Just when we were about to give up, someone on Facebook replied: “I have two females and one male left”, followed up by “Would you like to come see them?”.
The choice
The story continues on May 17th, the day I went to see Bella for the first time. My girlfriend couldn’t make it, I don’t remember why, but I do remember not being thrilled about having to decide which of the three available puppies to choose. Looking back, I’m glad it happened that way because I can now say that I was the first one to meet Bella.
When I arrived at the house where the puppies were, I encountered a somewhat peculiar surprise, which explained why we were about to get a Golden Retriever without much anticipation in the midst of the pandemic. It turned out that all the puppies had contracted a fungus passed on by their mother, causing them to lose hair in the areas where she typically grabbed them with her mouth, in most cases the tail and the paws.
They explained to me that the fungus had appeared in the puppies a few weeks before, and the veterinarian had assured them that it would go away, and the hair would grow back. Still, many interested people didn’t want any of the puppies for that reason. Without many guarantees about whether this was true or not, I decided not to give much importance to it and started asking some questions about the puppies, so I could make a decision.
My girlfriend and I had already opted for a female, so one of the three puppies was already ruled out. Of the two remaining golden girls, one was very calm, and the other was quite adventurous -that’s how they were described at the time-. I took a photo of both and sent it to my girlfriend for her input, and we both agreed that we wanted the explorer.
On that day, Bella officially became part of our family, but she still had a few days left to spend with her siblings and doggy parents.
First picture of Bella taken by me, and her furless tail.
The first day of our journey
Finally, on May 19th, we went to pick her up for good (yes, I know, ideally puppies should spend at least 60 days with their mother and siblings, but at that time, we didn’t know better). It was a rainy day, which made logistics a bit challenging, but it didn’t stop us from going to get the newest member of the family.
We brought a box and a blanket in case she needed to do her business in the car, but fortunately, that didn’t happen. However, we noticed that she was very nervous, probably because it was her first car ride (now she loves car trips).
When we arrived at my girlfriend’s house — where she would spend her first night because we believed the news would be better received there than at my house — we introduced her to the family. Luckily, everything was filled with joy and affection for the little puppy who had just arrived at her new home.
After a few hours, I returned home and went to bed. Not actually to sleep because I spent the entire night thinking about Bella and looking forward to the next day to spend all my time with my two girls.
Years have passed, and today, Bella is a beautiful and intelligent adult Golden Retriever, probably the most loved dog in the world, and the reason we live our days.
This is the first of many posts I plan to write, covering not only Bella, but also other topics related to having a dog in your life. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Any feedback is much appreciated, and of course, I’d also love to hear about your dog stories too!