Update on Bella

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Thursday JULY 15, 2010:
Well Bella has been here with us for about 5 days.

Bella is a very sweet and gentle dog. Not a mean bone in her body.

She plays well with one of my Shepherds. They run all around my fenced in 2 acres, romping and playing. I have not officially introduced her to my Alpha Shepherd, as he is very protective of me and of the house. Although the one time I did try to introduce them (with both on leashes by two different people), Bella just wanted to play. My Shepherd was on guard though, and when the hair on his neck stood up and he growled, I immediately stopped the introduction. But this was not Bella's fault. It was more my own Shepherd not wanting to be friends. Bella still wanted to play and she didn't seem to pick up on the body language my Alpha Shepherd was sending her direction.So I immediately stopped that introduction and have kept them separate every since then. She does however, play well with my 3 year old more docile shepherd.

On major thing I have noticed with Bella, is that she has no manners. She doesn't know how to walk on a leash (she pulls you and does not heal). She can be VERY destructive when left unsupervised in the house even for brief moments.
She is still a puppy though, and she has obviously had no training. A basic obedience class with her new owner would teach her some basic manners and commands and would give the new owner and Bella a chance to bond.

She has shown no aggression with food. I can walk up to her in the middle of her meal, and reach down and take her food away, and she just sits there looking at me with those beautiful blue eyes, waiting for me to return it. She has a very healthy appetite. She is currently being fed a high quality grain-free dog food.

I think if she is in a home with someone who has had Danes in the past and with someone who has the TIME to spend in obedience training and 1:1 supervision when not in her Kennel, she will make someone an awesome dog. She has a lot of energy, and would require a large fenced-in yard.Although she loves playing outdoors, she is like most Danes in that she just wants to be around her "people". So she is happiest when with us in the same room.

She is less than a year old. Up to date on immunizations, is on Heart Guard and on Frontline.

I thought at first when I picked her up earlier this week, that she was deaf. I am not convinced this is the case. I think she may be a bit hard of hearing, but I think she hears some of the things said to her. I am teaching her basic commands such as "sit" by using the verbal command as well as the sign language for "sit", just in case she cannot hear me.

I cannot stress enough, how gentle and sweet and beautiful she is. But she needs someone who has the time to focus on her and build a relationship and take the time train her in basic obedience, such as heal, sit, come, stay, etc. Also someone who can monitor her in the same room because she can become very destructive of property when left alone even if for just a few minutes. So she still needs to learn house manners and know what things she should not be playing with, or chewing up and differentiate those things from her own chew toys.

She is also good with children (See pictures from earlier entry).

She will go in Monday for her spay.

More updates to follow