This is Bella, our 10 year old pug. She was my first baby, and quite frankly the only girl I will probably have. She was the gift we gave each other for our first wedding anniversary. I was against getting pug, because the shed and they are one of the loudest animals I have ever encountered. But Sam slowly wore me down and then one Saturday morning he was reading the paper and saw an ad selling pug puppies. I remember that day so well, it was a snowy January day. We decided it was time to become "parents" We called the number in the paper and were on our way. We drove an hour an a half in the wind and snow to the small Nebraska town of Howells. There we met our first baby. The family we met was wonderful, we were able to meet our little girls parents and her aunt. Bella came from a large litter. She was one of thirteen. We were the first to inquire about the puppies and so we literally got the pick of the litter. How do you choose one from thirteen. Immediately I had puppies crawling all over me, eleven to be exact. The runt was quite ill and was not able to be handled yet. Soon the puppies, became interested in other things, except one. One curled up on my lap and started sleeping. Then I saw another puppy out of the corner of my eye, number 12, she had been playing behind the couch, and emerged to claw at the blanket on the floor. She was full of energy. The other 11 were all beginning to wind down and she was just getting started. I knew immediately, she was meant to be mine. The decision was made, my husband encouraged me to think about this nice mild mannered little boy that had curled up in my lap and loved me immediately. Not even batting an eye, I said no, he wasn't spunky enough. We put down a deposit, gave her a name (Princess Isabella Packard, Bella for short) and took pictures.
Five weeks later she was delivered to us in Omaha. I picked her up over my lunch hour and Sam left work early, he had already scheduled an appointment with a vet to have her looked over to make sure she was healthy.
Adopting Bella was one of the best decisions we have ever made. We have shared many proud moments with her.
I couldn't have loved her any more, until yesterday. I took her to the vet yesterday because she had an eye infection. During the exam, our vet started to talk to be about her vision. We have known for the last 7 years that she had pigmentary keratitis. Initially we had her on daily drops, but when those failed to do any good, we ceased using them. We knew she may have vision problems the rest of her life, but the vet said it would be like looking through a dirty windshield. She would still be able to see some, but mostly just shadows and movements. Yesterday, the vet (our old vet retired) told me she was nearly completely blind. There is a small area at the corner of one eye that she can still see from, but it has gotten so bad he said it would be the equivalent of having latex paint on the windshield. He said we may have noticed her behavior change recently. On the contrary, if anything, she is more like a puppy than ever before. She continues to walk up and down the stairs (something she rarely did in the old house), eats normally, plays with her toys, cuddles with me on the couch, etc. She amazes me. I started watching her more closely yesterday. How was she able to still get around being almost completely blind. I noticed small changes, she turns her head to one side, always the same side, before walking up the stairs. She clings close to the wall and the fence when she has to find her way around new areas. She adapts to every situation. She uses her sense of smell a lot more too, she sniffs almost everything now and I think she must have super hearing because she can hear the garage door go up from anywhere in the house, but I never do. I am so proud of her. She has learned to adapt to her situation instead of giving up and letting us do everything for her. She is fiercely independent. I'm sure if she could, she would feed herself and get her own water. She hasn't let this little setback slow her down. I hope that someday if I am ever faced with similar circumstances, I remember Bella's example and handle it in the same way.
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