On March 22nd, 2009, I was sent by CWVRG to pick up a Vizsla that had been surrendered by her owner to an animal shelter about 3-hours away from where I live. When I arrived, the shelter staff introduced me to Bella. I instantly recognized that she was a Vizsla mix (possibly crossed with a Smooth-Coated Collie). Although CWVRG often rescues Vizsla mixes, our foster homes were nearly full at the time, so I called CWVRG to ask if they still wanted me to pick up Bella. While I waited for an answer, I fell in love with Bella. She was an extremely friendly dog that craved attention (she would lean against the kennel gate and gaze up at me while she was being petted). She also had the softest hair I had ever felt. I therefore urged CWVRG to allow me to rescue her, because she was so friendly and outgoing. I got the approval and I filled out the paperwork to adopt her from the shelter.

Bella was about 11-months old and had been surrendered by her previous family because they were moving. The shelter staff told me that she had a slight, intermittent limp. Our vet subsequently examined her and learned from x-rays that her right rear femur had previously been broken. Bella apparently didn’t get appropriate veterinary care when her leg was initially injured so the ends of her broken bone overlapped and fused next to each other (so one of her rear legs is about 2.5” shorter than the other). Although this causes her to adjust her gait (she uses her big, full tail as a counterbalance), it doesn’t appear to cause her pain. Our vet didn’t recommend surgery unless it starts causing her problems. She loves to race around in our big back yard and she runs like the wind, so her old leg injury doesn’t seem to slow her down much.
Everyone who meets Bella falls in love with her. She instantly cuddles up to any visitors to get petted. We call her the Velveteen Vizsla (her long red hair is extremely soft).She also responds to Bell, Bella Dona, Smelly Belly, and Jingle Bell (during the holidays). She has very expressive eyes that bug out just a bit, so we also call her the Marty Feldman of Vizslas. Bella loves to fetch balls and she always carries around a toy when she is outside. In the house, she loves to lay next to you with her head in your lap (we say that she is afflicted with “flopsy” because she jumps up on the couch and flops down on you). Bella also likes to hold hands (she likes us to hold her paw while she gets petted).
Teila conducts many of the CWVRG phone interviews with prospective adopting families. During these phone conversations, she would often bring up Bella as a foster example. I would always joke that she was trying to give away my Bella (since I had to adopt her from the shelter instead of doing a shelter-to-shelter transfer because I picked her up on a weekend). The longer we fostered her, the more we both started to view Bella as one of our own instead of a temporary foster. She quickly worked her way into our hearts and we reached a point where we couldn’t see a future that didn’t include Bella. As a result, we officially adopted her from CWVRG in November 2009.
In the 13 years that my wife and I have been involved in Vizsla rescue, Bella holds 2 distinctions. First, Bella is the only dog that I actually adopted twice; once from the shelter and later from CWVRG. Secondly, over the last 2 years, my wife and I have fostered around 30 Vizslas. Although we have enjoyed them all, and many hold a special place in our hearts, Bella stands out as the only one that has made the transition from foster to an official member of our Vizsla pack.
As I was typing the conclusion to this success story, Bella sat next to my computer desk, nuzzled my hand, and wanted me to hold her paw. She seemed to be saying “thanks” for making her a part of our family. Over the past year, I’ve often thought how lucky I am that I made the 6-hour round trip to the shelter back in March 2009 to pick up Bella and Bella seems to agree with me. - Scott