From Causing Trouble to Lending a Hand!
You hear it all the time, “This dog needs a home in the country”, “needs space to run”, “would be best on a farm”. People seem to think that the best solution for the difficult, high-energy dog isn’t more training but more space to be… well… difficult and high-energy! The thing is, running loose on a farm requires a certain amount of training. They can’t run off, can’t chase livestock, must co-exist with other animals, and must be friendly with visitors.
It’s hard to deny that horse lovers are almost always dog lovers! Because our program primarily deals with horses, it’s easy to see the untapped potential homes where these dogs would be welcome… IF they had a bit of training first. Following that realization, a program was started where at-risk dogs could learn vital manners that could help land them that idyllic home in the country! While our dogs do spend a lot of time with us outdoors, we are looking for adopters who invite their dogs inside with them. We absolutely do not adopt out to people who chain their dogs to dog boxes outside. With the exception of legitimate livestock guardians (ex: Great Pyrenees, who often hate being indoors), we expect that their new owners have their dogs inside with them at night. After all, we treat these dogs like our family so they can be a wonderful new member of yours.
After years of working with many different breeds on site, our unique Farm Dog Program has been hailed a great success! Our dogs leave us confident, happy, and willing to “work”… perfect for a life with horse people! It should be noted that not every dog we rescue graduates our Farm Dog Program officially, but they are still able to be adopted out into wonderful, loving homes. Not all dogs have what it takes to be off-leash on a farm all day, of course, but they still make wonderful companions and still need homes! Additionally, the dogs who graduate from our farm dog program are not required to be adopted by people with farms. Do you live a normal life in a subdivision? We’ve got plenty of choices for you! We are happy to talk to you about your specific lifestyle and make a recommendation for which of our dogs could be a good match! Who knows, we may have the perfect couch potato for you!
Adopting a Bella Run Dog
1. Reach out to us via text or email (bellarunadoptions@gmail.com or 740-731-3291) with a brief paragraph about you and what you are looking for in a dog. If you are interested in a particular dog, let us know that. If you would rather call us, that is fine.
2. We will then send you an adoption application to fill out (this takes 5 minutes for most people). Here is the online application form as well: Dog Adoption Application
3. The thing that slows us down when approving people is obtaining their vet reference. If you call your vet and have them email a recommendation to us, it speeds up the process. A good vet recommendation will include your current pets on file, their vaccination status, and whether you provide recommended vet care to your animals regularly. Some vets just forward your records with a sentence or two, and that is fine as well!
4. Once you are approved, we will contact you to set up a meet and greet. This means that you will need to drive to us with your children and current dogs to meet the potential adoptable dog.
5. Since you are already pre-approved at this point, you can choose to take the dog home with you that day if you wish (and if we determine that it is a good fit, we reserve the right to deny any adoption at any time based on suitability). We will send the dog home with some of its current food for you to switch slowly.
*The best way to contact us is to call/TEXT us at 740-731-3291 or 740-707-0793, or email us at bellarunadoptions@gmail.com with the dog’s name in the subject line.*
Before adoption, our dogs are spayed/neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated. In addition, they are heartworm tested and fully dewormed (with follow up fecals).
In certain situations we consider foster-to-adopt arrangements. For example, if a puppy is too young to spay, we will foster her out with her adoptive family and wait to finalize the adoption until after her surgery is done. This allows the pup to be with her family sooner while still ensuring that she is spayed in a timely manner.
Click the button below to be redirected to our updated adoptable dog listings on Petfinder!