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!
After years of working with many different breeds on site, our unique Farm Dog Program has been hailed a great success! Because our dogs are in our home and are not housed in a kennel environment, house manners are being worked on from the time they arrive to the time they leave us. When not outside “working” with us, the dogs inside our home with us, not kenneled in outside runs. With the exception of legitimate livestock guardians (ex: Great Pyrenees), we expect that their new owners do the same. After all, we treat these dogs like our family so they can be a wonderful new member of yours.
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. 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! 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).
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 text us at 740-731-3291, 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!