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Our Belle – The story so far…

Belle is a beautiful, sweet natured pooch whom we used
to walk three times a week. She was a delight, no trouble at all – so mild mannered. She liked a good treat and would do anything for food. She likes to play with balls, despite them being a little bit big for her mouth. Her owner employed us to take her out walkies, teach her new skills and generally look after her well-being. Our culture is to provide the best level of care we can for all our dogs, so when Belle developed a nasty skin condition we stepped in to help. We contacted our friends at Animal Rescue Cumbria and asked if they could help identify this illness. Belle was taken up to the shelter and immediately placed under their vet’s care to ascertain what might be causing her skin to break out in sores. Weeks later, after many tests and treatments, the shelter’s vet eventually established that Belle’s immune system was attacking her body, causing severe itching, hair loss, red skin and weeping sores.  Despite a condition that must have made Belle miserable, this little dog was so stoical and melted everyone’s hearts. 

It took a long time to discover what was wrong with Belle – and at great expense for the shelter who kindly helped her. Belle started to improve and returned to her owner and coming out with us on Dog Quests. She was on medication and all seemed well to begin with. We kept our eye on her and noticed that slowly she was slipping back – her nails were unkept and skin rashes were starting to reappear. So, we got in touch with her owner who had been finding it hard to manage her condition and, because he wanted the best life for Belle, put her up for rehoming with the shelter.  Again, Animal Rescue Cumbria stepped in, got her back on medication and she is currently being fostered while her condition stabilises. Her foster mum has been looking after her – even taken her paddle boarding on Windermere!   

Belle is a terrific dog, who’s life has dramatically
changed – but it isn’t without cost. She will be on medication for life and she needs regular baths to stay on top of her condition. Not to mention the costs of the tests involved in discovering what was initially causing such skin complaints. So, true to our values of looking after our dogs, we will be fundraising for Animal Rescue Cumbria this coming Easter. We will be rowing across Scotland over five days to raise money and awareness for this wonderful charity who helped one of our own.