Enjoying the beauty of Bello at work

Working and training with Bello has been one of the best experiences I have had. It amazes me every day how smart he is and how quickly he picks up the new tasks I introduce to him.  Sometimes I get distracted by the shear beauty of him working.  

Watching him catch a scent trail in the air and then working back and forth in the scent cone until he locates the right and strongest trail...

Then dropping his nose to the ground to track the object or person he supposed to be locating

One of his favorite things/people to find is my 10 year old niece Railey! Since their first meeting back in Nov 2016 she has been one of his favorite people and when they are together they can often be found rolling around on the ground together, playing a game of fetch, or chase and hide and seek! Railey is amazed that Bello knows how to find her!

Bello's other favorite object to find is his medium, neon green, glow in the dark ball! He can often be found carrying this object around even when "finding game" is over! 

 When my last SD, NaKoda (also a therapy dog) passed away (July 2016) I tried really hard to not get another dog. I had her for 13 years and she was one of the best dogs I have ever known. However, by Sept I knew that I truly needed a service animal to compliment my other coping techniques to manage my illness. I knew I would not be able to have another Rottweiler so close to losing NaKoda so I researched other breeds and chose German Shepherds.  However, Bello was not the dog I traveled to observe and see if we were a good fit.  Bello wasn't even in my selected few.  However, upon arriving at the DFW German Shepherd rescue site I learned the ones I wanted to meet had some behavior issues or did not get along with cats (NaKoda left me a cat named Monkey).  Bello however upon my arrival while keeping a distance of about 10 ft continuously walked circles around me checking me out.  I sat down on the ground to see if he would approach and eventually he did, allowing me to pet him and put a leash on him and walk him around the property.  Bello chose me.  I made my donation, and loaded Bello into the truck for our 3 hour drive back home and this has been one of the best decisions I have made!  I can't imagine now not having Bello with me every day; all day long!  I am excited to see where our journey takes us!