“If I could be half the person my dog is, I’d be twice the human I am.”- Charles Yu
In November 2017, Bella June fell into our laps. We, in turn, fell for her immediately. Equal parts “Rizzo” from Grease, and Beverly Cleary’s “Ramona,” Bella is impossible not to adore. Impish, clever, mischievous, spunky, with a glint in her eye, Bella packs more personality into her 53-pound frame than most dogs could ever hope to have.
Like any good heroine, Bella needed a foil. She found one in Joe, our 85 lb boy. Bella’s disdain for her nemesis meant that she spent the majority of her time apart from other Bulldogs, with half our house largely to herself. By herself, but not alone. Nothing made Bella happier than to spend countless hours with her foster mom, wedged behind her in the office chair while she worked on rescue calls and other tasks. I believe those hours were some of the happiest for Bella. I know they were for foster mom.
We’re proud to say that Bella has found her perfect home! She was with us for exactly 400 days while she waited for Irene and Dario to find her. They will know very soon what a treasure they’ve discovered in Bella. And she will have what she so richly deserves: a home with two loving humans all to herself, where she will be free to roam, and play, and snore, and cuddle, and be silly for the rest of her life.
God speed, beautiful girl. We will never forget you.
Please welcome 6-year-old Bella June to Lone Star Bulldog Club Rescue. Ten months ago, this Bulldog-savvy family found her for sale. They said it was obvious the owners did not want her and were not treating her well. They were also afraid who might buy her and what might happen. So they bought her and took her home.
They were told she was three, but they soon realized she was much older. As the months passed and more old health problems surfaced, they decided her care was beyond their capability. So they reached out to our rescue group for help. They knew we could get her fixed up and find her the family they were not able to do.
She is a little stiff in her joints and needs to lose a little weight. She has dry eye and will be put on a different medication for that. She also needs some dental work done. But she loves her humans and will do anything to please.
1/1/18 Update: What a great couple of weeks I have had in my foster home. Lots of warm blankets to snuggle on with my foster parents, great grub and several foster siblings to play with. I would say one of my foster sisters I kind of clash with… Foster mom says it’s because we are alike ~ we both want to be the QUEEN! My foster brothers are really cool. They just go with the flow, so I hang with them.
I keep hearing this term, “diet,” and that it will be good for my joints. My knee is a little wonky, so I hear having a couple of pounds fall off will be a good thing. But the green beans? Nuh uh…not eating them! I am house trained, crate trained and mom says the most lovable creature she’s ever snuggled with. Woohoo… I win! Happy New Year!
1/12/18 Update: Foster girl Bella June says good morning! She’s sad that she won’t get to go to our Bulldog Bonanza tomorrow, but she has a bum knee that needs rest. Instead, she will stay home on her throne… er, couch and pillow!
2/5/18 Update: Bella June here! What a week I have had with my foster family. I have discovered that I LOVE going for car rides. Every time I see one of my humans going for the door with keys in hand, I get so excited, wiggling my tail as fast as it can go. Sometimes I don’t get to go where they are going, but that’s okay. There’s always next time. Foster mom has been taking me to a place where they rub a light over my knee, and boy does it feel goooood! See, I have a tear in my ACL and the humans are working hard at getting me better for my forever home. I’m not crazy about being on a diet, but I DO feel better. And after my knee surgery, I will be looking for YOU!
3/4/18 Update: Bella June had a great week! With her knee surgery out of the way as of ten days ago, it’s all uphill for this little spunky girl. We must admit: she is a little hard to keep calm and resting. I think she is feeling better and she just wants to dance! We tell her that will come soon enough, but now is the time for rest and rehab. Bella’s personality is as big as they come and just as loving. She adores her people. And other dogs? She tends to be boy crazy on that topic! Along with such a big personality, she can clash a bit with an equally outgoing female, so we are saying only boy pups for her. Stay tuned in the next coming weeks, as this sweet 6 year old grows strong and well, slimmer!
3/27/18 Update: How can one not love Bella June, aka “the stinker”. She is full of personality and yes, the most stubborn bulldog we have ever encountered! But with this 6 year olds butt wiggle, we dare you not to fall in love. Miss Bella was doing wonderfully with her knee surgery 3 weeks ago, but we have had a slight set back in her recooperation and have to do a little revision this week. She is a hard woman to keep down, I tell ya.
After she is all healed and raring to go, the family for her would be where she is the princess of the home, queen of the castle and the only thing with fur. The sassiness of “the stinker” just cannot be contained! The couch is her throne and she is happiest napping on it with you by her side.
4/12/18 Update: I had my repair knee surgery last week and all is going well. Crate rest is an absolute must because I want this stage of my life to be just a part of my history. I want to get on with life! While in the crate, I do take advantage of chewing on my favorite toy that foster mom gives me. Yep, we have a rotation of some very cool ones that I like. And treats, too. She says we will work on my, er, “curvy” figure when I am healed and that I, for sure, deserve the treats! Ta-ta for now!
5/20/18 Update: Bella June is just ONE week away from being off her eight week crate rest for her knee repair and boy is she ready! Next up for this 7 year old? Water treadmill! Bella is going to be a brand new bulldog after all of this and ready to find her forever home. Stay tuned!!!
6/17/18 Update: Bella June’s knee is officially healed and her water treadmill therapy is underway. Hooray! Bella just hopped right in that tank and started walking. Of course, she had to taste the water she was standing in first. A girl has to hydrate! Oh, if you want to know how to get this girl to do anything, just have peanut butter on the ready. It’s been quite a long journey for Miss Bella June since she joined us in November, having some eye issues and of course, the two knee surgeries.
Bella June has such a personality. She is lovable, silly and just plain adorable. She would love to be your one and only and I promise, you will never be bored having her as your best friend. Crate trained, walks well on a leash and house trained, this 7 year old has it all!
7/1/18 Update: Bella June is checking in! What a week this girl has had. Her third water treadmill session happened Friday and she has become a pro at water walking. She gets up in that tank, takes a drink of the water filling up around her and once that belt starts moving, its on! Of course the peanut butter at the end of the tank helps, but still!
Bella has come so far being with us, and she has been with us a long time. After 2 knee surgeries, she is ready to find her forever family. I don’t think we have had a foster in our home that has more personality than Bella June. She just turned 7 years old this past Spring, is crate and house trained and loves her people. Some dogs she likes in our house and some she doesn’t. We haven’t been able to find a pattern on whom she likes, so we are just going to say she would be best for a fur-free home. You can’t help but smile when you look at her with her crooked smile and her wagging tail coming to greet you. She will need eye drops twice a day for the rest of her life, but no skin allergies! Snuggles, treats and a fun toy to chew on is what sweet Bella dreams of. Are you her family?
8/12/18 Update: Mirror, mirror on the wall.. who is the fairest of them all? Have you ever wondered how some women never seem to age, as if the passage of time only brings them MORE beauty? It makes you wonder if there’s a secret fountain of youth in a land far, far away (probably Paris), and only a lucky few know how to find it. But have you ever noticed that most of the women with this radiant glow also happen to own a ridiculously cute Bulldog with LOTS of wrinkles? Have we got GREAT news for you! Turns out the secret to vibrant youth is not in an expensive day cream, it’s in the slobber of a Bulldog 
🐶
💦 Who knew?
Bella June literally translates to ‘beautifully young,’ and that is exactly what she offers to the lucky family that is able to adopt her! In the world of Bulldogs, the more wrinkles, the better, so Miss Bella offers a trade: you hand over all your crows feet and laugh lines and you can stay ‘beautifully young.’
🌹 In exchange, she gets all the extra love and attention for being the cutest, most wrinkly Bulldog ever!
At just 7 years young, Bella June is full of spunk and diva attitude and she’s not afraid to strut it! As part of her rescue spa package, she had a little work done (who hasn’t at her age 
😉). Now with her knees, eyes and teeth in tip-top shape, as well as a few shaved pounds off the waistline, Bella is ready to get to work keeping you young while living her very best life. 
💜 She’s a proper lady who knows where to handle her business so there’s no need to worry about potty manners. Her favorite activity is snoozing on the couch with you, but she’s a strict ‘one queen per throne’ kinda dame so there will be no sharing with other things with fur. Little hands might also be a challenge for this mouthy duchess, so no kids unless they are older.
8/28/18 Update: Hear ye, hear ye… Miss Bella June has an announcement: Water treadmill and physical therapy has been completed for her knee! Fini, finito, terminado and conquered!
I would truly say her right knee is now bionic after two surgeries. She is feeling great and looking phenomenal and even down 3 pounds to her “fighting” weight of 53 lbs.
An enormous heartfelt thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Nonnemaker at Valley Ranch Pet Clinic and her sweet vet techs that stood at the end of the tank feeding her treats one at a time to keep her going… Imagine just how much she could’ve lost! LOL. Bella’s excitement every time we got in the car to go to her therapy was so contagious. She marched in like she owned the place, jumped into that tank and said, “bring it!” But don’t forget the treats…sitting over there). The doc would say, “how does this girl not have people beating down your door?”
I’m here to tell you that Bella June is the real deal, the whole enchilada. She’s feisty, funny and adores her people. She will be your cuddle bunny, watch the game with you then snore away on the couch with you. Probably even drink a beer with you! 
😁 Don’t let her age of 7 scare you. Remember, she is rebuilt!
Open your heart to this special senior… you will not be disappointed!
9/16/18 Update: Bella June checking in! This feisty little girl is still patiently waiting on her forever family to come and find her. Until that happens, she is happy to hang out with us, napping, chewing on a bone or sitting in her favorite chair-the office chair, which she is sharing with me right now as I write this. Bella loves routine and boy does she know it-so do we, with the lightning fast wiggle of her tail. With the cooler weather, she is loving her slow and strolling walks around the block and hanging outside, watching the world go by. She definitely is an outdoorsy girl. Bella is a simple girl that just wants simple things. A family of her own where she is the only princess with fur, a great couch with you in it and some good grub.
Bella June is 7 years old, she will make you laugh every day and love you like no one else.
10/16/18 Update: She has heard she is going to a very special event this Saturday and even gets to dress up! What costume will she wear, you ask? Well, when you see her at Bull O-Ween, most of you will understand why!
Bella has been doing so well in her foster home. Her foster dad and I couldn’t be more proud. Oh, she still wants to be queen bee, but we have that all down pat in her routine. Not gonna lie, Bella June has been in rescue a very long time– we are coming up to a year, folks. Of course, about half of that time, she was healing from her two knee surgeries.
Bella is 7 years old, but she does not act her age. She is a feisty little firecracker who still has lots of happy life in her to share with you. She just needs to be the only thing with fur in your home-that’s it! She will be your constant companion, following you around, hoping for snacks and a great bed and/or couch to nap on. Her skin is in great shape, no problems there, but she will always need daily eye lube as they do get dry. Joint supplements for a bionic knee, too!
11/7/18 Update: I have been in rescue for one full year. Where is my family? Why isn’t someone looking for me to add to their home? I know that I am not the “latest” dog in rescue and that I am on the very last page on our website. But that doesnt mean I’m
not a catch for the right family. I mean, did y’all not see me at Bull-O-Ween? I am the complete package. I’m spunky and do not act my age, house trained, leash trained and will love and snuggle with you and be your best friend. All I require is that I be the only thing with fur in my home. That’s it! I am happy in my foster home and I am so loved, but it would be so awesome to get to walk around the entire house with my foster mom and not have to stop at the baby gate where the other dogs are. I DO have the larger side of the house than they do… I am the queen, afterall!
Don’t let my age of 7 years stop you. I am in great shape and get around like I could be 4 years old. I do not have any of the more typical Bulldog skin issues ~ I just need some eye drops daily for dry eye. That’s it! Shoot, my younger foster siblings take more meds than I do! Ppffft.
So give me a chance. I promise you will not be disappointed.
12/4/18 Update: What a great couple of weeks it has been in my foster home. The holidays have brought yummy food and all kinds of family into the home. I’ve snuggled up to them and been the recipient of many belly rubs. I even got to sleep in a hooman bed with my foster uncle and I loved it!Don’t get me wrong… I adore my comfy couch that I normally sleep on, but sleeping in bed? Wow, that is THE way to go. I showed my appreciation to my foster uncle by giving him many kisses… Bella kisses!
Foster Ma dressed me up in my sparkly red collar and leash and took some pictures of me outside. I just sat like the good girl that I am, posing this way, posing that way. I am a pro, I tell ya. She said something about me being irresistable to a forever family that is out there looking just for me.
Are you looking for a house-trained, leash-trained Bulldog that looks fab in red? Well, here I am! I would love more than anything to have my very own fur-free family all to myself for Christmas. I will be waiting!
