Mila's Story

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Mila-Then Bella, arrival at the shelter

Bella would arrive at Saving Grace as a young puppy right before Christmas in 2023 with three siblings and her mom. She would find her forever home with one of our adopters a month later. Read below to hear her owner’s touching story

In 2023, I lost my soul dog, Bella. She was my shadow, my entire heart, and after a brave three year battle with epilepsy, it finally took her from us in November. Her loss broke me. My other dog, Bailey, and I fell into a severe depression. At the time, I was doing hybrid college courses, which meant spending hours at home studying, surrounded by a heavy, quiet emptiness.

One day in December, as I was scrolling through Facebook, a post from Saving Grace animal society popped up featuring their adoptable dogs. There was a puppy also named Bella. Not only was she mostly black like my girl, but her description sounded so much like the Bella I had just lost. I showed my husband, but we both agreed it just wasn’t time yet. Still, I couldn’t get this puppy out of my head.

By January, her photo crossed my feed again. Something inside told me I just had to meet her. My husband was torn between her and a boy puppy from the same litter, but we decided to book an appointment anyway. The moment we arrived, puppy Bella made the choice for us, she jumped right up on my husband’s legs and started nibbling his ears. He was instantly sold.

We brought her home and named her Mila. Within a week, Bailey accepted her, and our healing began.

Since that day, Mila has proven to me without a doubt that my Bella sent her to us. She has an uncanny ability to know exactly when I’m sad, always coming over to comfort me. I had prayed she would love water, and boy, does she ever, if we don't lock the bathroom door, she happily marches right into the shower!

She also showed us just how incredibly strong she is. In April 2025, while playing with her favorite soccer ball, she broke her little leg. The eight weeks of strict kennel rest that followed were agonizing, honestly harder on me than it was on her. But her recovery was nothing short of amazing, and her comeback has been even better.

Mila shows me every single day how much I needed her. She saved both me and my Bailey girl from a dark, sad place, and gave Bailey a best friend again.