Bella

Bella is our first Portuguese Water Dog, and the girl that started it all for us. This wonderful bundle of energy is U-CD Int/Am CH Stargazer’s Astrud Isabella CD RA CWD SROM, a black and white curly Portuguese Water Dog. She was born November 23, 2001, and is 19" at the shoulder and weighs 44 lbs, which is right at the breed standard for females. She was bred by Christi and Sandy Overton and is out of Sabrina (Am/Cam CH Stargazer's Bewitched CD OA NAJ AWD SROM). Her sire is Kilo (Int'l/Am Ch Sunnyhill Lookout Stormwatch CD C-CD NA NAJ WWD SROM), bred by Suzanne Malick.  Bella is the mother of the two Astrud litters, and has two of her daughters (India and Pansy) as house mates.

Bella has great working drive, and a very sweet, fun-loving and stable temperament. Her first love is water work of any sort, and she has earned Junior, Apprentice, and Working Water Dog, and completed Courier Water Dog in August 2009. She earned her AKC Championship in grand style, showing only two weekends and finishing with 4 majors and 19 points! She is also an International Champion, and has AKC and UKC CD titles in Obedience, and AKC RA title for Advanced Rally Obedience. She is a Certified Therapy Dog, and AKC Canine Good Citizen. For her combination of titles in diverse areas of competition, she has received the Silver Register of Merit award (SROM) from PWDCA. Recently she entered her first NADAC agility competition and qualified in all her runs, so that will be an ongoing activity for her as well.

Bella is rated OFA excellent for hips, and OFA Normal for elbows. Both of her parents are OFA Good. Her CERF is clear, and she is OptiGen B (PRA carrier), GM-1 Normal, and Cardio Normal 1-1. In addition, her MSU thyroid assay is normal, suggesting no tendency to inherited thyroid auto-immune disease.

Click here for Bella's pedigree.