Making friends in a new place isn’t always easy. For Belle, a Jindo pup who recently moved to the U.S., that urge to connect with others led to a terrible tussle with angry deer—an incident from which she luckily limped away. Here’s her story.
Adopting a new pet is always something of an adventure. When Rick and Euna went to adopt their new pup, they added a transoceanic twist to the mix.
“That was actually my wife's idea, because she's from Korea, so she was familiar with the breed,” Rick says. “She got in touch with this group of folks who foster strays and shelter animals, and they found Belle wandering around a farm. So, they held onto her, took care of her before we went over to Korea to get her.”
So, Rick and Euna booked a flight. They landed and visited with her family before going to the Jindo rescue to collect the best souvenir anyone could ask for.
Rick remembers the moment well: “The fellow who was taking care of her put her in my arms, and I was like, ‘Oh.’ I fell in love with her instantly.”
Their precious cargo secured, the crew hit the road on the journey to Belle’s new forever home in the States. Rick continues, “I was holding onto her all the way back from Daegu to Busan in my sister-in-law's car. So yeah, it was very much instant bonding.”
Belle was quick to get accustomed to the perks of her new living situation. A farm dog by nature, she was excited to explore the big backyard at her forever home. She was also very excited to make new friends—and even a little stubborn about it.
Rick says, “Our fence has a gap it that's covered up with some bushes, but it's still easy access to the neighbor's backyard. So, she would run around the neighbor's backyard—and you couldn't catch her, because she won't listen to you when you call her if she's very involved in something. [I can call] ‘Belle, Belle, come here, come here.’ And she'll look at you and she'll go back to whatever she's doing … I think that kind of demonstrates her personality. She's stubborn, she's smart and she's very free spirited.”
Not every neighborhood pup was excited to play the way she wanted to play though. That didn’t stop her from reaching out to them. He continues, “She loves running around with [other pets] and they're friendly with her—but one time, we dog sat for my wife's friend, and he did not like Belle at all,” Rick laughs. “So, we basically had to keep him in our bedroom separated off so he wouldn't growl or bark at her.”
Belle, for her part, took the hostility in stride: “Belle was just as sweet as can be,” Rick continues. “She just wanted to play, she would just be out there, ‘Come on, please play with me. Please play.’ And he was like, ‘Arrh, no. Go away.’”
This stubborn desire to engage with new guests has made her a welcome staple in the neighborhood. However, it also inspired an unconventional wildlife encounter that led to an emergency veterinary visit.
Belle loved to hang out on the large, fenced-off deck at her new home, where she could explore, play and lounge without getting into too much trouble—or so Rick and Euna thought.
“I had a meeting,” Euna remembers. “Belle just kept bugging me like, ‘Euna, would you play with me?’ So, I just let her out on the deck [thinking] she could not escape—but we didn't know her shoulders were small enough at the time, she figured out [a way].”
Euna turned away for just a moment, and Belle squeezed her way through the bars to greet a strange new friend standing in the backyard.
Rick adds, “A lot of deer wander around back here; there's basically a game trail behind our house [and] this time some of those deer were in our backyard. Unfortunately, this deer was not a doe—it was a buck, and he was not happy. One thing about Jindos is they're extremely brave, but it wasn't enough to keep her from losing that fight.”
Euna heard the scuffle from inside and rushed out to rescue her pooch. Belle was clearly injured, but her mom was unsure just how seriously. Her pup was hesitant to move one of her legs, which Euna feared was broken badly. They rushed to the veterinary hospital.
Fortunately, Belle only sustained soft tissue damage from her tussle with the deer. She was put on bed rest, and after a few days of careful observation, she was fully recovered and back to her normal self, “bounding around, sniffing everything, happy as a clam,” Rick says.
Rich and Euna were especially impressed with how brave Belle was at the veterinarian—especially given a previous experience getting her nails trimmed there. Rick says, “We took her in for a regular checkup and we had her claws trimmed. We were sitting in the waiting area … and she was screaming her head off and we were like, ‘Yeah, that's ours’ to other people.”
A hostile interaction with a large, wild animal like a deer could have resulted in serious injury and high costs for emergency veterinary care. Belle emerged from her deer experience with a few scratches, and luckily Rick and Euna had gotten Nationwide pet insurance early on to help with veterinary bills.
When asked why they chose to protect Belle with Nationwide, Rick cites two major reasons: “Help with emergencies, like what this whole story's about—because emergency care is expensive, and emergencies are unexpected. Also, making it very, very easy to file a claim, because it literally took me five minutes to do it and within a couple of days Nationwide had gotten back to us.”
He continues, “I think it encourages us to go to the vet more often for regular checkups and things like that. I think that's probably the main benefit plus if something catastrophic, I think we'd be more likely to make every effort rather than having to make a hard decision.”
Take advantage of your multi-pet discount when you add a pet to your policy. When covering two or three pets, you can receive a 5% discount. When covering four or more pets, you'll save 10% on your base premium. Visit the member portal to add a pet.
Enroll a new petTake advantage of your multi-pet discount when you add a pet to your policy. When covering two or three pets, you can receive a 5% discount. When covering four or more pets, you'll save 10% on your base premium. Visit the member portal to add a pet.
Enroll a new petTake advantage of your multi-pet discount when you add a pet to your policy. When covering two or three pets, you can receive a 5% discount. When covering four or more pets, you'll save 10% on your base premium. Visit the member portal to add a pet.
Enroll a new petTake advantage of your multi-pet discount when you add a pet to your policy. When covering two or three pets, you can receive a 5% discount. When covering four or more pets, you'll save 10% on your base premium. Visit the member portal to add a pet.
Enroll a new petTake advantage of your multi-pet discount when you add a pet to your policy. When covering two or three pets, you can receive a 5% discount. When covering four or more pets, you'll save 10% on your base premium. Visit the member portal to add a pet.
Enroll a new petTake advantage of your multi-pet discount when you add a pet to your policy. When covering two or three pets, you can receive a 5% discount. When covering four or more pets, you'll save 10% on your base premium. Visit the member portal to add a pet.
Enroll a new petTake advantage of your multi-pet discount when you add a pet to your policy. When covering two or three pets, you can receive a 5% discount. When covering four or more pets, you'll save 10% on your base premium. Visit the member portal to add a pet.
Enroll a new petTake advantage of your multi-pet discount when you add a pet to your policy. When covering two or three pets, you can receive a 5% discount. When covering four or more pets, you'll save 10% on your base premium. Visit the member portal to add a pet.
Enroll a new pet