Bully Puppy Travels From Small Town To Big City
To Find His Forever Family

The search for a puppy can be an exciting but chaotic journey. Emotions run wild, expectations are high, and many sacrifices are made in service of finding the perfect puppy. The dog of your dreams could be waiting for you just down the street, at your local rescue or shelter, or sometimes, you and the dog of your dreams are just a “responsible breeder near me” web search apart. And sometimes, that dog was born hundreds of miles away, unaware that they will soon begin an epic voyage across states and time zones to make it to you and their new home. Bear the American bully's journey started in a small, rural town in Florida and ended in the sprawling urban landscape of New York City.

An hour east of Orlando, surrounded by the swamplands and forests of central Florida, lies a small town called Webster. Within the square mile of Webster’s city limits, 4x4 trucks rumble down dirt roads, fields of cattle stretch idly on, and a handful of stop lights blink to let pass the daily stream of fishermen and hunters heading out toward the river. For almost 40 years amidst the quiet, friendly bustle of life in Webster, Stacey Criswell and her husband have been raising, showing, and breeding American pit bull terriers, Catahoulas, hounds, and most recently, American bullies through their program, Bolt Action Kennels.

The program typically welcomes 2-3 litters per year. With each one comes meticulous planning for optimal health, personality, and temperament, so each puppy has a chance at a long, healthy life. Every dog born at this small operation in Webster becomes a part of the Bolt Action community, whether they stay with the Criswells to improve future generations of puppies, compete in local and national dog shows, or head off to new forever homes. After her puppies go off to new families, Criswell is committed to staying in touch and being available for the new owners and their puppies. In her eyes, they’re all part of the same, growing legacy. “I stay in contact the entire time, even after they get a pup,” Criswell told Good Dog. “Once someone has one of our babies, we consider them family.” In February of 2021, Bolt Action welcomed a new litter of bullies, and soon received an application through Good Dog from a couple in New York City.

Geraldine and Michael Donadelle contemplated getting a puppy for over a year. They had both lost their childhood dogs around 2015, and were hesitant about rushing into a situation that could lead to painful emotional attachments. After plenty of conversations, the pair agreed they were emotionally and financially stable enough to care for a dog when the right one came along. And so, they began their search.  

They knew from the start what breed they were looking for. “My husband was set on an American bully, specifically a tri-blue,” Geraldine Donadelle told Good Dog. “We did our research and started educating ourselves on the breed, and went for it.” During one of their conversations about their future puppy, Donadelle decided to do a web search for “reputable American bully breeders,” just to see what was out there. She found GoodDog.com at the top of the search results, and everything began to fall into place.

“I thought it was too good to be true!” Donadelle reflected. The pandemic was a stressful time to be looking for a puppy online, she said, but “the requirements breeders need to meet to get on Good Dog, the protection fee on payments, and the flight nanny option” won over the Donadelles.

“The more time we spent looking through the website, the harder it was to turn my husband down on a puppy,” she said.

With its robust history of breeding experience, excellent health-testing standards, and long-demonstrated dedication to the bully breed, Bolt Action Kennels was exactly what the city-dwelling couple was looking for. They submitted an application via Good Dog, and the process began. They were soon matched with “Boy 2,” a small, dark pup from Bolt Action parents Charger and Winrey’s litter, and decided to call him Bear. Even though hundreds of miles separated Bear from his soon-to-be parents, they received updates with photos showing his growth, his personality, and his life in Florida. Before his big journey north, Bear had quality time playing with kids, napping with his puppy siblings, and frolicking in the yard. A short eight weeks after he was born, he was ready to get on an airplane and fly to his new home.

As resilient as puppies are, they still aren’t capable of boarding a flight by themselves. Enter: a  flight nanny. A flight nanny’s job typically entails meeting the breeder at their local airport and transporting the pet to another airport closer to their new home. They take care of the dog during the flight, sitting with him in the cabin area to ensure the pup's comfort and safety. A great place to start looking for a flight nanny is through a breeder, and that was certainly true with Bolt Action Kennels — ask them, and they’ll refer you to Joel Wyn. Wyn is Bolt Action’s professional and dependable flight nanny, and he is responsible for transporting lots of 8-9-week-old bullies around the country, including our friend Bear. 

It may seem nerve-wracking to imagine your future puppy boarding a loud airplane, with no idea what any of the sounds, sights, or movements mean. But Bear’s family had nothing but good things to say about the experience and found that the flight nanny option was “amazing, and made everything so smooth," Donadelle said. "And the peace of mind that comes with knowing your pup is being taken care of was the best part.”

When Joel and Bear touched down safely at JFK Airport in New York, the Donadelles met him at the gate, and the big city chapter of this puppy’s journey began.

New York City is home to roughly 500,000 dogs, an immense number for a metropolis known for its particularly tight living spaces. Every day, New Yorkers cohabitate with thousands of furry friends, sharing sidewalks, parks, apartments, and public transit systems, and experiencing all the city has to offer together. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the canine population in New York accelerated as isolation from the outside world led people to buy and adopt puppies in spades. As restrictions eased and the city came back to life, more dog-friendly activities and establishments cropped up to meet the growing demand of previously housebound people looking to spend time with their pups out on the town. For Geraldine and Michael Donadelle, this was an exciting thought, and they couldn’t wait to show Bear all the trappings of the Big Apple.  

The first day of bringing home a puppy begins the ultimate adjustment period, but Bear’s breeder prepared him with all the tools to succeed at city life. The small town pup quickly grew to love the scenes, sounds, and smells of the big city, and soon seemed like he had been there forever. “There’s so much to see and show him,” Donadelle said. “Especially in NYC, there are so many dog events and dog-friendly restaurants and cafés to go to. After our walks, we sit on the stoop and just people watch, and it’s great!” 

Adjusting to city living can be hard for anyone (human or dog!), but Bear settled in quickly, instantly taking to his crate and sleeping straight through the night. The first few weeks passed by surprisingly smoothly for Bear and his family. Thanks to the Criswells and Bolt Action Kennels, he was already potty trained, and knew how to use puppy pads without much direction. Bear’s new parents hardly had issues with him settling in at all, and chalked up his even temperament to his early days of socialization and training in Florida. “There has not been a dull moment since bringing Bear home,” Donadelle said. “He is very playful and affectionate.”

That temperament and socialization training quickly proved to be invaluable for the Donadelles, especially as they began to experience the unfair stigmas that surround bully breeds. “I wish people knew how amazing, funny, playful and intelligent they are," Donadelle said. "Bully breeds are extremely misunderstood and judged. Tough skin is a must, I learned that the hard way.” She remarked that by five or six months into having Bear, people would look at him as if he was dangerous. “People would cross the street and give us dirty looks. It hurts to see your pup not be given a fair chance to just exist, but it just pushed me even more to advocate for him and be his voice.”

Donadelle’s advocacy for her pup and his breed has been quite effective — she’s proud and grateful to say that Bear has won the hearts of so many people, especially on social media. Donadelle began documenting Bear’s life and adventures on Instagram, showing him grow, change, and experience the city. Before his family knew it, Bear had grown into his too-big puppy paws, graduated from puppy pads to the great outdoors (well, NYC streets), and came into his own as a funny, confident, adventurous pup. From following him online, others could see the sweetness in Bear, and soon he had amassed a small, but loyal following, and a community that has been “amazing and so supportive,” according to Donadelle. Her goal is to implore people to “educate themselves on breed fulfillment and dog enrichment before committing to a bully breed. It’s our duty to be responsible dog owners and not contribute to the stigma,” Donadelle said.

A scroll through @bearinnyc on Instagram shows Bear traipsing around New York in all his sweet bully glory. Whether he’s framed by a background of skyscrapers on a bright summer day, shown frolicking in the snow in the dead of the Northeast winter (and for a Florida pup, no less!), captured decked out in a festive sweater for Halloween, or donning a party hat to celebrate his first birthday, Bear always looks like the happy-go-lucky puppy the Donadelles describe him as. Social media has allowed their New York City community to extend past city limits, and now people from all over the world can live vicariously through Bear’s adventures. He even collaborated with an artist who painted his puppy portrait! 

Sharing Bear’s life on social media has also allowed Donadelle to open up about both the successes and difficulties of raising a puppy, specifically a bully breed. She noted that while the successes have been rewarding — Bear is on a great schedule, doesn’t suffer from much separation anxiety, and is overwhelmingly friendly and happy — challenges do arise. Donadelle said that people don’t talk about the “puppy blues” enough: the anxiety-filled first few months of adjusting to life and navigating the world with a new puppy. “When we got Bear, I was working from home but my husband had to still go into work," she said. "The combination of dealing with a new puppy on my own during the day and my paranoia of Bear being judged was overwhelming, especially when you think the puppy nipping will never go away (but it does!).” She sought out community online, and ended up joining bully owner groups for advice, and she found it “refreshing to know other bully owners went through the same feelings.”

Like any good dog owners, the Donadelles ultimately just want to do right by Bear. Raising a puppy can be an amazing, exhilarating, exhausting, and challenging process, whether you’re bringing up a pup in Webster, Florida, New York, New York, or anywhere in between. In providing Bear with the resources and love that all dogs require, they are not only honoring him, but honoring his legacy and history back at Bolt Action Kennels, and contributing to the growing positive representation of bully breeds. At the end of the day, Geraldine and Michael Donadelle are just enjoying life with the dog of their dreams. “Bear is just a big chunk of love enjoying life to the fullest,” they said. “Making him a part of our family was the best decision we ever made, and we are grateful to Good Dog for making that process as smooth as possible.”

Your very own Bear, the dog of your dreams, is out there waiting for you. We’re so excited to help you find them.