This Miracle 6-Week-Old Puppy Is Literally the Size Of a Hamster

Everyone, meet Belle, a six-week old terrier who should be roughly eight times her size. Instead, she’s the size of a small, and not particularly robust, rodent. She’s adorable, yes but her story is also amazing. And she goes everywhere in a handbag, so that’s pretty boss, too. (Do we still say “boss?”)

Belle’s story starts out pretty tragically: She was rejected by her mother (and will probably need a great deal of psychoanalysis) and then had to be resuscitated only minutes after she was born. Her mother, Darcy, had four puppies, but Belle is the only survivor. A male puppy also survived for a time, but despite excellent care and the best efforts to keep him alive, Belle’s brother died and she was left alone and in danger of succumbing to the same fate. Her owner Karenza Cruse, however, had other plans.

Cruse, who is enjoying some celebrity status now that Belle is becoming the most sought-after dog in Great Yarmouth, has to be on constant watch to make sure the tiniest puppy there ever lived is healthy. Belle has to be fed by syringe (at an age where other Yorkshire Terriers would be completely weaned) almost every hour and Cruse sleeps next to her every night. That is some incredible dedication. And those aren’t all of Cruse’s responsibilities: She’s got a guest house to run (which is probably seeing more business with news of Belle) and two children of her own. And vet bills for specialists (which Cruse had to see when she feared Belle might have water on the brain) can’t be cheap. The woman, according to her friend Sarah Bramhall, is a “superstar.”

Here’s hoping that Belle has a long successful life and at least one or two lucrative commercial endeavors. I’d buy puppy food from her even though I don’t have a dog. You can follow her adventures on her Facebook page.