It has been a stormy three months for Bella the Mexican street dog, who found herself adrift in the Pacific Ocean after befriending Australian sailor Tim Shaddock.

The pair had to survive on raw fish and rainwater after Shaddock’s 30ft catamaran was crippled by bad weather, before a deep-sea tuna boat picked them up 1,200 miles off the coast of Mexico.

Shaddock said Bella had been a source of strength during his ordeal. “She’s braver than I am,” he said.

After their rescue he said that Bella was in a “precarious” state, but following medical attention, food and hydration she has quickly recovered.

The tuna crew spoke of Bella’s sweet nature, saying she was an affectionate dog who loved to play. “A lot of the crew wanted to adopt her,” one said.

Given Bella’s loyalty to the sailor, she was not allowed to disembark from the rescue boat until after Shaddock himself had been treated in a local hospital.

Her attachment to the sailor was a concern to the ship’s captain, who saw the bond between the two.

Bella joined Shaddock’s doomed expedition while he was still on the Mexican mainland. “Bella found me in the middle of the country. She’s Mexican,” he said. Shaddock bought his boat there too and despite trying to find a new home for his companion before he sailed, he said that Bella “wouldn’t let me go — she just followed me onto the water”.

One of the tuna crew, Genaro Rosales, 48, has now adopted Bella after reaching an agreement with Shaddock to take care of her, as the Australian government’s strict laws on the importation of live animals means she will be unable to follow him home.

Bella has already settled in with her new family. “[Shaddock] saw that I played with her and liked her,” Rosales said.

“She has suffered a lot during her time on the high seas. She has a wound under her front leg and has a nervous tic in her leg, which shakes when she sleeps.”

Bella will now will live with Rosales’s family and another dog, Vicente, in the seaside town of Mazatlán in Mexico’s Sinaloa State.