Wordless Wednesday 102 - No secrets here

People tell us all the time how expressive Bella is. It's certainly not hard to guess what she's thinking sometimes...

(Please excuse the broken board in the deck courtesy of the little princess there. We will be fixing that next Spring.)


PS - Don't forget to vote in the "Dogs of Blogville" calendar contest hosted by "Heart Like a Dog" and "The Daily Dog Blog". It's easy-peasy, no registration or email sign-ups - just choose, click and vote. One vote per IP address per 24 hours. Contest ends Sunday at 12 noon.

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A special request: Vote for Benny!

Hi friends,

So we entered this contest to be a part of the "Dogs of Blogville" calendar this year. I think Bella's picture is cute and have been pestering all of my friends to go vote for her.

But I'm changing my stance and asking them, and now you, for a different action.

The "Dogs of Blogville" calendar is a fund-raiser hosted by Jodi Stone of "Heart Like a Dog" and Julie Melfi of "The Daily Dog Blog". It's in its second year.

Last year they raised $500 that was donated to "Champion of My Heart" to help defray some of the medical costs associated with Lilly's vaccination issues. (It should be noted that some of the money was set to also go to "Life with Desmond" but Lauren wanted her share of the funds to go to Roxanne and Lilly. You are still my hero, Lauren.)

This year, the money raised from the calendar will be going to "Two French Bulldogs" to help with some of the costs from Benny's cancer treatments.

I really want to see the calendar be a huge success for Benny.

But I saw something today that made me think there was something "rotten in Denmark". Not that there's anything wrong with the contest - it's totally on the up-and-up: you can only vote once per IP address per day so Julie and Jodi did a bang-up job securing the process.

What I noticed though is that, based on the votes as they currently stand, Benny may not even make the calendar being made in his honor. And that's just not right.

So I'd like to ask everybody who reads this to please go over to the "Heart Like a Dog" voting page and register their vote for Benny and Lily. It only takes a minute and you can vote every 24 hours. Recruit your friends.

I'd really love to see Benny on the cover of the calendar and I'm going to campaign hard for them for the next several days the contest runs. Would you help me spread the word?

You're gonna go vote for Benny now, right?
Okay, thanks!

Sort of Wordless Wednesday 101 - The teeter totter (video)

We're all big smiles here at Casa de Bella this evening. This is why:


Not my fanciest video but certainly one of my proudest moments. Yay, Bella. Who's the scared-y dog now?

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Wordless Wednesday 100 - Miss Moody

These pictures all have a time stamp of 2:55 pm on them so they were taken in the same minute.

Happy dog is happy.

Uh-oh, what happened?

Somebody hears Bailey, the neighbors' dog who she's afraid of.

Curses, foiled again.

Moody dog is moody.

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Black & White Sunday: Tiffany

One of my first loves: Tiffany. This would be my first summer home from college. (Many, many moons ago.)

Follow up Friday 8

Today we're joining Heart Like a Dog's Follow up Friday blog hop. Thank you Jodi, for inviting us all to join the hop that "let you wrap up the week and leads you right into the weekend."

I wanted to follow up on our Through the rabbit hole post because Bella's reaction to the rabbits has rather surprised me. Nothing quite asdramatic as Beau's reaction, mind you, but our expectations are more than a little different between the two dogs.

Bella has a pretty high prey drive and goes absolutely Cujo at even the long-distance sighting of a squirrel. So when I realized the rabbits were grazing on the INSIDE of her fenced in area, I got just a little nervous for their safety.

Imagine my surprise when one day I let Bella into the area and saw a bunny go high-tailing it across the yard with Bella in pursuit. Note that I did not say in "hot" pursuit. The bunny was moving full-speed. Bella, surprisingly, was not. She was chasing it but not with any real conviction.

After a few years, I think you get to know your dog. Especially when, as in our case, you've had to pay special attention to her subtle signals. When Bella sees a squirrel, she gets all up in full-on attack mode: hackles raised, ears forward, body tense.

While I watched her 'go after' this rabbit, she was showing a much more relaxed posture - more like play than fight/hunt. And she was nowhere near moving at full speed.

I wonder, what does Bella sense about squirrels that makes her go haywire that she didn't sense in the bunny? I don't have a clue and would love to hear your thoughts about it.

I do think it's telling that the rabbits seem to feel safer inside the enclosure than outside. Maybe it's because they usually know when Bella's coming due to opening doors and a crazy hu-mom that calls out a warning to them.

In other news, our thoughts are still with Marquie and her family, as well as all our other friends who have lost their beloved companions in the 2 years we have been blogging: KB and her beautiful K, The Houston Pittie Pack, Jana's Jasmine, Mrs. Taleteller's beautiful Blueberry, Mister Mango, regal Remington, the charming Au, sweet, baby Charlotte, the lovely Cali, gorgeous Gizmo and ever adorable Howie. Sadly, I am sure I have missed too many more. I would also like to offer a special verbal hug to our own friends Sheila and Matt who lost their beautiful Kismet in a tragic and horrible situation this summer. You are always in our thoughts.

Finally, thanks for all the kind words about our blogiversary. It has been a unique pleasure getting to know all of you and your animals. Your friendship, kindness, encouragement and wisdom has taught me so much. Here's to another two years of sharing stories, celebrating successes and comforting sorrows. Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday 99 - Happy blogiversary to us!

Two years ago today, Bringing up Bella published our first post.

Bella was dubious.

Then she found out that she would get treats for modeling.

And sometimes companies send us food stuff to review - more treats! (Thank you!)



But sometimes we lose dear friends and times are sad.

But the pet blogging community always rallies around the folks who are hurting or in trouble and it makes us all very hopeful as we look to the future.

So all in all, Bella has decided this blog thing is a-okay and she is ready for her close-up.

Thank you everyone for hanging with us, sharing our journey and rooting us on.

"We love having you here."

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There's a hole in the world

Hi friends,

It's a heart-breaking day in Blogville today.

For those of you who aren't following Two Collies and a Mutt on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, Marquie hasn't yet posted to the blog but her beloved Lassie has crossed over the Bridge.

It just seems so unreal and unfair. One year after Ella's sudden passing, that Marquie should lose Lassie as well... I can't imagine how lost and rudderless she feels.

Dear Marquie,

My heart aches for your loss and I wish for all the world that I could make it better again. I have no words that can heal this hurt. I can only offer my prayers and thoughts and ear and long-distance, virtual hugs.

A friend of mine shared this with me on the passing of my father:

"When you're in the grocery store...
and it seems like your feet are made of lead.

And everyone around you is moving and working
and shopping and you feel like YELLING:

"Don't you know the WORLD has stopped!!".

Remember that, for a while, it did, for
everyone who posted here, that has lived
through the death of a father, and how we
hurt for YOU right now.

Time is the only healer. You will always miss
him, but there WILL come a day when you can
walk by his picture and laugh for the remembrance
and your luck at having had him for a parent."

I offer the same words to you on the passing of your beautiful boy.

Know that today, the world stopped with you. That all of us who have lost our "heart" dogs, all who have lost a love: We know. We understand.

And know that there WILL come a day when your pain will turn to sweet memories, perhaps still always tainted with a gentle sorrow, but grateful for having such a beautiful soul share your life.

Run free, sweet Lassie. Know that you were well and truly loved. You will be ever missed.

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Words of comfort and condolence are gathering on her Facebook announcement if you wish to add your voice.

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Black & White Sunday: Through the rabbit hole

We have rabbits. We have a fenced in area for Bella. The rabbits and Bella often occupy the same space. This makes for a precarious situation for the rabbits. So we cut holes in the bottom of Bella's fencing to let the rabbits come and, more importantly, go - quickly - when they have to. Bella is not impressed.