 |
| Awaiting instruction... |
We were thrilled, Bella had a blast and I'll be writing more about the experience soon. I cannot WAIT to see the photos!
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Not especially wordless Wednesday 134 - "Say cheese!"
Bella had a special surprise last Saturday - her very own photo shoot with acclaimed pet photographer Amanda Jones.
We were thrilled, Bella had a blast and I'll be writing more about the experience soon. I cannot WAIT to see the photos!
We were thrilled, Bella had a blast and I'll be writing more about the experience soon. I cannot WAIT to see the photos!
Monday, October 20, 2014
Bending the rules
Hi there.
So back in August, I mentioned Casa de Bella was going on vacation. We had a blast - probably the best vacation we've had in ages. Bella may not have entirely agreed with that assessment but she still had a grand time.
We spent a week near Camden, Maine in a small town called Hope. We rented a house on a pond and, while my hopes of getting Bella in the water did not materialize, at least I enjoyed everything the pond had to offer. From late summer swimming to kayaking and listening to the loons, I was delighted with our choice of locations.
Jan doesn't swim. And apparently neither does Bella. To be fair, there was no easy access to the water, she would have had to jump in to join me. (And believe me, we tried to get her to do that.) Just something to note for next time.
Neither was Bella fond of the crate. Read: She wasn't going in there again for love nor money and all the super-duper best high-value treats in all the land were not going to sway her opinion. (I should note, we had been crate-training Bella again since February.)
So, after consulting with a few dear friends, we opted to keep her "contained" rather than actually "crated" and hope that our little ploy was not discovered. She tolerated that considerably better.
Of course, we also decided to adjust our itinerary to accommodate the crazy dog.
We took her hiking in the mornings to tire her out so she wouldn't be as stressed on the few afternoons we left her behind.
Bella is a good dog and, short of an absolute necessity due to illness, I know she would never do any damage in the house. But she does prefer to fend for herself when frightened and her favorite method is to run. She can't do that if she's in a crate.
I'm not sure what this will mean for our future adventures as it seems everyone and every place requires dogs be crated when left alone. But because of her abject fear of other dogs, we can't always take her with us either. And kenneling her is simply out of the question.
I guess we'll keep looking and trying. And if we have to bend a rule here and there, well then, so be it. We've worked long and hard to overcome Bella's fears. No 1-week vacation is worth undoing all that.
So tell me, what would you have done? Have you ever "bent" the rules to help your dog?
So back in August, I mentioned Casa de Bella was going on vacation. We had a blast - probably the best vacation we've had in ages. Bella may not have entirely agreed with that assessment but she still had a grand time.
We spent a week near Camden, Maine in a small town called Hope. We rented a house on a pond and, while my hopes of getting Bella in the water did not materialize, at least I enjoyed everything the pond had to offer. From late summer swimming to kayaking and listening to the loons, I was delighted with our choice of locations.
Jan doesn't swim. And apparently neither does Bella. To be fair, there was no easy access to the water, she would have had to jump in to join me. (And believe me, we tried to get her to do that.) Just something to note for next time. |
| I'm sorry, you want me to do what? |
So, after consulting with a few dear friends, we opted to keep her "contained" rather than actually "crated" and hope that our little ploy was not discovered. She tolerated that considerably better.
Of course, we also decided to adjust our itinerary to accommodate the crazy dog.
 |
| "I get to come! I get to come! Yay me!" |
We took her hiking in the mornings to tire her out so she wouldn't be as stressed on the few afternoons we left her behind.
Bella is a good dog and, short of an absolute necessity due to illness, I know she would never do any damage in the house. But she does prefer to fend for herself when frightened and her favorite method is to run. She can't do that if she's in a crate.
 |
| Hiking Mount Battie, Camden, Maine |
I guess we'll keep looking and trying. And if we have to bend a rule here and there, well then, so be it. We've worked long and hard to overcome Bella's fears. No 1-week vacation is worth undoing all that.
So tell me, what would you have done? Have you ever "bent" the rules to help your dog?
Friday, October 17, 2014
Miss me?
Hi there.
Remember me?
Yeah, I'm that crazy dog who this blog is supposed to be about.
I'm filling in for the hu-mom today because she can't quite figure out what to say these days.
She has figured out one thing though: she wants to talk about me.
She doesn't want to turn this blog into a business. She doesn't want to sell stuff. She doesn't want to research the most effective times to post or the best social media tools to help manage her cyber-life. She doesn't want to Pin and Tweet and G+ and Stumble or "Learn 20 Ways to Get More Followers".
She wants to talk about me and dogs like me.
She wants to help me and dogs like me be they scared or left on their own in the streets and shelters.
She says she lost sight of that in all the hoopla about how to be a better, bigger, bloggier blog.
But that's not why she started this blog. She started this blog because she wanted a place to tell my stories and all the fun and crazy stuff I do. And she says she feels like she hasn't done that in a very long time.
As for me, I'm doing really well physically and behaviorally. Mom and dad have been taking me for lots of walks to strengthen me up after having been incapacitated for so long due to my injuries last year. But I'm sure mom's looking forward to writing about all the things we're doing together these days since, as she says, that IS the point of this whole blog thing. So I won't spoil that for you here now.
For today, I just figured I'd stop in and say hello. I know you all must miss my pretty face.
Mom says she really misses your pups, too and looks forward to catching up with everybody very soon.
Be well.
Bella
Remember me?
Yeah, I'm that crazy dog who this blog is supposed to be about.
I'm filling in for the hu-mom today because she can't quite figure out what to say these days.
She has figured out one thing though: she wants to talk about me.
She doesn't want to turn this blog into a business. She doesn't want to sell stuff. She doesn't want to research the most effective times to post or the best social media tools to help manage her cyber-life. She doesn't want to Pin and Tweet and G+ and Stumble or "Learn 20 Ways to Get More Followers".
She wants to talk about me and dogs like me.
She wants to help me and dogs like me be they scared or left on their own in the streets and shelters.
She says she lost sight of that in all the hoopla about how to be a better, bigger, bloggier blog.
But that's not why she started this blog. She started this blog because she wanted a place to tell my stories and all the fun and crazy stuff I do. And she says she feels like she hasn't done that in a very long time.
As for me, I'm doing really well physically and behaviorally. Mom and dad have been taking me for lots of walks to strengthen me up after having been incapacitated for so long due to my injuries last year. But I'm sure mom's looking forward to writing about all the things we're doing together these days since, as she says, that IS the point of this whole blog thing. So I won't spoil that for you here now.
For today, I just figured I'd stop in and say hello. I know you all must miss my pretty face.
Mom says she really misses your pups, too and looks forward to catching up with everybody very soon.
Be well.
Bella
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