All You Need is Love....and a Dog.

"I'm kind of a big deal!"

I wouldn't call myself a blogger.  I mean, I have a blog, but I rarely write in it.  It's a blog I started when my son was born. I was very good about updating my blog the first few years of my son's life.  Then, life got busy. Our son started growing up, having more playdates, then school started, then came the after school activities, which means my life got a lot busier!  I also started a full time job once my son started full time school.  Eventually, posting on the blog became less of a priority.  Plus, Facebook came along and I started using that as my "journal" or "blog."  Not a day goes by that I don't post something on Facebook about my adorable kid.  Now I have an adorable pet, so if you are a friend of mine on Facebook, you will see my kid and our dog....and not always in that order.  Anyway, I decided to start writing about our beloved pup, Bella.  Why? Because she is special.  Not only to me, but to someone else...my grandmother. (more about that later.)

When Declan turned 6, we got him a puppy. For some reason, 6 seemed like a good age for our son to be a responsible dog owner, but let me tell you...it's not.  Don't get me wrong, my son loves the dog and the dog tolerates my son but they aren't best friends. They haven't really bonded.  Why?  Because I am his dog's master.  I feed her, I walk her, I take her to the park.  It was unrealistic of me to expect a 6 year old to handle the full responsibility of a dog. Did I really expect my son to get up at 2am to let the dog out for a potty break? Nope.  I don't mind it though, because I love that little dog.  Her name is Bella.  Bella is a mini-goldendoodle.  That's right, I said mini...as in FUN SIZE!!  Everyone knows that Goldendoodles are cool.  Part retriever, part standard poodle= COOL DOG.  But say you were to put that goldendoodle in the dryer. Don't actually try this at home...it probably won't work and you will most likely get a visit from Animal Control or the Humane Society.  But what you get when you shrink down a goldendoodle, is an adorable, portable, huggable, liftable, lap sittable, energetic, take everywhere, amazing companion that is the mini-dood. Seriously, I fell in love after we found our little Bella. I remember bringing her home from the breeder and she was sitting in the back seat.  Even though she was my son's dog, I knew she was also mine. She was ours.  I was bound and determined to raise her as the best little dog in the world.  I just stared at her the entire drive back.

From day one, I was diligent about potty training. I got some bells to hang on the door and each time we took her out, we would ring them.  Pretty soon, Bella caught on and started ringing them herself when she wanted to go out. In 8 short weeks, she was potty trained.  Fast forward a couple years and here we are. Our Bella has grown into a well behaved, loving cuddlebug.  She loves hiking, jogging, swimming, playing ball, dock diving and scaling mountain sides. Oh, and she LOVES people.  No, seriously. You know that one friend that hugs you whenever you see her?  You know..."the hugger"...Bella is that friend. Oh people call that "jumping up" but really, she is just giving them a hug.  That is Bella.  I have let Bella get away with hugging people for so long that it is hard to break her of that habit.   Pretty soon, Bella will start training to be a therapy dog. We knew she would make a good therapy dog when she took to my ailing grandmother so well.  She was so gentle and loving towards my grandma and Bella was such a great joy in the last months of her life.  She always looked forward to Bella's visits at the nursing home.  A few days ago, my grandmother passed away.  I am comforted knowing that she in a better place. It also comforts me to remember how happy Bella made her.  Now we are more excited than ever to get Bella certified to help other people as well.   Stay tuned for more updates about Bella. She has a lot to say and a lot more to give!