Bella the Rock Collector

When Bella was a teeny tiny puppy getting up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water or whatever, one would hope not to step into a puddle or a pile. She finally grew out of that, but now one is faced with a new "surprise" thanks to her. Nothing says "WAKE UP!" like stepping on a rock. A rock? Yes, a rock.

It seems Bella has become a rock collector. Where most dogs beg to have a stick thrown, my dog begs to have a rock thrown. She is very persistent and will do a little dance until you fling one. She then searches the entire yard until she finds that one particular rock. When she does she lifts it up and either buries it, or puts it in a pile, after sharpening her teeth on it. She does her business with a rock in her mouth, and when she comes back inside she will bring a rock in with her. She will not come inside without bearing a gift -- a rock, a twig, a branch, a leaf. She must be a Sicilian dog.

I have found rocks in my bed. I have sat on rocks on the couch. Rocks peek out of the the massive hole in her chaise. I have washed rocks in the washing machine. And I have stepped on rocks in the middle of the night. Ouch. She is a quirky little thing. She's lucky she's so cute.

This was her yesterday in the snow. All the rocks and twigs were covered so she couldn't built her pyramid.

Bella's Chaise

When I was in Steinmart last week I saw the cutest little doggie chaise lounge. I wondered if Bella would use it if I bought it, or if I'd be wasting my money. So far, any of the other beds she's had she has used so I thought why not give it a go? Although it was $59.99 I had a 30% off coupon so I figured it wouldn't be too bad.

I hefted the chaise lounge up to the register only to find out they wouldn't honor the coupon as it was only good for items already on sale. That didn't make much sense to me, and I relayed that to the cashier but her attitude pissed me off so I walked out without it. Two days later I saw in Steinmart's ad that doggie beds were now 50% off. Score!

I ran back, but was disappointed to see that the cheetah print chaise was gone and there were only zebra print ones left. I corralled an associate who was walking the floor and asked her if she would check in the back to see if there were any cheetah ones left. She returned to tell me the only one they had back there was a jaguar spotted one. I never realized jaguars had spots, but apparently they do. It was still in the box and all I'd have to do was put the legs on myself, so I asked her to bring it out so I could see if that was the one I wanted. It was. She put it on a hand truck and brought it to the register.

The cashier rang it up and it showed it was $59.99. I whipped out the ad and pointed to the doggie bed 50% off picture. She pointed to the word "select" and said this one was not one of the "select" ones on sale. And no, I still couldn't use my coupon. Against my better judgment I said I would take it anyway, and they helped me load it into the car.

Well, I am thrilled to report it was not a waste of money. Bella actually loves it! Naturally I had to stop her from trying to chew the one string that was hanging from it, and clawing at the back of it. And anytime one of her toys goes under it I have to lift up the lounge or she will use her paws like shovels and try to dig through it to get under it. Yeah, she's not the brightest bulb.

So without further adieu, here are a couple of shots of her on it, before the Christmas tree went up. That's another story, for another day...

Rustling Leaves

What's that rustling I hear under the leaves?



It's my puppy Max...



"Mom I'm ten years old...I'm not a puppy anymore!"



You'll always be my puppy. C'mon inside and warm up...it's too cold out there for those old man bones...