Another Birthday!

Okay, this is being posted really, really late, I get it, but I want you to know I turned 10 on August 1.

Why the delay? Well, I have been pretty busy taking care of my humans, Donna and Frank, recently. They really do need a lot of support! Also, I guess I'm in denial. Frank says that I'm 70 in human years, because every dog year is seven human years. That means I am just a little bit younger than he is!

Anyway, I guess it means I'm really old, and I'm not sure how to feel about that. I suppose I'm just happy to be upright, walking along on my four legs, checking out things in the old neighborhood---and being grateful I got adopted after being in the animal shelter for only a few weeks.

I've heard humans asking if dogs go to Heaven and I wish I knew the answer. I don't mind waiting to find out, but I hope we do, especially if there are lots of treats!







Bella with her birthday cookie


(c) Copyright, Frank and Donna White, 2019, all rights reserved

Watching TV

When I first came to their home to help Donna and Frank out, I realized they had a lot to learn about dogs. After a couple of weeks with them, Donna had to go into the hospital, and I was left alone in the house. That wasn't so bad, because family members came over, walked me, and fed me, and Frank was home as often as he could be.

However, Frank had this "great idea" that I would enjoy watching "Dog TV." This is a channel that has a bunch of dogs running around and doing silly things, sometimes with humans, sometimes on their own. I had no interest in it and the noise was irritating. It's like my last post about "the tree without a smell." If something has no smell, it really doesn't exist for us dogs. Anyway, Donna told Frank she thought it was a waste of time to run Dog TV when we weren't home and he finally agreed.

Well, things changed the other night. Donna and Frank were watching a movie about a dog and they thought I would like it, so they got me up on the bed. Of course, there wasn't any smell with this movie, but there was something else: sound! And the sound was of my own name---Bella! It turns out that the main character was a dog named Bella who accidentally ran away from home while chasing a squirrel and got lost.

Of course, that would not be something I would do---run away from home, I mean (or chase a squirrel). In fact, Frank said the same thing. He told Donna, "I don't think Bella would ever run away from home." Donna laughed and I had the impression they were making fun of me because I am slightly overweight.

Well, the Bella on TV had a lot of crazy adventures and almost got done in by a pack of wolves (don't forgot we have coy wolves here!) before being saved by her friend, the cougar (I know, kind of a weird plot).

So I enjoyed that little interaction with the television---even without the smell!

Bella watching Bella!

(c) Copyright, Frank and Donna White, 2019, all rights reserved

The Tree Without a Smell

Okay, I know: dogs are not supposed to be interested in plants, but I am! I love their smell and sometimes I frustrate Frank on our walks because I have to stop and smell everything. Humans talk about "stopping to smell the roses," but they don't really do it very often.

Anyway, evergreens are my favorite. What a great smell they have! And they are there year-round, so I always have something to look forward to on my walks. Did you know that plants communicate? Yes, they do, with one another mostly, but with animals, too. My evergreens always have some news for me!

So, of course, I love Christmas because we always have had a real evergreen in the house for a few weeks. It's kind of sad because the trees have been cut down and they are dying, but I feel that I provide them with a real service, a kind of hospice care, if you know what I mean.

BUT, something went wrong this year. Frank put up a tree that looked great, but when I went over to smell it and talk to it, NOTHING. It had no smell and had nothing to say. I heard Donna and Frank talking about how much easier it was to have a "fake tree," and I wondered how it could be both a tree and a fake at the same time. Then it hit me! It was a fake but it was not a tree! It was something humans could pretend was a tree.

At first, I was sad that Donna and Frank had interfered with a tradition of having a real tree in the house for a few weeks around Christmas. Then, I had a kind of ethical thing happen: was it better to have a real tree die so I could smell it and communicate with it for a while, or was it better for me to let go of my tradition so a tree could go on living? In the end, it was a no-brainer: let the real trees live!

---Bella

What is this thing?

(c) Copyright Frank and Donna White, 2019, All Rights Reserved