Bella, our little princess, five pounds of fire, fury and unparalled puppy-dog beauty, went to doggie heaven on Friday, after 17 years of living the good life.
Bella, a shorkie, was our second dog, and the gateway to the rest in our pack, which now numbers six.
She was also our first rescue. A mother and her two daughters who had been her family were moving in with family, and couldn’t bring Bella along, because a family member had allergies to dogs.
The mom and her two girls were heartbroken at having to give her up, for reasons that would become obvious to us in short order.
Bella was already 4 years old when she came into our lives back in 2012.
As dogs will do, she picked one of us to be her human, and fortunately for me, I was the choice.
This meant Bella showered me with kisses every morning in bed, and followed me around like, well, like a puppy dog.
It got to a point where Crystal decided that she needed her own Bella, and found one through a friend on Facebook whose shih tzu had just had a litter of puppies, from which emerged Cookie.
And thus it was that our house fell into a struggle for balance of power akin to the Cold War, as Bella and Cookie battled for supremacy, over who would be able to lord over the boys in the pack.
Bella, true to her yorkie roots, was the more aloof of the two. Her approach to ruling over her subjects was much more hands-off, mostly showing whenever either of the humans would leave the room – she’d bark incessantly, and scratch against the door or gate, until the human who’d left made it back.
Her message in those moments seemed to be: we’re a family, dammit, so get back in here, or, alternatively, take me with you.
Her other running mate was our miniature poodle, Mochi, who passed away a year ago, and entered our lives a month after we’d been blessed with Bella.
ICYMI
Mochi was also a rescue, from a senior couple who realized quickly that the little guy had way, way too much energy for them to try to keep up with.
The aloof Bella and the anything-but-aloof Mochi were quite the team, particularly on our beach trips, when evening walks on the shoreline would go like this: Bella would quietly, and patiently, stalk birds scanning the water for fish, hoping to get closer and maybe catch one, while Mochi, unable to curb his enthusiasm, would ruin the game by barking at the top of his lungs as she got closer.
Those are great memories, as are the memories of waking up to literally hundreds of Bella kisses each morning.
The last year or so was tough for Bella, as she battled a cough that became more and more a constant.
Her long walks through our oversized backyard that used to stretch on for seemingly ever got shorter and shorter over the final couple of weeks.
By the end, as the last few days played out, it was clear that she was ready.
As is usually the case, the humans weren’t; the hard part of being a doggie parent is, eventually, it’s time.
As we mourn our precious Bella, we celebrate the life she had with us, and the great 13 years she gave us.
Everybody who visited our house wanted to take Bella home with her when it was time to go.
We’re lucky that she was our little Bella for the past 13 years.
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Chris Graham
