Bella in Kentucky Page!
These pictures were taken after Bella's first long car trip when we drove up to Somerset, Kentucky where Gary works during the week. Mostly taken around 7/1/07. Cute pics ahead! (And others from July)
Note: Because her coat is so white, it's really hard to show details of her body - she's got muscles and her coat is getting a bit shaggy, but it's so hard to tell because the white is so glaring, lol. I tried to adjust the pics as much as I could, but I'm still not happy with the results.
1) 2)
1) My traveling companion - LOL, for once she's looking at me, and very seriously. For having such a long body, it looks pretty compact when she sits like this.
2) Bella sitting in the "pen" area outside Gary's trailer.
3) 4)
3) Gary and Bella waiting on the platform at the train station for the Big South Fork Railroad, a dog-friendly, open-car railway through old Kentucky mining camps. Very scenic and historical!
4) I adore this picture of my sweet man holding my darling sweet dog in his arms. Can we say "AWWWWWW!!!!"?
5) 6)
5) Another AWWWW! picture of Gary holding Bella on the train ride. I think the rocking motion of the train made her mellow, much like when she rides in a car.
6) Later in July - Bella lies down on the job while I am attempting and failing at playing catch with her. Since then, she's learning well to retrieve a ball, though only indoors so far. It's tricky to take pictures when we're playing indoors, but I'll try for next time! Note that Bella's filled out a bit (she's not as fat as she looks there, lol!). She weighed 19.6 lbs. when we got her, and now weighs 24 lbs. She looks so healthy! (7/24)
7) 8)
7) Bella doing a "Beg Nice" for a treat! It's hard for her with her long bassety body to sit up like a jackrabbit, but she can do it fine now! It's so exciting to actually communicate something to her and have her understand! She can also Gimme Paw, Dance (a tiny bit), and Bring the Ball. Now if she would only COME back to me after going outside! She's so funny with Gimme Paw; she often "gives paw" now just in case she can get a treat out of it! I'm practicing the principle of NILIF with her (Nothing in Life is Free), in order to get her to "work" for what she gets. (Here's the link to a site explaining this program: http://www.firstfrienddogtraining.com/nilif.cfm) (7/24)
Bella doesn't demand attention (so far), but I think it is a good way for her to really learn that she gets everything she needs from me. I'm hoping it helps to build her self confidence because she is a timid dog with trust issues.
8) When I'm done watering the garden each morning and the water drains out, Bella trots over to lick the last of the water droplets from the nozzle. This is a nice pic of her long body and a good shot showing my initial (M) on her haunch, hee hee! (7/24)
9) 10)
9) Such a noble creature! This is a pic that we have framed on our fireplace mantle along with family pictures. (6/18)
10) Yes... that's a rubber chicken. Gary insisted on buying Bella a rubber chicken to play with! She did with close supervision, lol. (6/24)
While I'm at it, do visit Bella's page on Dogster.com! You can find it here:
