ON June 6, 2017, our family lost our most beloved BellaB – I’ve shared below some things about our Bella so others who didn’t know her, can understand the love we had for her.

Bella was not just a dog to us, she was one of our children and a huge part of our family. Several have said to us - you gave her a great life, she couldn’t have wanted for more, she was very lucky to have you…. I say - No, WE were the lucky and fortunate ones to be owned by her.

She made us laugh, she was amazing with children, young and old, and she always lit up a room when she came in, she just demanded your attention. She was smart, loyal, intuitive, very strong-willed, majestic, goofy and stubborn and boy was she demanding when she wanted something. Customers would come into Tommy’s shop looking for Bella, she was loved by everyone she met and she was loving to those she knew well and standoffish to those she didn’t – if you got some love time with Bella, you were definitely cherished by her. One of her favorite things was having her ears cleaned by Jackson, she would lay across his front paws every night on our bed and nudge him until he would start cleaning her ears, if he didn’t start immediately, she would reposition herself so he had no way to move himself, and every time she got her way.

She loved being a show queen and she loved her handler, Esteban. She hated it when he was in the ring with another dog. To see her in the ring, could bring chills to you as everyone could tell how much she loved it - she loved the attention, loved the clapping and loved her Esteban at the other end of the lead, the connection between the two were undeniable.

She loved running outside and patrolling her yard. She loved her orange balls and her favorite basketball. She would run and get her big basketball (she would hide it each time she came in so no one else could get it) and stand over it until you came out and kicked it for her atleast once, no matter how much I called her, she would stand there and look at me as if to say, I’m not coming in until you kick this for me atleast once. She wanted to run after it atleast one time and bring it back and drop it for you to do it again, she had to always try for that 2nd time. When Tommy would mow the lawn on his mower, she would follow behind him for a bit, all the while having the basketball in her mouth, she would glide across the grass like she was floating.Sometimes she would run ahead and drop the ball in front of the mower so he would have to stop. Yes, he would get off, go to the ball and kick it for her as she knew he would and her little nub would start the slow wagging as soon as she saw him getting off the mower, like “I got my way again”. She would do that the whole time it took him to mow the yard and he would oblige it as it was about making her happy.

She loved hunting lizards. Sometimes when she would run out of the garage before looking for her ball, she would run to the 2 down spouts on the side of the house and look to see if any lizards were visible. If she spotted or smelled one, she would lay in wait, very patiently for him to emerge, then she would take off after him down. Sometimes the lizard won, other times Bella won and when she won, she would stand there and look at us and slowly wag her nub tail - like look mom, I got him.

She loved playing the stalking game with her daughter Abira. She loved boxing with Abira and Deacon in the mornings. She loved rolling outside in the grass, especially when she just had a bath – I think she did that just to try to annoy us. What she probably loved more than anything were her orange balls. She would chew on them for hours in the house, she would punch it so it would go flying across the room and she would run after it, stand there and stare at it as if she were waiting for it to go rolling away on its own, finally she would get impatient, pick it up or punch it on the floor and start the process all over again.

She loved going for rides in the car. It didn’t matter if it was a 5 minute car ride or an 8 hour car ride, if she was with one of us, she was happy. She loved riding in Tommy’s hummer, in his lap, hanging her head out the window or standing on his console with her head out the sunroof.

The thing BellaB enjoyed most was to eat. She loved her ice cream, her banana & peanut butter at night, whipped cream, cookies - anything you were willing to share, she certainly wouldn’t turn it down. Where ever she was in the house, when she heard someone getting ice out of the refrigerator door, she ran straight to the kitchen, she would stand there demanding an ice cube. At breakfast and dinner, she would do spins and circles while I was preparing their meal. She would sing for us doing her high pitch whine.

BellaB was stubborn, strong-willed and very demanding. She was the Queen of our home and she knew it. She was the first in line for anything and expected to be the first one to get anything that was offered. One of her demands was where she went potty. When it was time to turn everyone out, everyone would go out the back door, but not Bella. She demanded to go out her own door and go to the front yard by herself. She would run out the door, barking as loud as she could, especially at night as if to warn all intruders, I’m coming out so clear the yard!

Bella was a wonderful mother to all her babies. She loved Abira and Abira adored her mom.They would always snuggle together every night in our bed, one of them had their head on the other. Bella didn’t want anyone laying in her Queen chair besides Abira. She taught Abira so many of her antics, turning circles while waiting for dinner, crying at a 10 decimal while I was making dinner, the list goes on and on and we are so grateful to see so much of Bella’s personality in Abira.

Bella was the smartest dog I have ever owned. She knew how to get her way, she always seemed to know what to do or what I was thinking even before I said it. She would look deep into my eyes and I felt she knew all my thoughts before they were even said aloud – she was my rock. She was so intuitive with my every move and thought, it’s like she was apart of my being and a part of my soul. I loved her more than I can put into words. Her memory will neverfade, it will live on in her get and her beautiful daughter Abira and we are extremely grateful for the most cherished gift of Abira that she left us with.
vWD: Clear Hips: OFA - Fair Echo: Normal
Color: #2 Black (BBDd) Eyes: OFA - Normal Holter: Normal
  Thyroid: OFA - Normal Cardio: PDK4 DCM1 - Negative
          DCM2 – Homozygous