"For Christmas 2007, we got bacon-scented and peanut-butter-scented bubbles (among other things). Here I am jumping for bubbles on Christmas morning! Can't I jump high?!"
Nicknames: Speckles, Cattle Dog, Cattle head, Cattle, Sweetcakes, My Lovey Dog, Speckled Buzzsaw, Tiny Cattle Dog Doggie Dynamics:
Energy
sleepy
energetic
Intelligence
silly
genius
Friendliness
aggressive
affectionate
Playfulness
not playful
very playful
Disposition
anxious
calm
Quick Bio:
-purebred
-pound dog
-dog rescue
Gotcha Date: October 8th 2005 Birthday: October 29th 2004 Likes: Walkies with Mommy, car rides, barking at things, and yummy foods! Pet-Peeves: Motorcycles!! She hates them even they're parked with no one on them. People riding bicycles and skateboards. People coming to visit our house. Favorite Toy: The hose -- she LOVES chasing and biting the water! Her tug toy and her blue Softflex Best Ball and her frisbee Favorite Food: People food used as training treats -- summer sausage, hot dogs, cheese, turkey and chicken. She also has to have a bite every time I eat a banana, plus she loves raw almonds! Favorite Walk: Any walk with Mommy. She especially likes walking in the woods on her flexi-leash. Best Tricks: Sit pretty, sit, stay, down. Also, the best trick of all: convincing Daddy that she should sleep in the bed -- it's a miracle! She sleeps under the covers right next to Mommy! Arrival Story: I had been thinking of going to the pound to get another dog and had been looking on the internet at the Sacramento County Shelter website a lot. There was a really cute dog on the site and I told my husband about it (it was about the thousandth dog I'd told him about) and he said "Let's go down there and you can pick out a dog for your birthday" -- I almost died of excitement! We hopped right in the car and went to the pound. I found the dog on the website, but she was already adopted and was just there waiting for spay surgery. So, I began to look around. I came to a kennel in a quiet area and in it was the sweetest, most timid-looking little Cattle Dog. I talked to her softly and she crept forward and poked her nose through the chain link. I reached in to pet her and she peed a little. She was so scared in there, so sweet. I pet her for a minute more and then realized that this was my dog. I went to find my husband and told him to bring an employee so we could take her out and socialize with her. When I got back to her kennel, there was a man with two rowdy boys in front of her kennel. She was too scared of them to come up to the gate. I told the Dad I was adopting her, knowing that she was the right dog for me even though I hadn't even taken her out of the cage yet. My husband brought the employee and they let us take her into a yard to play with her. She just tried to crawl in my lap and my husband said "this is your dog" and so we went and told them we wanted to adopt her. They said she was an owner turn-in just that morning, and she still needed to be temperament-tested. I was nervous that she'd fail their tests because she seemed scared and the guy who took her into the room to test her was huge (and, to a smallish dog, probably scary). But she passed! He said she was timid, but would be okay. So, we adopted her right then, and because she was already spayed, we got to take her home right away! She slept on my lap the whole way home. When we got home, our Cattle Dog mix, Sammy, liked her fine, but our German Shepherd, Bob, was NOT happy to see her (he is not fond of strange dogs). We took them for a walk together and then Bob had to be leashed and/or crated for a full 24 hours before he accepted her in his house and yard. But now they are all three great friends. I had always wanted to adopt a dog from the pound, and Bella was that dream come true! Bio: Bella is the most loving, sweetest, affectionate dog! She is also such a "follow dog" -- she follows me everywhere I go, even into the bathroom! She is unbelievably smart, she learns so fast and is excellent at obedience (and we use positive methods only, so she really loves training). She is always either at my feet or bringing me a toy or -- my favorite -- cuddling up in my lap. She's so athletic and energetic and eveyday I have to do what I call "wearing out the Cattle Dog", which is basically exercising her until she is tired out (even though it doesn't take long before she is ready to play again!). She is the greatest birthday present I have ever gotten and ever will. I feel blessed to have such a wonderful dog in my life. Forums Motto: No Worries, Mate! The Groups I'm In: FANCYPANTS CAFE, Australian Cattle Dog, Australian Cattle Dogs, BadDogs, Cattle Dogs Forever, Dogs with SPOTS and DOTS!, Greatest American Dog Fan Club! My Best Friend: My Bestest friend in the whole world is Sheila! She is a little Girl Cattle Dog that is a whole lot like me! We have lots of things in common, the best one being that we both love to bark at things... and we know that things love to be barked at! It's a friendship made in Heaven!
Things I like to bark at: Motorcycles (even if they are parked and no one is on them), trucks, skateboards, other dogs, people, bicycles, joggers, deer, livestock, birds at the feeder... I must defend against all these things by barking and barking and, if at all possible, herding them away!
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My Best Friend Sheila's Badge!:
Educating Bella: Something I love: Dog training! See, my Mommy uses only dog-friendly training methods, so that means clicks and treats and toys and targets and fun, fun, fun! We do fun behaviors all during the day, and my rewards are stuff like my own dinner or Mommy opening the door for me... it makes training a part of my real life -- and that's fun too! One of my best behaviors is "sit to say please", which means I automatically sit when I want something, like for Mommy to throw the ball or put on my leash. Mommy says I am so smart that I learn stuff faster than any dog she's ever known. I get an A+!!
Today we took our walk at dusk! It was so wonderful, especially because it was cool and windy and there were clouds in the sky and it rained! It feels like Autumn! YAY!
I loved walking tonight also because I smelled LOTS of good stuff. I sniffed and sniffed and sniffed. And I made peepee A LOT tonight, and because I was feeling very good and energetic, I kicked the ground after every peepee! I sent dirt flying all over the place! I have on my happy face when I do this. Mommy thinks I am silly and cute.
I wonder what tomorrow's walk will be like? Will it be cool and moist and yummy-smelling? I hope so!
On our walk this morning, I saw a doggie that I normally bark like crazy at! Sammy pulled on his leash to say "Hi" to the doggie.... the doggie (a Jack Russell Terrier) pulled on his leash to say "Hi" to Sammy. Mommy and the nice lady walking the JRT said "Hi" to each other.
What was I doing? I was crouched down, low to the ground, creeping forward... I was getting closer and closer to the JRT doggie.... then I SPRANG AT HIM! And I.....
...I sniffed him and we said doggie "Hi" to each other! Mommy was so proud of me!
At the last second the JRT made growlies at me, so me and Sammy and Mommy walked calmly away, and I did not bark at all! In fact I made little cries like I wanted to say "Hi" some more!
Mommy was amazed and baffled by my not-barky episode. I am a Cattle Dog, brilliant and fierce and filled with potential squeak-barks. But sometimes I'm just a surprising little dog, and this morning I thought I'd surprise Mommy! She loved it.
Next time maybe I will surprise her by not grabbing the leash and pulling madly on it at the beginning of our walkie ;)
Mommy has been walking me and Sammy together lately! At first I thought that it wasn't very fun because Sammy walks very slowly... but this is turning out to be great fun!
Me and Sammy love to sniff all the same things, and we take our time sniffing.... and peeing. He pees on something, and then even though I'm a girl doggie, I raise my leg and pee on his pee. Then I love to scratch the ground up and send dirt and weeds and leaves flying all over the place. Sammy does it sometimes too, but not as much as me.
This morning we walked a little bit later and it was already getting hot out. Even though we did a slow sniffy walk, we both were tired by the time we got home. You can really wear yourself out sniffing and peeing and scratching the ground!
Dogster Obsessions: The Starter Kit for Dogs by Wildebeest
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