I will get to the funny story in a bit, but I need to give a little background, Bella aka Monkey, Bell-Bell will be coming 16 in a just a few short months, she is really starting to slow down now.. she sleeps many hours away, she has a lot of trouble with dog food, so we have moved her over to softer fully cooked warm meals only (which she is doing great on) and she has needed to wear a winter jacket for both last winter and this winter, she has a little half step up and down for both her favorite sleeping chair in the living room and to help get on and off the bed now.

Here she was a sweet young pup.. She is a mixed breed Shelter adoption, we had a idea of what her mother looked like as she was turned in expecting but no idea at all on who her daddy was.. She was such a itty bitty pup when we got her and she certainly grew to be bigger then expected.

Monkey has quirks, she is a lovely dog, truly but she has quirks, she will not be crated, as in broke her teeth as a younger dog fighting the crate.. just do not go there unless she is given a bit of help from the vet to keep her calm for air flight.

But it goes beyond that, she must be left out when left alone, DO not think you can put her in a room, o my NO, my mom did that once while puppy sitting and she eat though the bedroom door..  I left her sleeping one time in bed and closed the bedroom door, hundreds of dollars of damage later, I was greeted with one pissed off girl..

and do not think doors are the only thing she will go for.. floors can be dug and so forth.. If you follow the rules and leave her in the main room, she is gold.. not a thing moved, housebroke for a solid 8 to 10 hours as adult,  (even now, she is good for four to five hours) and as happy as they get..

So you can imagine my O NO, when we came home and I realized that I had locked her in my newly done kitchen..  I shook my head and though.. What did she eat this time.. and did she grumble at me.. with her wee trash talking puppy grumbles, she went to her favorite chair and gave me the “look” and so I looked and laughed.. someone is aging with grace..

My kitchen was intact, the only thing that felt her ill humor was the little Christmas tree on the table, she had taken it out, and the little xmas balls where toast.. it was for her a mere token effect.. Happy to see her little spirit is still strong.

I am going to do a photo shoot at xmas, she has been a part of our world for over 15 years now, I am hoping to get just a bit more time with her yet.. but I have learned you never know, so I do my best to have a special us time daily..

Bella does not agree with dressing up, not like my wee Munchkin did ( its been three years and I still miss her)  but we will see. We will see!