Bella

Writing the blogs and exploring the possibilities for future postings is enjoyable. I suspect our dog will probably become a fixture in these blogs.



Approximately two years ago my wife and I purchased a Chihuahua whom we named Bella. We purchased her from a woman in the area who buys entire litters from various select breeders.



The woman's role in the adoption process reminded me of a "broker" as she served as a intermediary between the breeder and us. I will refer to her as such in the following paragraphs.



We had never owned a Chihuahua. Bella turned out to be the best purchase we have made as a couple. We acquired her when she was 8 weeks old.



Bella was the smallest of the litter but, per the broker, she was the boss of the other puppies. In short, she had "spirit". This is a requisite quality if you intended to survive in our family. It has been suggested that neither my wife nor I are "inclined to hide our candle under a bushel basket".

My wife, Phyllis, hereafter to be referred to as Phyl (unless we're in the middle of a disagreement), had wisely purchased a book about Chihuahuas before we took delivery of Bella. It was our second best purchase.

The author instructed us to take charge of the dog immediately - or the chihuahua would take charge of us. She was a former breeder and judge of this breed. She advised that Bella's breed didn't have to be the typical nervous, snapping, barking, whining, snarly dog you associated with the name Chihuahua. She stated new puppy owners needed to immediately start to socialize the dog by getting it around people as quickly as was practical. In that way, they became used to having people around.



We went immediately from the broker to a bar!



It had been a long time since either of us had brought a baby home and definitely no baby as small as this "paramecium" we were going to have to insist was a real dog, despite the fact I first transported her in a pocket of my jeans.



It is not true that, in our panic upon realizing the responsibility we had taken on via this purchase, our intent in going to a bar was to become familiar with Bella's heritage by downing several Margarita's while she lie at our feet, sucking on a Corona. We drank responsibly and wanted to make a good first impression on our new family member.



Actually, the bar was a local restaurant, Geckos, which is close to our home and has a fair sized patio where you can take your pets as you enjoy their spirits and epicurean delights. It was a perfect place to introduce Bella to our friends.

As the author had suggested, it was love at first sight when the restaurant managers, servers, and customers were first introduced to Bella.

She is now 2 years old, weighs a whopping 2 pounds (soaking wet) and is fully grown, per our veterinarian. She is also spayed and has an appropriately named "micro-chip" installed in her bod. She is smaller than a teacup so some breeders refer to dogs her size as "micros."

The lady "knew her Chihuahuas". Most people, upon meeting Bella two years later, still comment about her calmness and "un-chihuahua" like demeanor.



What they didn't know about Bella, and about which we later learned quite unexpectedly, changed the pecking order of our family forever. Bella is not always as she appears.



But, we'll save that for a future blog.