Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Happy Gotcha Day, Princess Belle



Wow - it is two years since Princess Belle came to live with me. In many ways, it seems like she has been here forever. And in other ways, it seems like only yesterday.

I remember oh so well the day I picked her up at Deb's place, where she was being fostered. I had attended a Christmas dinner at my mom's seniors' residence and the plan was to pick up Belle on the way home. Just as I arrived at mom's, I got a phone call from my vet to tell me Caleb's test results had come in - confirming cancer.

With heavy heart, I struggled through the dinner with family who love me but, I think, find my passion for dogs hard to comprehend. As soon as courtesy permitted, I said my goodbyes and in the privacy of my car, cried all the way to Deb's.

It is hard to be sad for long, or to let one's worries consume the mind, when faced with an impertinant, feisty, alligator-jawed Princess who doesn't just think but truly knows the world revolves around her.

The smallest dog in the house bossed my big beautiful "vicious" (haha) pitti cross around like Caleb was the most menial servant in the castle. And Charley and Sadie, Oliver and Allie, and most of all yours truly continue to be bossed around by the Tyrannical Princess.

I swear she becomes more and more of a dictator every day. Her latest trick is to wait until I disappear into the bathroom and then bark hysterically as if to alert me to some great calamity going on beyond the bathroom door. I dash out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel and soaking wet from my shower, to find her sitting regally on one of the big dogs' cushions, pointy nose in the air, and looking for all the world like she had nothing to do with the commotion.

Happy Gotcha Day, Princess Belle. You are a regal old lady and your bark and snapping jaws don't scare me in the least!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy G-day Princess Belle from your former foster mom and my own furry gang. You came close to being a keeper here, but you were meant to be exactly where you are. May you continue to reign supreme!

Your loving, loyal servants,
Deb, Riley, Rupert and Jasper,
with kind regards from our own benevolent dictator, Princess Ginger Snap

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, beautiful Belle! Wishing you all the best on your special day, and maybe some special treats?!

Sharon & Crystal

Black Jack's Carol said...

Happy Birthday, sweet, spunky Belle. I'm so happy you and Jean found each other!

Janice Gillett said...

Love that picture !!!

Colleen said...

Happy birthday Belle! ( nice photo shopping Jean! )

Jean said...

Ha ha - it wasn't photoshopped, Hunde Haus! That was one of those "OMG-look-hiw-perfect-this-shot-turned-out" pictures. It was taken shortly after I got Belle, on a frosty morning in my pasture when the sun was just rising and causing condensation to rise like mist from the winter grasses.
Unfortunately, it was also taken before I really understood anything about photography and computers (not that I do now!), and when I resized it to post on a forum, I saved it in the smaller size without using another name, so the original is gone forever....meaning, of course, that I don't have enough pixels or whatever to enter it in a contest or anything like that. Deb Strong was able to enhance it to a 5x7 for me, which is now framed on my office wall.
Of the thousands and thousands of photos I have taken, it is my absolute favourite.