Our Dog, Belle

Belle is our Great Pyrenees.  She's a good girl.  A BIG girl, but a good girl.  Lately we've had some fierce storms that blew through our area.  As big as she is, she's a big baby when it comes to bad weather.  She hides under my workbench in the garage.  She will also beg and Tricia caves in and lets her come into the house.  She parks her big rear end in the half bathroom by the back door.  The next morning the half bathroom smells like "wet dog."  Not good.

She's been barking a lot at night.  We know that there are stray cats in the area and that may be what she's carrying on about.  Or we know that the neighbors have dogs.  If there are any other dogs in the proximity of Belle, she lets them know that this is her territory and it's off limits to her.  Regardless, she barks loud and we worry that it is bothering the neighbors.  We've apologized to them on her behalf.  They say it doesn't bother them, but we think they're just being kind.

Belle's job is to be a livestock guardian dog, but fulfilling that job description started off in less than stellar fashion.  When we first got her and put her with the animals, she promptly chased the chickens and ate a few of them.  She also ate the valve stems and mud flaps off the pickup truck.  She also had a penchant for chewing through the brake lines on my car.  I drove to work with no brakes one day.  "My dog is trying to kill me," I thought.  Those shenanigans cost us some money.  I'm glad to say that as she's grown older, she's grown out of most of those bad behaviors.  Except for digging holes.  That dog excels at hole-digging.  Not your garden variety hole, but 'fall in the hole and sprain your ankle' holes.

Fact of the matter is, we love that girl.  She likes to sit out by the barn in a dog house that I built many years ago for a puppy we had named Cutie Pie.  Cutie Pie was stolen!  What type of individual steals a child's puppy?  It is heart-breaking to lose a dog.  By the way, have you ever seen the movie, "My Dog, Skip?"  Wonderful movie.  I highly recommend it.

Stoic Belle

I think she'd like it if we stenciled her name on the dog house.  To be honest, I didn't think she'd fit in it.  She's way bigger than Cutie Pie was!

Smiling Belle

Belle just likes being around people.  She likes her people.  If we're outside, she's gonna come find us and get some attention.  Sometimes her desire to be the center of attention is overwhelming.  A few Saturday mornings ago I was on the back patio reading over my Sunday School lesson.  Trying to read over my Sunday School lesson...

Our dog, Belle, made it very difficult to get any Bible Study done on that particular morning.  Who could deny attention to that face?  Not me!