Literally.
Our friend Diane was going to take a vacation for the first time in a long time, and asked if we could take care of Cooper and Bella for 10 days? We agreed to open up Canine Camp Suneson.
Camp Canine came with a big backyard, and Cooper was especially excited to bound outside and run the length of the lawn without his leash, which is always required for outdoor excursions from his second floor apartment. Cooper was enthusiastic is his chasing of balls and hunting for sticks, which he liked to bring back inside - unless you took it away and threw it. Oh what fun! I'll just go get it and bring it right back.
Bella is small. If her four legs were inserted into four cardboard toilet paper tubes, her toes would not be able to touch the floor. Stubby appendages such as Bella's, are not suited for running or gamboling. Which, I admit makes it hard for me to believe she is a real dog. More like a fuzzy family-sized mobile meatloaf or a large guinea pig, especially when she grunts rather than barks. Her short stature thus makes it conducive to pick her up off the floor and deposit her in your lap in order to apply petting and strokes; which she lets you know that she often needs. But the human lap quickly be came secondary to another one of Bella's obsessions here at Canine Camp Suneson.
Bella developed a fast fascination with the most unlikely buddy, as a cross-species dynamic quickly became apparent here at Canine Camp Suneson. The first time she encountered Isaac (one of our Desert Tortoise), she began to emphatically yap at him. Isaac, was not bothered in the least. But quite soon after the initial encounter, she quieted down and just stayed close to the tortoise. As Isaac moved across the yard, Bella followed. Cooper would come inside with us, but Bella wished to stay outside with Isaac. Isaac would turn and start to crawl on Bella, she would move to avoid his trajectory, but only in the slightest. Bella would come in the house, but then stare and yap at us. "Bella, what do you want?" Yap, yap, yap. "Bella, do you want to go out?", we would inquire as we moved toward the back door. Bella would dance in circles and kick up her heels. We would let her out. She would then stay out. It was time for all of God's creatures to go to bed. Sue goes out to find Bella. Isaac has settled for the night under the Lady Banks rose bush. That is where she found Bella too. Sue had to crawl under the spreading canes to extract Bella and bring her inside.
The unrequited infatuation continued. When we wanted Bella to stay calm and quiet inside, we brought Isaac inside as well. Isaac would crawl under the kitchen nook secretary and enjoy the cool A/C; Bellas would then splay out on the floor with her nose under the secretary keeping an eye on her reptile love.
My hunch, is that mixed deep inside the Chihuahua-Schnauzer - or whatever, is some distant working shepherd real kind of a dog. And for someone as diminutive as Bella, herding a tortoise is about a big as she can handle, and Isaac became her "herd" to watch and protect. And that she did for 10 days here at Camp Suneson.
No word from Diane as whether Bella's heart is broken by ending of her summer camp romance.
Our friend Diane was going to take a vacation for the first time in a long time, and asked if we could take care of Cooper and Bella for 10 days? We agreed to open up Canine Camp Suneson.
Camp Canine came with a big backyard, and Cooper was especially excited to bound outside and run the length of the lawn without his leash, which is always required for outdoor excursions from his second floor apartment. Cooper was enthusiastic is his chasing of balls and hunting for sticks, which he liked to bring back inside - unless you took it away and threw it. Oh what fun! I'll just go get it and bring it right back.
Bella is small. If her four legs were inserted into four cardboard toilet paper tubes, her toes would not be able to touch the floor. Stubby appendages such as Bella's, are not suited for running or gamboling. Which, I admit makes it hard for me to believe she is a real dog. More like a fuzzy family-sized mobile meatloaf or a large guinea pig, especially when she grunts rather than barks. Her short stature thus makes it conducive to pick her up off the floor and deposit her in your lap in order to apply petting and strokes; which she lets you know that she often needs. But the human lap quickly be came secondary to another one of Bella's obsessions here at Canine Camp Suneson.
Bella developed a fast fascination with the most unlikely buddy, as a cross-species dynamic quickly became apparent here at Canine Camp Suneson. The first time she encountered Isaac (one of our Desert Tortoise), she began to emphatically yap at him. Isaac, was not bothered in the least. But quite soon after the initial encounter, she quieted down and just stayed close to the tortoise. As Isaac moved across the yard, Bella followed. Cooper would come inside with us, but Bella wished to stay outside with Isaac. Isaac would turn and start to crawl on Bella, she would move to avoid his trajectory, but only in the slightest. Bella would come in the house, but then stare and yap at us. "Bella, what do you want?" Yap, yap, yap. "Bella, do you want to go out?", we would inquire as we moved toward the back door. Bella would dance in circles and kick up her heels. We would let her out. She would then stay out. It was time for all of God's creatures to go to bed. Sue goes out to find Bella. Isaac has settled for the night under the Lady Banks rose bush. That is where she found Bella too. Sue had to crawl under the spreading canes to extract Bella and bring her inside.
The unrequited infatuation continued. When we wanted Bella to stay calm and quiet inside, we brought Isaac inside as well. Isaac would crawl under the kitchen nook secretary and enjoy the cool A/C; Bellas would then splay out on the floor with her nose under the secretary keeping an eye on her reptile love.
My hunch, is that mixed deep inside the Chihuahua-Schnauzer - or whatever, is some distant working shepherd real kind of a dog. And for someone as diminutive as Bella, herding a tortoise is about a big as she can handle, and Isaac became her "herd" to watch and protect. And that she did for 10 days here at Camp Suneson.
No word from Diane as whether Bella's heart is broken by ending of her summer camp romance.
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| Bella and Isaac Fast Friends from Canine Camp |
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| Cooper (in the balck & white coat) and Bella Keep tabs on Isaac Inside the House |
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