November 2009

Bella 9 months

8 1/2 months - 75# - 27.5" tall

Dh had his second and (fingers crossed) LAST surgery this week so I'm a bit behind on pictures and updated posts. Bella had another growth spurt and shot up more in height. She amazes me with her brains daily!!! She's been bringing in the paper and mail for dh yet still needs to learn to control her massive paws... I love her intelligence but her sassy side is too much! We've been working with her on NOT pawing us since she arrived but she insists on smacking us around with them... Bella has also been struggling with her ability to not terrorize the cats. With the kittens barely 8 weeks she needs to control her desire to have them in her mouth and batting them around. The older cats are so tired of antics and retreat to the screen porch to escape her wrath.

7 1/2 months - 73# - 26"

With dh recovering from his surgery and another on the horizon in about two months, we're not going to the Shiloh Shepherd Home Coming this year. I'm pretty bummed but at the same time, dh's surgery was long overdue. He is getting better every day!

Bella is taking in all the attention from our extended family as they come over to help. She is stretching out and upward again as well. She is learning more manners as it is more important now for her not to jump up and to behave herself in the house. Her zoomies have moved to outside and more walks have been in the routine.

Here is Bella and Mason checking out the new cat toy... the ball that goes around and round lights up which Bella finds so amusing!



The second picture shows her with her new bee toy... she often plays with one toy while keeping another in her mouth. Shhh... don't tell her but she DOES think she is a cat ;)

6 1/2 months - 70# - 24 3/4"

Bella has hit the teen 'years' and her spunky always testing little puppy attitude has been replaced with a BIG sassy teen attitude! We're in our second fear stage which sadly has been at a bad time in our lives. Jeff has been very ill and I've had to call on the help of many family members to come to the house and help us. Bella hasn't been able to get out of the house as much with me and I pray her resiliance will bring her through this difficult time in our lives. She is still a puppy despite her grown up appearance so we have to remind our extended family that she has TONS of energy she needs help burning off. Because sometimes her exercise gets short changed, she finds trouble! She keeps me on my toes!


Here she is playing with her BEST friend Mason! They LOVE Bella's 'little' pool!

And a tuckered out Bella on the lounge chair beside me :-)

5 months - 58 Pounds - 22.75" Tall

Bella's growth has certainly been focused more on the length and height and less on the weight which is always preferred for large-giant breed puppies. She is almost 23 inches at the withers at 5 months and 58 pounds lean. Teething did a number on Bella's appetite and she dramatically decreased her food intake. She does have her adult canines and molars now so we'll be adding more raw chicken backs to her diet. I'm taking her completely off puppy kibble as I have found she has some light allergies to things in the recommended brands. Her eyes and skin should brighten up without the grains. We will follow the BARF diet which has been around for quite a while now. I was 100% raw with my previous dogs but opted to go back to kibble for Bella because of the new brands available that claimed to be much more 'natural'. I didn't find that to be the case and I'm digging out my Grow Your Pup With Bones book.

Last week, we graduated from puppy kindergarten and she received her AKC STAR Puppy certification. http://www.akc.org/starpuppy/ Once Basic Manners starts up in July she'll be enrolled in that. We're going to take a little time off of formal classes for a month or so. After basic manners we'll go for the CGC. She has started her next fear stage so we're taking things a little slow.

Some interesting things have occurred in the house in that we now have a Severe Macaw named Marlow. He has certainly found his place in the family. You can see him, one of our cats Simon and Bella on the (slipcovered of course!) appropriately named love seat. Shiloh's really are the perfect family dog!

We also recently rescued a pair of Ragdoll cats. I had a pair of Ragdolls years ago and size does matter ;) as does temperament and Ragdolls are the Shiloh's of the cat world. As Fred and Ginger get more settled in, we should have some pics of the whole gang on the blog. Soon enough we'll have Dr Doolittle status with our collection of creatures.

You can see Bella's ear is back down. Teething really does a number on ears. From experience, I am confident her ear will be back up soon enough :) She was carrying it erect this morning but in her relaxed state, she is more likely to let to let it drop. I do hope she grows into those big 'uns though...

18 Weeks 50# 21" MN Dirt Hound!

Every day we see Bella grow and mature more and more into a fine young lady. Here we see her DIRTY side! This weekend she helped us prepare one of our garden beds for veggies.

4 months - 44 pounds - 20" tall

Bella had her first puppy kindergarten class last Thursday. She was her calm and reserved self for a majority of the time but did find a couple like-minded pups to befriend. Since most of the other puppies are so hyper she preferred the two quiet ones and the kids :) I was able to find a class that allows the whole family to participate in the training so Mason and Jeff are learning too! Mason did very well considering his excitement. Jeff learned some things and has to be more firm and consistent with Bella ;-) Of course she is the BIGGEST pup in the class but not the oldest... there are some adorable smaller breed pups the Mason would love to take home that are a few weeks older than Bella.

Teething is getting the best of Bella. Her mouth bothered her quite a bit over the weekend and she didn't eat well. We softened up her food and kept the ground turkey frozen for some comfort. But she's eating half of her normal amount. She's also having some soft stools. Her ears have also been at half mast. Typical teething woes. Poor baby! This too shall pass and she'll be back to her normal self only with her big girl teeth.

16 weeks - 40+ pounds

With both ears up reliably and 4 teeth lost and replaced with big girl teeth, Bella looks more like a mini adult Shiloh. Her proportions are spot on for the time being. At 40+ pounds, she is a solid girl. Soon enough she'll be a gangly teenager! Her favorite activies continue to be chasing the cats, farting and chewing on beef bones. Puppy kindergarten starts on the 16th which is just days short of her 4 month birthday. House training has made great strides and she is now notifying us when she has to potty so she can be trusted much more than just a few weeks ago. She still hates her crate but we're working on some techniques to make it more pleasant.

Dh and I have been shopping for a used RV for this year's home coming. It has been YEARS since we've been out to NY and we're doing out best to plan ahead. We're also planning on attending the Hutchinson IABCA show in May. While we'd love to bring all the kids with us, we will have to play that by ear depending on our budgeting ability.

Here you can see her and her boy searching for Easter eggs.

15 weeks Lost 1st Tooth!

Bella continues to grow like a weed and she's lost her first baby tooth this Friday. Her second bottom tooth fell out Sunday morning.

Also both her ears on up although they are assuming some funny positions.

The puppy fur pattern has been replaced with a more mature 'adult' sable coat. No more skunk stripe.


We had an April snow event which buried her beef bone. She quickly found it and decided she's rather chew on it inside by the fire today.

3 Months & 33 pounds!

Bella's at least 33 pounds at 3 months and OMG she IS such the thinker! We're trying our best to outsmart her but she has been testing us lately! I haven't had such a testy little bugger in a while and I can't get her to stop teasing the cats! All she wants to do is play of course but at this rate, we'll be going through many many cats! I'm guessing she was a medium temp cuz she is no softy. She starts kindergarten on April 16th. Because she is such a thinker, she doesn't appear to be as outgoing as some social butterflies but she has proven that she is only sizing up and analyzing situations and people before reacting. I've taken her to work with me and she already has her favorites there. We'll have some fresh pictures of her up this weekend and it is amazing how much darker she is already. Her back no longer has the skunk stripe but has the overall 'sable' look.

11-12 weeks Growing Fast!

Bella is growing like a weed! This week Jeff weighed her at 11.5 weeks old and she is 25 pounds! Amazing!

Bella has certainly been showing us her us her brains and we're trying our best to constantly out think her - she needs to stay out of trouble! Our cats have been doing their best to stay out of the way of her HUGE paws but are often unsuccessful. All Bella wants to do is play but she towers over them now which isn't as well received.

Her adult coat has been coming in along her spine and she is holding her ears up albeit they aren't perfect.

Bella's First Week Home - 10 wks old

We've settled on a name and Bella wins! Bella is our golden sable girl from the Dec 2008 Holly/Acer litter. She was Blossom aka red collar girl. Of course we are a bit biased but she is pretty much the smartest puppy ever. By her second day home she's managed to train us very well.

Aside from one upset tummy blowout in her crate, she hasn't had a single potty accident in the house! Pretty amazing we think.