Holidays 2009

A whole year has come and gone. We're sincerely hoping that 2010 is a MUCH better year than the last... With dh's health improving yet still finding some new issues here and there... And all the fun household improvements we've accomplished in 2009, MORE continue to pop up at the worst possible times... Bella and the rest of the critters provide us all with the unconditional love we all need :)


Bella trying to stay up to see Santa. She didn't manage to stay up long enough for his visit.


Here is our latest addition - Lulu. She is a sweet blue bicolor Ragdoll that joined our family in late November.

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.