Bella The Doberman

Before we had Hailey and Nathan, we had our first baby, Well I should say Furbaby. This is Bella.

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Bella was born on the 6th January 2013. This is actually Spanish Christmas, it is called 'Los Tres Reyes' (Three Kings). She is a full pedigree Doberman and oh boy is she a handful but we couldn’t have a more loyal dog for our family but with a Dobbie, comes problems….. She’s massive, heavy, clumsy and has so much love she doesn’t know how to contain it. Only up until a year ago when we got a new sofa did we take away her sofa priveledges, she wasn’t happy about it but especially with the kids, we felt it was time she was more “dog-like” because if you didn’t know, Dobermans think they are humans, well Bella does anyways.

We got Bella when she was 4 months old, it was a spare of the moment thing. Lots of champagne with friends on a random night out, my friend Melanie showed me photos of her dog trainers puppies and that they were for sale and there she was…… Baby Bella! The next day Ben and I went to go meet her, her pedigree name was Numero Uno (number one) because of the number one shape she has in her fur. I was expecting her to be a little smaller (who was I kidding?) but when we saw her we immediately fell in love, we were only taking her for the day but we went straight to the pet shop and bought her a collar and dog bowl and in the car ride already called her Bella……. My dad had Dobbies before I was born….. his female Doberman was called Bella and when I said the name, it felt right.

We lived in an apartment when we first got her so training her was fun. Up and down the lift, you could see her wanting to squat down and wee and inside you are like “Common lift hurry up”. In October 2013 we moved into a rented house with a garden, it was not only pure heaven for us but for Bella too and she finally had the space she deserved.

Doberman’s need a lot of attention, especially Bella. She loves to cuddle, sleep in the bed with you, sit right next to you (well on you actually). She constantly wants to play. She’s so intelligent, anything food-related she will do. It was fun teaching her tricks which she still does. She’s that clever that she knows if she goes outside to pee, she gets a biscuit after, so she started wanting to go out in the middle of the night, yeh..... we knocked that one on the head fast.

When Hailey came along, we were so nervous about how she would be. Bella went to the doggy hotel when I had Hailey and we had a couple of days home to settle back in with a newborn and then brought Bella home. Bella was totally fine, just curious like any dog would be but she was sweet. There was no jealousy, it was such a relief. We were and still are always observant of how the kids are with Bella and we make sure that Bella gets her own space and that the kids learn how to be with her.

Just as I write this blog post, Bella grabbed clingfilm from the bin and ate it because a chicken breast was wrapped in it…. This brings me to another thing…. Bella has a very sensitive stomach, if only she would learn from past incidences but that’s any dog! She once found bags of cut down marijuana plants on a forest walk and we didn’t know till taking her to the emergency vets and being told not to worry she was just "stoned". The next morning we went back to the forest and found the bags. Scary at the time but funny looking back.

Bella is great with people, kids and not a problem with other dogs either. She is a massive pain in my ass at times(ok I lie, a lot), she requires a lot of attention but she is such a big part of our family and Ben’s main form of exercise!! (sorry babe but it's true). Before kids, we would be able to take her on the longest of walks in the mountains, off the lead, free to run around but unfortunately, when Hailey was only a few weeks old she injured a tendon in her leg badly so we stuck to low impact walks and it has taken a few years for her to manage and learn to use it differently. It wasn't only the leg but finding the time to take Bella on these massive walks just wasn't possible. She gets a good walk daily and barks at us when she needs entertaining, or just to be a pain in the f*cking arse!

The love Bella shows is unconditional, she is such a big part of the family and it is sad to think she is over halfway through her life writing this. Cherish each moment, even if they do your head in haha!

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Do you have any pets?