I have, what I personally consider, to be the cutest dog in the world. While I admit to the fact that she can be a royal pain in my behind, I also know that she’s my baby and I wouldn’t give her up if my life depended on it. She’s a Lhasa Apso, which may seem like a rare name for you but that’s because when some see her they think she’s either a ShihTzu or a Maltese. She’s actually in her own category and on many different levels at that!

It’s been kind of a trip having her for the last 3 years. It’s also kind of strange as well. I got her not too long before I had to put Pretty Kitty down for kidney failure. She was there through the official divorce of my parents and while other factors of my personal life were effecting me on a regular basis. While I’m not going to say that she’s my ‘best friend’ I can say that she knows when someone is upset and will do everything in her power to comfort them. This is why part of me believes, based on research, that she could be my grandmother. Some books state that pets are really just members of your family whom have passed away to come back for you. Bella would be Nanna for me, and minus the fact that they’re both short and blond, they do share quite a few personality traits as well.

She wasn’t easy to train, and even to this day she still has her accidents in the house. I do have her on some what of a ‘short leash’ though. She doesn’t get away with much around me and while I do not believe in any form of animal cruelty, she has gotten a smack on the butt for doing something wrong a few times now. She still loves me, as I still love her. When she gets the tap on the ass she’ll crawl under my seat and stay there until I call her back out. She has her own way of ‘sitting in the corner’.

She’s been known to bury bones all over the house. For some reason she has an addiction to socks as well. She’s not like a normal dog who will just fling them around as though they were toys, no. She’ll play with the sock to the point that she’s turned it inside out. Part of me wondered if this was based on the fact that she watches me turn the socks inside out when I’m doing the laundry because she follows me everywhere I go so naturally she’ll pick up on a few things.

When you tell her to chew something well, she will. If I sit there and chew with her she’ll look right up and me and chew away until the food has basically dissolved in her mouth. She’s almost never choked on anything because of this. She knows “get down” and follows the rules every single time. When you say “pee pee” or “poo poo” she’ll sit at the door and wait for the leash to be put on her. She’s not misses wonderful all the time though, her temperament does get a bit annoying.

She is very intelligent, she knows what she wants and she’ll go out of her way to get her way. She’s extremely devoted to me but that is also to the level of clingy considering I really can’t leave the room without her on my “tail”, so to speak. She is a bit nippy around Princess but for some reason she’s protective of Candy when it comes to Princess. She hates being alone, if you lock her in the bedroom to bring in the groceries (she likes to run out) she’ll cry, bark and scratch at the door until someone comes for her and it’s a very loud bark at that. She’s very nosey and everyone in the house will vouch for this one, she’s very playful and by the end of the day she’s nothing more than a lap dog gone limp.

My only big problem with her is ‘maintenance’ so to speak. She requires a lot of grooming because she has hair, not fur. She’s a non-allergenic dog so she doesn’t shed her hair just continues to grow. Every few months she needs to be taken to the groomer and then after that she requires a bath almost every week because of how easily she gets into things. I naturally like to keep a clean house so the bath really isn’t such a big deal for me, it’s the blow drying and brushing afterwards that can be a bit of a nuisance. It’s worh it in the end though. She’s always rather adorable when she’s fluffy – heh.

I just picked Bella up from the groomer a few moments ago and I have to say she looks absolutely adorable. It was actually cheaper than what I used to pay in New York and they did a beautiful job shaving her. They noted a few cuts around her butt while they were grooming her. I let them know that it was probably my mistake while I was cutting the matting off of her. Either way everything went well and she’s cute as a button. I’ll have some pictures later if she ever comes out from under the table. She’s been hiding…heh.