Bella's Autumnal Report

            

                It’s been a while – mainly because Bella hasn’t done anything to bring attention to herself for a while! Which is good! So what has she been doing?!

              The Friendship Milestone - Shiba Inu's are a fairly private breed of dog. They don't fuss over you when you come into their home and they don't want to be fussed over by you. So making friends with our friends is a big thing.  But Bella certainly knows on which side her bread is buttered, or rather she knows whose house to go to for biscuits!  Our friend’s house is just around the corner en route to her regular toilet spot! Sometimes he barks at her (this is our friend, a human, who barks at Bella - the dog!), and sometimes she’s invited in to his home and gets spoiled with biscuits and if she’s really good, biltong!  Even when our friend comes to visit us he has treats in his pocket. Talk about buying friendship!  However, now Bella digs her heels in if it looks like we’re about to by-pass the biscuit-house! And literally she appears to dig her heels in; she puts her head down and anchors all four feet firmly on the grass. Fortunately, she knows we love her lots more than biscuit crumbs and a little coaxing and a gentle pull quickly persuade her to move on!

              The Walking Milestone - The path I take with her down to Pin Mill is narrow and at this time of year, muddy. It’s really frustrating having Bella walking ahead of me because she needs to stop and smell the gossip on the path every few seconds! And she does prefer the path to the grassy sides! So I hold the lead behind my back and she’s learnt to walk elephant style behind me! She learns so quickly! So sweet!

               The Sound Milestone - In Bella's early months with us, she didn 't like loud noises. She'd walk out of the room if someone sneezed; although she likes sitting with us, her Shiba Inu Greta Garbo status kicks in and she'll remove herself quietly when she's had enough of our 'noise'.  When I used to open the freezer which is quite near her bed, she'd immediately bolt out of the kitchen as if the icy mist was going to eat her! So a couple of weeks ago I tried a Dog Whisperer trick - offer a treat as you open the freezer door - or any other appliance that your dog might run away from. It worked! For about three days she got a treat every time I needed to get something out of the freezer, then after that she watched very suspiciously and sat without getting a treat while the door was opened and now, she doesn't move away from her bed, although she does keep a beady eye on that icy mist! Yay!

               Maybe her chilled (good) mood today just reflected the outside all-day-misty, dull, autumnal English weather, but she happily gobbled the doggy biscuit treats (not the friend's 'human' biscuit treats!) after having the after-walk de-mud rub! These pics were from this lunch-time’s trip to Pin Mill at low tide. All the time we were here, she happily stayed close by while I enjoyed the view, she didn't chase any seagulls fighting over mussels in the shallows, and wasn't even bothered when a dog greeted her excitedly from one of the boat-houses! Good dog!

 

The Butt & Oyster pub

It may be Autumn. It may be misty. It may be muddy, but this place still has a beauty that is captivating! Even Bella thinks so!