Bela {bey-LA}

She is also (sometimes) called Pook, Pookie or Pook-a-hontas, but don't you DARE call her Bella. {gag me} She is Bela, as in Bela Lugosi, and if you ring my doorbell she will make you think she's coming through the door to eat your face.

posing for Yule pictures

We found her at a no-kill shelter when she was about nine months old, by their surmising of her teeth. She's been the floor-pillow for my boys, the reason we go for walks, and the reason we sometimes hastily clear the room for over ten years now. I've seen her catch and kill small vermin and -impressively- a few ground hogs. I've seen her mope when the boys go to their dads. 

When mom moved in, I worried this big dog might knock her down the steps, but they established a 'dog-goes-first' rule and they regularly went outside together, especially when my mom would say, "Let's go smoke, Bela." Since moving north, Bela has missed mom...but she visited this past weekend. And yesterday, Bela laid in the floor of my guest room from the time the bus ran {i.e. when Thomas left for school} until it was time for it to bring him home. 

She misses my mom. If you add up dog years, they're comparable --if spunky-- old ladies. (:

her spot in my office

 FUN FACT: Bela hates treadmills.

her badass sweater 

  

FUN FACT: Bela loves bread and stinky cheese.

her spot in the living room

FUN FACT: Bela once nearly toppled a grooming table 

freaking out over getting her nails clipped.

she was both the bridesmaid and the groomsman at our wedding

FUN FACT: Bela is believed to be part Rottweiler, 

part Black Labrador, and part German Shepherd or Chow 

because of the spots on her tongue.

of course she only wanted food

this was her pose for the group shots

She has been with me longer than I have been published. 

She's been at my feet nearly every time I write.

So she is definitely part of my process, 

what with her quiet snores and her keen ability 

to force me to forego my sedentary ways 

for short periods of time. {wink, wink}