Bella's Story

  Last Thursday, my boyfriend, Chris, and I took my family’s dog, Bella, for a walk. She clipped along up the neighborhood road with a spring in each little step. When we reached the trailhead blanketed in snow, she poked her snout in, then ran jubilantly ahead, the gray hairs on her face hidden by snowflakes.   “How old is Bella?” Chris asked. I paused, not totally sure myself.  “I think she’s 13.” “Really?” He replied. “She’s like an 80 year old puppy!” I smiled. It was true. She seemed like a puppy, happy and eager as she waited for us slowpokes 100 yards down the trail. Her tongue lolled and there was a sparkle in her eye.  Bella had not always looked that happy. My mom and I rescued her from a kennel in Northern Utah back in 2007. We showed up expecting to adopt a different dog, a rambunctious husky male we had seen online. Upon arrival, we were disappointed to learn that the dog had been adopted earlier that morning. Being twelve, and the avid d...