I am Bella the Wonder Dog

..and I've got a rosette to prove it!








































Time for a well earned rest...

The Hell Hound of Kenilworth...

Howl......

As Master is not feeling too well this evening I have decided to cheer him up by invoking the spirit of ancient evil that is the headless horseman.

Master does love a good Halloween!!!

But this headless evil does keep telling me to bark at people and try and steal muffins off the kitchen top. It's all very confusing.

Just as well I am a ferocious hell hound from hell and not a cute little labrador. Those mere mortal fools in Kenilworth will quiver.

Unless they have a nice biscuit for me. Then we can be friends...

B x

I'm back!

The sound of dreams shattering. That's what I heard 6 months ago when Simon said I had cruciate disease in my knees. They said I'd never chase a ball again, never run through fields of corn, never play frisbee on a deserted beach...but I refused to believe it. Even in those dark days of 15 minute on-lead walks I never gave up hope that maybe, just maybe, one day my dreams would become reality. As the weeks turned into months I put myself through a punishing rehabilitation programme of physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and - most painful of all - diet food.

And now? I'm fighting fit, target weight, tip top physical condition and - of course - looking gorgeous.

I would like to dedicate 'my story' to all the dodgy-kneed-dogs out there and most of all to my crack team of humans:
Simon 'conservative treatment is the way of the future' Want
Emily 'healing hands' Brittin
and Alison 'aqua aerobics angel' Coxon
...I couldn't have done it without you.

And now there's only one thing left to do....MONTAGE!!!!!!!

This old dog's learning some new tricks

I've signed myself up for evening classes. Half an hour a week for 10 weeks with a test at the end! Intensive stuff when you only have a 30 second attention span.

It's fair to say that I am a mature student - all the other students are no more than puppies! I'll show those young whipper-snappers a thing or two. I can already sit (for treats), stay (for treats), walk nicely (for treats) and at the moment I'm learning to leave (for treats, obviously).

Ahh lifelong learning is so important for one's self-improvement, don't you think...? Not to mention the number of treats you can earn yourself for half an hours graft...

Pardon...?

Simon says my knees are all better now so I don't need to go back and see him until December. What...??? 3 whole months without a visit to the vets? Won't they miss me? What will I do on Tuesday nights at 6.15? What will my humans spend all their spare cash on? Will there be any treats left in the glass jar by December?

So... I got myself an ear infection. He he he. Back to the vets, squirty stuff in my ear, treats from the glass jar, medication for the next 10 days, back to the vets in a week, normal service resumed.

Ay? Pardon..? Speak up!

I think I am in training for 2012

First, I got my own swimming pool...




and now I have a personal trainer...

I've been on my holidays

I have just had a lovely week in the sunny resort of Somerset.

It is a land very far away and very hot.

There are lots of strange animals and noises and smells there.

My Nan and Grandad live there and they looked after me while my humans went off to somewhere called Spain.

I thought I'd miss my usual pack but I discovered that Grandad loves me very much, and he took me for walks, and let me potter about in the garden with him. He got very excited when I ran across the vegetable patch - I think he thought it was funny so I kept doing it.

I got lots of fuss and treats though I didn't like going to bed so much - much more fun to go outside and lie down on the grass at midnight. Ho ho ho what fun we had...

My Official Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday! Not my real birthday, you understand; like all respectable ladies my actual date of birth is something which varies depending on who's doing the asking. No, yesterday was my official birthday. It was the 1 year anniversary of me and my favourite humans becoming one big happy pack yay!

Well, when it's your birthday you get birthday treats! Birthday treats include a giant rawhide (lab fans - you know how I feel about giant rawhides!) and also a rather fetching pink collar. How do I look?

Four seasons in one month

After blogging about my new found love for snow just the other week, I'm afraid I have to admit that my mind, like the weather, is rather changeable. Girls, the bikini season has officially arrived...here's a snap of me topping up my tan at the weekend. Skinny or what?

Simon says...

...my cruciate ligaments have gone. Simon's my vet by the way. Oh yes, we're on first name terms these days on account of my having to visit him so often. Nope, I don't know where they've gone but Simon reckons they've definitely gone.

I'm guessing you've probably heard about cruciate ligaments going in professional footballers' knees? Well, I like to think that this diagnosis confirms my status as a top flight elite athelete but...

ALL FUN IS NOW BANNED! I am not allowed to chase sticks....or balls....or frisbees....or other dogs. I am a grumpy pooch.

My new favourite thing....snow!!!

That last one was especially for my lab fans...looking pretty gorgeous, don't ya think??

News flash...I stopped barking long enough to make new friends yay!

Hello lab fans! Sorry I haven't blogged for a while but I've had a very busy Easter. A whole bunch of new people came and stayed at my house and we all had lots of fun together yay!

Here's me and my new best friends Amber and Emma...like normal humans, only smaller.

and my new canine friend - the confusingly named Kitty...like a normal dog, only thinner.

Now you see it, now you don't

The carpet's gone! There's a new slippy slidey floor everywhere! I'm not happy about it. I have channelled my emotion into a new art intallation entitled 'the newspaper gets it'...

Do you want the good news or the bad news?

...said the vet. Well, I mainly just wanted one of the doggy treats he keeps in a glass jar where I can't reach them, but anyway...

The good news is that I am still a super slimmer. I have lost another kilo - yay!

The bad news is that I have got a poorly knee. My knee has got arthritis in it. I don't know how it got in there but I do know that it's a bit tricky trying to walk using only three legs. So now I have to have injections and tablets and funny stuff in my food.

I am being a brave soldier about it all, of course. Brave soldiers get doggy treats, right?

Out with the old and in with the new...

Hello again lab fans! I have two very exciting things to tell you about.




Firstly, I am a super slimmer! Oh yes, I have lost a whole kilo in the last month. I feel like I should have a photo of me standing next to a cardboard cutout of my former, slightly heavier, self while holding up my harness which is of course...ho ho...comically outsized for my new svelte frame. Ahhh....read it and weep fatties!


Secondly, Spring is almost upon us, so I'm busy hoovering up the last of the windfall apples in the common. Ahem, anyway Spring is also a good time to ring the changes in one's home, don't you agree? Here's some photos of me doing a bit of decorating at the weekend. It's not as much hard work as some people would have you believe y'know....

Giant rawhide action!

Wow I love Christmas don't you?? I don't know what I love more...ripping paper to shreds and leaving it lying all over the floor or discovering that inside the paper is lots of yummy doggy treats yay! As you know, I'm a doggy on a diet so I don't get many treats usually but who doesn't indulge a bit over the festive period..???

This is my favourite present of all...my giant rawhide!! It's January 11th and I'm still only about two thirds of the way through it...that's a whole lot of chewin!