big ears

As Bella got to know us she developed a liking for having her chest and tummy rubbed. While this may come naturally to many domestic dogs, for Bella it was a big step. On her back with her belly and throat exposes wasn't a natural pose for an ever wary street dog.

But she trusted us, and over the years we knew her she came to expect tummy rubs from everyone she met. We would regularly find her lying nearby, on her back, just waiting patiently. Her patience was always rewarded for as soon as we noticed we would drop everything to oblige her.

Her left ear looks a little messy in this picture and in her early years when she was still on the streets she did seem to get a lot of infections in her ears, presumably from burying them in garbage piles.After a while I became quite an expert at getting ointment into her ears and keeping then clean - something she wasn't fond of.

This is our first Christmas without her, and we miss her at this time, but over the years we spent many Christmases without her as we travelled home to visit family. Still, it would have been nice this year, when finally we are not travelling anywhere, to have had her with us. Taken on 6 August 2007.

Comments

  1. Such a wonderful portrait and your backstories are wonderful to read. You were all very lucky to have each other.

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