The Healing Power of Bella the Wonder Dog

Nothing hurt more than seeing our teenage son suffer. He was 14 and depressed, he hated school and was sad about not having a girlfriend. His bangs had grown long and covered his beautiful eyes, and it seemed he was hiding from life. I was at a loss how to help him and talking was not the answer. His Dad and I decided getting him a dog might be a way for him to get outside of himself and get him outside. We searched and searched, and no dogs fit our family. One day on our search we got lost (no GPS back then) we thought maybe we should get another cat instead. The words had just fallen out of our mouths when we ended up in front of an animal shelter. Jared said, “ Let’s go check this place out!”

Upon entering we saw an adorable yellow lab mix blonde dog that looked like a puppy because she had very short legs. She was smiling and came right over to greet us. I knelt and said,” Are you a good dog?” Bella looked into my eyes and bowed. That was it, she was ours and Bella continued to greet us with a bow every morning thereafter.

Hiking was a common favorite activity for our family and Jared had a renewed interest after getting Bella. We took her on a vacation to Maine and did some serious hiking. Oh how she loved all the new and different sniffs in the woods. She would haul ass down those trails with a speed not seen anywhere but in the forest. Our friends affectionately called her Bella the Wonder Dog when she would do this. To this day I don’t know how she could run so fast and not get hurt.

Whenever we took her for walks or hikes people would always comment what a cute puppy she was. Bella thought she was a puppy too, unaware of her size she would jump up and sit in our laps for snuggles. Those snuggles were healing for her and us. Hard times came and went in our family, but Bella always knew who needed the snuggles most each day. Bella would nuzzle Jared’s hand if he stopped petting her and gaze into his eyes smiling as if to say,” Don’t worry I’m here just for you.” She was a quiet dog and hardly ever barked. This was also a wonderful thing about Miss Bella Booshkey.

Oh how she loved the snow! We began to think maybe she was part Husky the way she jumped and frolicked in the deep snow. Jared loved wrestling with her in the snow, playing fetch with a stick or just running around. It warmed our hearts seeing him happy whenever he was with Bella. It didn’t solve his problems but the unconditional love that Bella gave him was a quiet support that was so needed. God bless Bella and loving presence in our lives . She needed us and we needed her. Bella left us in 2019 and we continue to miss her but are forever grateful for the time we had with her.