Meet our dog Bella.
Bella is a Catahoula leopard dog, a breed created in
Louisiana to hunt wild boars. Her crazy
looks are matched by a crazy in your face personality. She has two speeds – she is either passed out
on top of you (sometimes she tries to actually sit on my head) or sprinting
around the room like a kid after Halloween.
Her true joys in life are eating chalk, destroying toys, cuddling,
chasing, and being chased. She spends
her days at the gym with Justin working as customer service representative and
being paid in raw hides and treats from our clients.
Although we try our hardest to get Bella enough exercise
somehow she always seems to have a hidden store of more energy. We take her on hikes, to the dog park, play
with her at home, she runs sprints around the gym, but man that dog never gets
tired. And when she isn't tired, she
lets you know. Usually this comes in the
form of sitting on your lap licking your face or chewing on your fingers until
you put all attention on Bella.
We recently watched a few episodes of the dog whisperer, and
one thing that seemed to pop up frequently is a dog back pack. Every time Caesar meets a hyperactive dog he
gives them a backpack which he explains gives the dog a job to do and keeps
them busy. This is supposed to tire the
dog out and make them feel accomplished.
So last weekend while playing around in REI we decided to buy one of these bags for Bella.
To start out we put a half full bottle of water in each
saddle bag so she could get used to how it felt. The first part of the hike she was a little
tentative. The bag stopped her from
weaving between the trees as easily as before, and seemed a little awkward when
she ran too fast. But by day two she didn't even seem to notice the bag. I on
the other hand already love it – Bella carried my gloves and water the whole hike.
Since she doesn’t seem to mind (and still didn’t
seem super tired) the next step is to add something heavier to the bag. It will be Bella’s turn to lift some weights.
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