We got Bella Notte in March 2008. She was only 4 months old and the family who had adopted her couldn’t handle her spunk. They had three kids and Bella liked to jump and play rough, and she wouldn’t stop chewing on everything.

At the time, Justin and I didn’t have kids, and when we saw her big ears and curly tail on Craigslist, we knew she was our fur-baby. We went to pick her up from the family & we had no idea how the perfect little dog that sat before us could possibly be as hyper as they said she was. She sat perfectly still, licked my hand when I went to pet her, and sat nicely on my lap the entire way home.

She was afraid to walk up the stairs to my apartment, and she had to be carried up. As soon as she got through the door, she turned into a completely different dog. She started nipping, ran around in circles, and started putting everything in her mouth. We had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into.

That phase lasted a couple of weeks {and I had a lot of casualties as a result, including a pair of designer sunglasses that Justin had given me for Christmas that I still miss} but then she outgrew it. She got her shots and I started taking her to the dog park, where she would hesitantly go up to the big dogs, sniff them, and then immediately roll onto her back. For as crazy as she was at home, she was very shy with other dogs. They fascinated her though, and whenever we came home from the park she actually slept instead of tearing my room apart while I did.

In December 2008, Bella had a first birthday party. My mom made a bone-shaped cake for her & we set up a table at the dog park with treats and favors for the other dogs who attended. At this point, she was still playful and full of energy, but she had finally learned basic commands. She had also become the third member of our family: it was Justin, Bella Notte, and me.

Then in January of 2009, we found out that we’d be expecting a fourth member of our family: Shane. I continued taking Bella to the dog park throughout my pregnancy, but once I started to show she no longer wanted to play with the other dogs, and she would growl at any dog that came near me. Somehow, she knew that she had to protect me and her little brother. As our due date grew closer, we worried how Bella would react to a baby. She was fully grown and fifty pounds- and still pretty hyper. We worried that she’d jump on him or worse, get jealous and act out. I realized that if she wasn’t well behaved, we might have to find her a new home. The thought left me heartbroken and I cried over it for days.

When Shane finally arrived, I was in the hospital for three days. Justin went to the apartment to take Bella out and feed her, and on one of those days he brought a blanket Shane had been wrapped in for Bella to sniff. The next day, we brought Shane home. We left Bella in the kennel for a minute to see how she’d react, but she was so excited to see me after I’d been gone for three days that we decided to let her out. We put Shane in the car seat so that I wouldn’t be holding him if she jumped on me, and put him on the couch so that she couldn’t jump on him.

After jumping on me several times, she did go check him out. She sniffed him, and when he let out a little cry, she jumped backwards. We could read the confusion on her face, and cautiously watched her as she met her new brother. To our surprise, she licked his foot and then went to lay down. After all of the worry and fear leading up to their meeting, that was it.

Since that day, Bella has been like a real big sister to Shane. She loves to play with him, and follows him around the house. She lets him sit on her {even though we tell him not to} and pull her ears, and she always rushes to him when he’s crying.

Having a dog has been such a wonderful thing for us. She really is part of the family! Now that Shane’s a little older, I plan on returning to the dog park so that they can both run around and have fun together like a real brother and sister.

How do you keep your pet happy and healthy? Leave a comment with your tips for a chance to win a $50 gift card!*

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Note: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of IAMS Proactive Health Puppy Formula. All opinions are my own.