This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx on behalf of Amazon Prime Video.
Bella Notte turns 13 in just a few weeks, and I don’t think she’s noticed yet. While she’s slowed down in some ways, she acts every bit the puppy she’s always been in other ways, like jumping up to give hugs when she sees people, meeting Justin at the door with a stuffed animal and a howl after work, and begging for anything that remotely smells edible.
The other day, I was thinking about how many things have changed since we first rescued Bella Notte as an eight week old puppy. Justin and I were in college- she sometimes even accompanied me to campus- and both of us lived at home with our parents.
When she was a couple years old, we moved in together and she was THRILLED to have Justin around all the time! Of course, she wasn’t a big fan of him going to work, but soon enough we had Shane to keep her occupied.
Bella seemed to think of Shane as her own, or at least someone to take care of. Every time Shane so much as thought about crying Bella would alert me to his distress, and they took many naps together in those early days.
Shortly after Shane was born, we bought our first house and made sure it had a nice backyard- partly for Shane, but more so for Bella Notte. She’s always loved doing “zoomies” where she ran around in circles really, really fast- and we figured having a yard for her to do them in would make her less likely to do them inside. Instead, she did them outside and inside.
A few years after that, Zac joined our family. By this time Bella was around 7, which is technically a senior dog. And yet again, I could always find her napping nearby and watching intently to make sure I took care of this tiny, loud human.
It’s been a few years and Bella’s had some minor health issues- and one major one last year where she lost a spleen. But here we are, about to celebrate her birthday for the 13th time.
There are few things in life more meaningful than the bond between a human and a dog. Every member of my family has a different role with Bella Notte, but we all have an immeasurable bond with her that means the world to us.
Amazon Prime Video has a brand NEW show coming out this weekend that explores exactly that- the bond between people and their dogs. The Pack, hosted by Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn and her canine co-host Lucy, is a new global, unscripted series that follows twelve human-and-dog teams throughout an epic journey all over the world!
Each team on the show is competing for the $500,000 grand prize- and $250,000 donated to the animal charity of their choice! {The Pack even donated an additional $250,000 during filming to animal charities and animal rescue organizations in each country they visited for the show.} To win the prize, each team must depend on their strong bond and their understanding of one another to prove that they have the strongest bond in the pack by facing fun and exciting challenges!
The challenges in the show were designed with a team of accredited veterinarians and certified dog experts- and those experts joined the group on the journey- to ensure that the competition was a positive experience for everyone. And I can’t wait to see the results!
Bella Notte and I recently received a special box to celebrate The Pack Amazon Prime Video premiere this weekend, and it was full of new toys to play with her! We have been using the items in the box to spend lots of quality time together, especially since the weather’s been nice and Bella loves soaking up the sun!
Amazon is celebrating the kick-off of the show with a gift for everyone– a celebration called Packed Weekend! You can check it out right here on Amazon but there’s so much to do: you can get great discounts from pet-centric companies, join the Pack Walk Challenge, find out how The Pack Prime Video show is giving back, and follow along on social for Packed Weekend to celebrate the human-dog bond with thousands of dog lovers all over the world!
If you have a special bond with your pup, you won’t want to miss The Pack! Check out the premiere THIS weekend, starting November 20th, only on Amazon Prime Video!
Leave a Reply