We are excited to announce the arrival of our new puppy! She is officially called Brindabella Stickybeak although we simply call her Bella. Her formal name comes from two Australian references. Brindabella is a mountain range near our old home in Canberra and Stickybeak is the Aussie slang for someone who sticks their nose where it doesn’t belong.
She is a Labrador Retriever like our previous dogs, Dexie and BJ. Unlike the traditional yellow, black and chocolate labs she is a silver and, as you can see in the pictures below, her fur looks a bit like a Weimaraner’s. There is plenty of controversy surrounding this silver (and charcoal) coloring in dog-breeding circles, but we don’t particularly care.
She was born on August 6th, although we didn’t bring her home till the end of September. Here are a few pictures of her from the past few months.
We first got to see Bella when she was just over four weeks old.Both Chris and Carrie were determined to hold Bella despite her constant efforts to run free.Bella is going after Carol’s ear in this shot…a habit she still has.When she was 8 weeks old we brought her home.Her eyes really were this blue when she was young, but as she ages they are fading and turning amber.Look at that fat belly…on the puppy!At just over three months she is noticeably bigger……and as she got bigger she began to get in and on things she shouldn’t. See how appropriate the name Stickybeak is?The chair she shouldn’t be on……the foot rest she shouldn’t be on……the table she shouldn’t be on……but who can say no to that face?On December 1st Carol and Carrie had a Girl Scout event north of Woodland Park (west of Colorado Springs, in the mountains). Dave, Chris and Bella took the opportunity to visit nearby Farish Recreation Area. Bella quickly learned how to use her claws to run around on the frozen lakes.And of course there were plenty of new smells for a busy dog to sniff.On December 9th we had our first significant snowfall near our house. Dave is keeping Bella warm in this shot…or is it the other way around?Bella didn’t seem to mind the cold and certainly loved getting her nose in the snow.Chris and Carrie loved playing in the show, too.Carrie needs some work on her sledding technique.Eventually she got it.It looks like Chis figured out the easy way to sled.
