Bella

This is Bella.  She is a 6-month-old goldendoodle, or something like that - one of those eco-friendly hybrids.  I recently dogsat for Bella, and we became fast friends.  She has three favorite games:  Chase Me, Come Find Me Then I'll Pounce On You, and Fetch: The Two-Player Version.  They're all pretty self-explanatory, except for her version of fetch, which is the same version all dogs play when they haven't quite learned yet, or won't admit they know, that the whole point of the game is for the dog to run around, not the human.

Bella LOVES mischief.  The stairs to the basement at her house aren't carpeted and are a bit slick, so she's afraid to go down them.  Comet, a cockatiel, lives in his cage in the basement, so I carried Bella down the stairs a few times so that we could play and keep Comet company.  When I first met Bella her mom told me about the stairs, but I thought B. was only scared to go down them, not up them.  So after our first play session in the basement I went back upstairs, and Bella sat at the foot of the stairs and whined.  "Come on, Bella, you can do it."  Whine.  "Come on, girl!"  Whine.  Convinced that she just wanted a free ride, I decided to wait her out and puttered around upstairs.  She continued to whine, trying out a few variations to see if one was pitiful enough for me to come get her - then she was silent.  I looked, and she was no longer at the foot of the stairs.  Uh-oh - that got my attention.  I immediately headed down the stairs - "Bella?  What are you doing?  Okay, I'll carry you up.  Bella?  Bel-" as I walked past the pool table, she rushed out from under it and "attacked" me, and Game #2 was born.  I'd been out-smarted by a 6-month-old dog.  Little stinker.