Bringing Home Belle

In late August, we got an unexpected phone call from our breeder.  There would not be a Christmas litter after all.  :(  BUT there were a few pups available if we wanted one immediately.  Eeek!  Decision time.  I thought it would be nice to have a few months to heal after Tini left us, but Adam insisted that the only way to fill the void would be to get another dog as soon as possible.  He may have been on to something.  Of the three available Rotties, only one was a female.  We received this pic of her and knew she was ours!

The next few days were filled with a flurry of puppy supply purchases and deep dog name discussions.  As many have heard by now, Annalise campaigned hard for Rainbow (a sweet re-interpretation of Adam's suggested name of Rambo).  We kept asking her for alternatives and, after rifling through a few less than ideal Disney princess names (e.g., Ariel), she decided on Belle.  We were sold, too!

An important event like this had to be a family affair, so we packed the kiddos and a kennel in the car and headed for St. Louis.  The breeder offered to drive three hours from her home base in Illinois (!) to meet us halfway, and Grandma and Grandpa kindly agreed to host the puppy meet and greet at their house.  

The moment we'd all been waiting for...

The kids fell in love with her instantly, as did we!

Belle (and Andrew!) were treated to plenty of belly rubs on the lawn.

How happy does Adam look here?!

The ladies of the household...

The Belle-Sierra meeting was a much calmer affair than the Martini-Sierra introduction.

After such a busy morning, Belle was tuckered out!  Amazingly, both she and the kiddos slept for 3 of the 3.5 hours in the car back to KC.

We capped off our big day with potty training (with lots of helpers!) and introductions to the Greens.

Over the remainder of the long Labor Day weekend, Belle quickly acclimated to the ways of the Walker fam.  She enjoyed late night couch snuggles, nature walks with A&A, tongue wagging car rides, wet and wild bath time, and basement movie screenings.

Belle's funniest moment thus far came on September 16th.  Adam took off work on his birthday and was assembling his brand new weight lifting equipment.  He stepped away for a moment, only to return and find...  Look closely at the instructions in the center of the shot.  Those are definitely NOT nuts and bolts.  LOL!

My favorite part of Belle, by far, is her tail.  It's like a long, tufty paintbrush.  It's super expressive.  And it's so completely different from Martini.  Which is perfect.  Because no dog will ever replace Martini.  But I think it is safe to say that Belle already has stolen our hearts, all in her own way!