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beautiful Bella

Well, we are now a family of four. Bella, a 6 week old Whippet puppy, is snoozing on my lap as I write. She's mostly white but has gray spots on her face and back. Her name is Italian for beautiful and it fits her well.

Since we had been looking for an Italian greyhound we had decided on 2 Italian names - one for a boy and one for a girl. We like the name Bella a lot even though she's not Italian. We've had her for less than 24 hours but she's already very attached to us. Affection is a personality trait of greyhounds and one reason we were interested in them as a pet.

Bella had a rough night in her carrier. I had never known why people used carriers other than for travel until doing puppy research myself. It seems that domesticated dogs still have that instinct that their forefathers had to live in dens. So the cages and carriers meet this need. They feel cozy and safe. The problem for a puppy that's taken from it's siblings and mom is that it misses that closeness when it's all alone in the carrier. So, last night Bella cried and cried. Thankfully, ear plugs and 2 closed doors between us meant that we slept okay. Madeleine is a heavy sleeper so she had no problems with it either. It also helps that we've already lived through an infant's night crying so our hearts are already toughened up.

She's done most of her business outside and that's because we've been religious about taking her outside as soon as she gets up from a nap. Only one accident so far and that was because we set her down to put on our shoes and she took that as her chance to find relief.

Today is vet day. I'm not sure where we'll go but we just want to get her checked out.

Madeleine likes her. She's a bit indifferent but even last night was warming up to her more. She's very gently and sweet to Bella and when she's asleep she looks at Phil and me and says, "Shhhh" with her finger to her lips.

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