Taken by John on March 21st at Chatfield State Park

To my Friends that shared in the life of my precious Belle-

From birth Belle had an agenda, to be in charge of whomever she meet, and she definitely completed her mission. She had a great life with her two Bernese Mountain Dog brothers, Cisco and Stuart, whether it was on our daily walks at the off-leash dog park at Chatfield State Park, swimming in Uneva Lake or our travels to the West Coast. In fact, the main reason for my trips to the west was for Belle and Stuart to walk on the wonderful Carmel Beach. Nothing against all the wonderful humans we visited on our travels, but my agenda was for Belle to chase many balls in the soft sand and cool water of Carmel Beach. We just had the benefit of visiting all of you on our way.
In November, when Belle had successful ACL surgery on her knee, she was diagnosed with kidney disease. Three weeks ago, at the young age of 7, that diagnosis changed to a rare kidney tumor that had metastasized to her lungs. After a nice morning walk with Debbie Elbeck and her dogs Missy and Abbey at the dog park, Belle told me she had had enough when she refused her breakfast (she’d never turned down food in her life). Debbie, Elisabeth & Joe came over and shared in her last minutes with me and she had her last ball chasing, with Joe throwing. Son John couldn’t be here yesterday but he had come home from NYC a week before to be with her. Thanks to the nice medical staff at Columbine Veterinarian Hospital, she passed peacefully.

I loved her very much, despite her bossy, demanding, naughty and ornery ways. As you all know, her favorite thing to do was chase a ball, whether it was running as fast as she could at the dog park or flying off the dock into the water at Uneva or just in our back yard. She also loved to lick the face of her favorite human friends and these people couldn’t get her off of them because they were laughing too hard. Men with mustaches were her favorite. She had a mind of her own and sometimes even acted more like a cat than a dog when she caught this mouse, that had eluded my traps, and played with it until its demise. She loved to nap in any “favorite chair”, no matter whose house she was in and if you were sitting in that chair, she’d just climb in your lap. You’d get the dirtiest look when you made her get down.
My last words about her at the Veterinarian hospital were “She was such an ornery little shit”, which brought a tearful laugh from everyone.

Thank you for indulging me and letting me share this story with you. It helps in my mourning and recovery. She will be more than missed.
With love to you and your furry friends,

Marne and Stuart