By Nick Murphy
Introducing Bella, sophomore Kylie Zonghetti’s spunky, hairtie-hoarding, tummy-rub-loving Pomeranian.
Sassy, stubborn and sure of herself, Bella has always had a go-getter attitude when it comes to leaping couches, avoiding baths and begging for food.
Zonghetti first met Bella in 2012 and never looked back. “When I first saw her, I knew she was the one. She had this cute little stubby tail and she was so fluffy,” she said.
“We took her out to play for a while, and that’s when I came up with the name Bella. She reminded me of the Beast from ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ so to go along, with that I named her Bella after the Disney princess Belle,” Zonghetti said.
Bella wasn’t the only one finding a new home that day, as the Zonghettis also took home an equally energetic West Highland Terrier named Sophie. According to Zonghetti, the two love to play and chase each other around the house.
Since she arrived at the Zonghetti house, Bella has strived to wiggle and wriggle her way into everyone’s heart – except for unwanted guests. “She tends to bark at strangers, and her bark can be really loud for such a little dog,” she said.
When the pint-sized Pom isn’t scaring away the mailman with her yapping, she’s seeking attention, and she’ll do anything to get it. “If you stop petting her, she’ll whack your hand or nudge you until you start again,” said Zonghetti.
“This one time, she even slapped my phone out of my hand,” she added.
Despite looking pretty and pampered, Bella isn’t the most graceful dog in the world. “Sometimes ,she’ll trip over her own feet when she runs and ends up face planting, which looks really funny. Other times, she’ll try to jump up on the couch, but because she’s so small, she’ll fall short and tumble down only to bounce right up again,” said Zonghetti.
After practicing her furniture acrobatics routine, Bella likes to nose around for other things to do. “For some reason, she loves hairties. If I drop one on the ground, she’ll run over, scoop it up and start running for the crate. She likes to hoard them there and then attempt to eat them. She thinks she’s all sneaky, but she gets caught every time,” said Zonghetti.
That’s Bella, the pampered Pom with enough spunk to give the energizer bunny some stiI competition.
Editor’s note: “The Pawgress Report” is a bi-weekly column featuring FSU students and their dogs.