Mildred Isabella

by Viki
(Bryceville, Florida)

Mildred Isabella 5-30-09

Mildred Isabella is named after two wonderful ladies -- one, Mildred Bell, was THE definition of a Southern Belle. She was close to 50 years older then I was but we got along like grandmother and granddaughter. The other lady was my grandmother on my mom's side, Isabella Robertson. She was from Scotland and sweet as could be -- with just a little feistiness to make her fun.

We haven't figured out a nickname yet...Millie, Dred (my husband's idea), Izzy, Is a bella, or Bella...but Squirt seems to fit her just fine. Since she is a lab puppy weighing only 17.9 lbs and we have the two big girls, Patches and Hannah -- at 106lbs and 78lbs -- she SHOULD be intimidated by them. But she gets right between them and I am a bit afraid that if they clap their backsides together while she is in the middle, all we will have is a little squirt!

Since Hannah has been retired as a service dog, due to hip problems, Mildred Isabella is her replacement. Hopefully since she is a lab she will be much better at the retrieve than either of my other girls! They say that training a Great Pyrenees is like training a cat...and I believe it now!

Mildred Isabella has already had a day out and about and did fantastic. We went to the doctor's office, to the pharmacy and to Hardee's. She was well behaved in all three places and only got a little excited at the smell of my chicken biscuit. But then again, so did I. Ha!

Tomorrow we have another outing and I am sure that my sweet little lab will be up to the challenge.