Bella
the helper dog
Written by Angela Monaster and assistants at Pinckney High School Illustrated by Helena Ecija
Once
there was a lonely dog. She looked brown and dirty and sad. She lived on the side of the road. She ate whatever scraps she could find.
When
she wandered into a backyard, the people would say “SHOO. Get out of here dirty dog.”
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One
day, a girl named Stella was riding her bike to her friend’s house. She found dirty dog and looked into her sad eyes. “I will take you someplace safe” Stella said. Dirty Dog wagged her tail.
Stella
took the dog to an Animal Shelter. At the shelter the dog got a bath and food.
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When
Stella saw the clean dog, she said….”You are ‘Bella’, which means beautiful in Italian. Bella was proud. She was beautiful!
The
next day some people came to the shelter. Bella heard them say, “We need special dogs to train. They will learn to help people. They will be helper dogs.” Bella wanted to be a helper dog!
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Looking
into Bella’s cage, they said
”This dog is perfect to be a Stiggy’s Dog”.
Now
Bella was a working dog. She learned to carry things. She learned to hold doors open. She learned to be strong if she was leaned on. She learned to go everywhere people were. She learned to make sad people happy. Bella was happy.
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Joe
was a soldier that had been injured in the war. He had lost his arm. Life was hard for Joe. He could not find a job. He felt sad all the time and did not want to go anyplace.
The
people from Stiggy’s Dogs introduced Bella to Joe. Bella knew that this was her person. She went right up to him and laid at his feet. Bella followed Joe out the door.
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Bella
and Joe went everywhere together. If Joe has to go to the doctor, Bella goes with. When Joe goes to the store, Bella is right there to help him carry things.
Having
Bella with him, made Joe feel better. He began to like going out again. Life was good.
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Bella
and Joe were both happy. Joe looked at Bella and said while patting her on the head, “Bella, you saved me from being sad.” Bella looked at Joe and said “WOOF”. (which, of course, means …”You saved me too!”).
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Illustrations
based on Ian Gairdner’s original drawing
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©2014