Truth be told...it's a pretty good life: Adventures of Scrappy Pete, Starting a School

Disclaimer: The title above is a joke, not an actual school. I feel like I should clarify, since I work in education and starting an actual school is an incredibly exhausting and expensive undertaking. Well, for Petey Bella, her school is exhausting for her, but not terribly expensive for me. Take a tour of some of the students of "Bella's School for the Blind."

Story time with the lower school

As I mentioned previously, Petey Bella has several names-- Bella is one of them. She didn't have the easiest start in life, being starved and bred for dog-fighting, so she didn't have good nutrition or medical care. With that rough start, it has led to dental problems. Nothing major, but she doesn't have the strongest teeth, so she's had a few removed when they were cleaning them from the gingivitis and decay.
Why does all that matter? Well, she doesn't like hard, crunchy toys that hurt her teeth. What she does love? Soft stuffed toys. Dog toys with squeakers and stuffed animals with eyes and cotton batting are the ABSOLUTE BEST.

Recruits she personally selected from the thrift store bag

As soon as Miss PT Bella, or should I say, Headmistress Bella, gets a hold of a soft toy, she chomps down on it and finds out if it has a squeaker, button nose, or button eyes. As soon as she ascertains her plan of attack, she goes to work, using her teeth, nose, and paws to roll around, tear up, and de-eye, de-nose, or de-squeaker the toys. If the batting has to come out so it is completely disemboweled, so be it. I learned that although Beanie Babies have great eyes to tear out, the little bean pellets are not worth cleaning up. No more beanie toys for Pete.

The funny part about this is that sometimes she likes to hold on to the toy. I guess she plays favorites to some of her students. There have been 3 in particular-- ones that had a sound chip inside. There was a woot monkey that would squeal when it flew through the air. She worried over that monkey--

Dog in a cat suit is actually her TA.

Lazy Miss Bella letting the TA teach class

carried it around, put it in her dog bed, or moved around my pillows til she made it a nest in my bed. When we'd pick it up to throw it, she would whine and tap dance around, trying to protect her baby! There was a blue bird with a chirpy chip and a broken Tasmanian devil-- same thing. Those guys kept their eyes and noses.

Mardi gras frog was a star pupil

We decided it's called "Bella's School for the Blind," because she collects all these misfit toys...and keep them in her dog bed. What can I say? It's much cheaper for me than any kongs, nylabones, or expensive toys. There are some rules: no students are accepted that are canine or human babies. It's too weird to have her chewing on babies or puppies. Cannibalism-- that's not in our mission statement. I came home one day with a gift for a baby shower that included a small soft bunny. I was confused that Bella wasn't downstairs with me, when I realized, she'd gone "shopping" in the bag and tried to recruit a new student for school. I think my words were, "Bad Bella! That's for a baby! We don't take toys from babies!" Fortunately, we know how to pop some tags and the thrift store keeps us with ready and willing pupils to join the school body at Bella's School for the Blind.