Belle, the Canine Snow Shovel
by Tina Blue
September 6, 2001
A friend's family had an elderly beagle mix named Belle. Full of personality and spoiled rotten, Belle was pretty much used to having things her way.
One January, when the snow was several inches deep on the ground, Belle, who was fourteen years old at the time, came home from the vet wearing one of those large funnel collars to keep her from gnawing at her new stitches. Belle's people were supposed to keep her in for awhile, but Belle had other ideas.
She wanted out, and she wanted out now!
So naturally they let her out.
And just as naturally Belle began to do what, as a self-respecting "beagle," she always did. She put her nose to the ground and began to to run around sniffing . Within seconds, of course, her collar had scooped up quite a bit of snow, but Belle was so intent on her sniffing that she did not immediately realize what was happening.
She kept scurrying around, nose to the ground, scooping up more and more snow, until it was packed tight and too heavy to ignore.
Belle stopped suddenly and managed to lift her head, which only made things worse. There she stood in their back yard like a sno-cone, with her head stuck in a funnel collar packed with snow. She was uncomfortable, annoyed, embarrassed--and totally confused.
I wonder if she ever forgave her human family for laughing so hard.
