Broken Barkers of the Human and Canine Varieties

We've always joked that Bella has a broken barker.  She doesn't really bark as much as she whines and yells.  This morning I gave her a chew-ee (bone) for being a good girl and letting Max nuzzle her.  As she always does, she took the chew-ee to her favorite spot on the sofa.  Max's newest favorite thing is Bella's tail, so he follows her everywhere.  He jumped on the couch next to her and I encouraged Bella to seek shelter from Max under her blanket, but she wasn't having it.  So, I went back to the room to continue getting ready for work.  A few seconds later, I hear Bella give Max a piece of her mind.  I yell from the closet, "Bella!  No!"  I start to leave the room to see what has transpired and Bella is already walking into the bedroom with her head bent low and her tail down.  I pass her up to go check on Max who is completely unfazed by the whole interaction.  I see that Bella has dropped her chew-ee in the living room.  It takes A LOT for Bella to leave her chew-ee behind, so I know in the moment she yelled at Max (probably chasing her tail) she felt really sorry and knew she had made a mistake.  I gave cuddles to Max, but as I sit here I feel really guilty for not giving cuddles to Bella.  It takes a lot to admit you messed up.  Even I struggle with that, but if my dog is capable of doing it, then I should definitely reward her for good behavior.  Extra cuddles for Bella tonight!

As for broken barkers of the human variety;

Yesterday both Mom and Stephen brought up on completely separate occasions that they think our adoption caseworker has forgotten we exist.  How wild is it that this conversation would come up twice in one day?  Odd coincidence!  I'm not sure if we've been forgotten or not, and I'm not going to worry about it either.  Out of sight, out of mind is really working for me.  I suppose you could say that I have a broken barker. :-)