The San Jose Years

The two and a half years we lived in San Jose were very important years.

Important for my human … .Important for me.

When we first arrived, my human was… different.

Quieter….Heavier somehow, even though she looked the same.

I could smell the worry on her. Dogs always can.

She had come there carrying a lot of things humans carry when life doesn’t go the way they hoped. Broken plans. Hard days. Unanswered questions.

And there we were….Just the two of us.

She was trying to hold everything together — taking care of herself, taking care of me, and searching for work in what she kept calling “the worst job market.”

I didn’t know what the job market was.

But I knew it made her tired.

Some days she would stare at her computer for hours.

Other days she would leave the house with that determined look humans wear when they are trying very hard to believe something good will happen.

And eventually…Something did.

My human and her childhood friend, Brindamasi, decided to build something together.

A company.

I didn’t fully understand what a company was either, but I could tell it mattered. It gave her something to wake up for again.

It gave her a purpose.

Now here’s something about me.

Before San Jose, I had never really been alone during the day.

But when work started happening, sometimes my human had to step out for a few hours….So I adapted.

Because that’s what you do when you love your person.

And we weren’t completely alone anyway.

There were always kind humans around to help — like Nishtha-Timse and other wonderful paw parents who made sure I was never without friends when my human needed support.

But most days, work happened at home….And those were my favorite days.

My human would sit at her computer for hours.

And I would take my job very seriously!!

Sometimes I napped under the clothes in the closet. It smelled like my human there, which made it the perfect place to sleep.

Sometimes I curled up right by her feet.

Sometimes I climbed directly onto her lap, which I believed was the most logical location for a dog to sit while work was happening.

If she moved, I moved…If she sighed, I looked up….If she dropped food, I appeared instantly.

Speaking of food…

Let’s talk about carrots.

Carrots were very important in my life.

Whenever my human cooked, I would sit nearby. Very patiently. Very politely……Waiting…..Watching…..Because I knew what was coming.

Carrots!!

Even though carrots were already part of my regular meals, that didn’t matter. Fresh carrots from the kitchen felt like a completely different experience.

Crunchy….Sweet….Perfect.

And there was one place I absolutely loved visiting….Kinjalmasi’s house!

Now, let me explain something important.

To humans, it was just a house.

To me? It was an entire kingdom.

The moment we arrived, I knew it was going to be a good day. The house was huge — so many rooms, so many corners, so many mysterious smells that clearly needed my professional inspection.

But the real magic was outside. The lawn….Oh, the lawn.

Big. Lush. Green. Perfect.

It was the kind of lawn that practically begged a dog to run across it at full speed. And I took that responsibility very seriously.

The moment my paws touched the grass…Zoomies!

Not just regular zoomies….Professional, championship-level zoomies.

I would sprint across the lawn like a tiny rocket, turn sharply, run back the other way, circle the yard, and repeat the entire performance again just to make sure everyone had properly appreciated my athletic abilities.

A dog could run there without bumping into furniture, walls, or confused humans asking things like, “Bella, why are you running like that?”

Because it was my track…My stadium….My personal racecourse.

But the entertainment didn’t stop there. Inside the house lived two of my human’s nephews….Which technically made them my cousins.

And for reasons that still confuse me, they loved starting mock fights with each other. Not real fights — just dramatic, loud wrestling matches that looked very suspicious from a dog’s point of view.

This is where my most important job began.

Referee.

The moment they started their nonsense, I would appear immediately.

Alert…..Focused.

Watching both of them carefully.

If one of them pushed too hard — BARK.

If someone got too loud — BARK BARK.

If things looked even slightly unfair — more barking.

I took my role very seriously.

Someone had to maintain order in that house.

The humans might have thought they were just playing around…

But I knew the truth.

Without me, that entire operation would have fallen into chaos.

So while they wrestled and laughed and pretended to fight, I stood nearby supervising the situation like the responsible professional that I was.

And every good wrestling match needs an umpire.

And in that house…

That umpire was me. 🐾

And then sometimes… There were harder days.

Days when my human would sit quietly and then suddenly break down.

Humans do that sometimes when the weight of everything becomes too heavy….

When that happened, I didn’t bark….I didn’t run….I walked over slowly.

I would whimper a little and press myself close to her.Then I would cuddle up next to her so she could feel that she wasn’t alone.

Because she wasn’t!!

I was there…..Always.

I think she needed someone to remind her that life could still be good.

That she could still be strong….That she could still be happy again.

And that was a job I took very seriously.

I was her baby.

But there were also many other things.

Sometimes I was her best friend….her therapist.

Sometimes, if I’m being honest, I probably acted like her mother. And sometimes… I was her teacher.

But more than anything, I knew how to be her baby the best.

Now let’s talk about my talents.

Over the years I learned some very impressive tricks.

There was:

“Bella sit.”

“Bella down.”

“Bella rollover.”

Rollover was my personal favorite.

The moment I saw treats, my body would go into automatic mode.

Sit.

Down.

Rollover.

Repeat.

Sometimes nobody had even asked yet, but I believed in being proactive.

Then there was my performance move.

“Bella dance dance.”…..And that one was special.

Well this was all mood specific… queen needs her favorite places rest of the time!

Under the couch.

Under the table.

Under the clothes in the closet.

Under the bed.

Basically anywhere I could disappear and create a small secret cave for myself…..Hiding spots are very important for dogs.

But sometimes I felt… dramatic.

On those days I would climb on top of the couch and sit by the window like the ruler of the entire neighborhood.

Watching everything … .Monitoring activity…..And whenever someone walked by the house…

BARK.BARK BARK.

Public announcement: I was in charge.

I was the boss.

The boss queen of that window.

And everyone passing by needed to know it. 🐾👑