Bentley, Bella and Barkley of Illinois

Stars of the Day, aka “The Trio of Happiness” 

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Two decades ago, Susie K. and her husband Andy adopted Stashil Bonski, their first Corgi. A year later, Giselle Maria joined the herd. “They were our babies” writes Susan. “We developed Obsessive Corgi Disorder and got hooked on the short-legged breed!”

Gisella

Stash

“When our Stash passed at 14, it was very hard on all of us.  We mourned for months (still miss him) and Bella was lonely.  As fate would have it, our paths crossed with a breeder who had available pups.”

“We went to see the litter and I took right away to the smallest, shyest little one with the crooked stripe on his head, while my husband took to the biggest, strongest one. Needless to say, they both came home with us. Bentley was “my” dog while Barkley was my husband’s.”

“By then, Gisella was 14 and didn’t care for the little ones much, except when they were tired. Then she let them snuggle with her. A few months later, Gis passed away. Although we had the boys to keep us busy, it was another sad day in our house. Karley, our only “2-legged” child, felt left out and wanted her own dog. This wasn’t in our plan, but when we learned that Bentley and Barkley’s parents had another litter with a small female, our princess Karley got her wish …

… in the lovely form of Bella!”

“Two dogs were fine, perfect; three dogs have been a blessing. Bentley (aka Moosie, Lom Lom, Better Jane) is our shy little guy with a perpetually nervous look on his little face. Barkley (aka Barker Adam, Parks) is our big, protective tough guy (though he’s the first one in to hide in a storm), but he has that huge Corgi heart. Bella (aka Bedda, Bedda who, Muffy) is our athlete. Give her an Orbie “earth ball” and she’s in heaven! She can play earth ball for hours. She out runs and out catches the boys, they poop out before she does. Bella could go for hours!” 

“We’ve had a few incidents between Bella and Barkley. Once those two start a fight, it’s near impossible to separate them. We’ve had four major blowouts in the five years; both resulted in stitches. Ten minutes after the fights, they were licking each others wounds. Crazy. We still can’t figure out the set-off and we still need to learn a good break-off.  From what I’ve read and heard about other Corgi packs, our few spats are nothing in comparison. We are thankful.”  

Bella

 Bentley

 Barkley

Barkley

Bella

Bentley

“These three are always at my side. Just having them by me is an excellent form of comfort and medicine. I have Crohn’s and severe osteoporosis, but they brighten my day, make me laugh and can always bring a smile to my face. I just can’t imagine life without them.”

“We can’t say how fortunate we are to have such great dogs. We are definitely blessed by our “trio of happiness”. Corgis are great dogs, but they’re addicting — like potato chips — you just can’t have one!”

Bella and Barkley in a secret Corgi meeting!

Bella