I have some sad news and some good news. The sad news is that Rachael Ray’s senior pit bull, Isaboo, passed away in May. The good news is that Rachael was able to find space in her heart for a new pup and now she’s sharing her with us. Guys – this is Bella Boo Blue:
Look at that little face! I love her blue eyes. I’m really happy for Rachael. People have different ways of coping with the loss of a pet. I know folks who needed a long period of mourning before they could think about a new pet. I know others who adopted right away, sometimes adopting a carbon copy or their former pet (or, in Barbra Streisand’s case, actual clones). I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way, it’s just what’s best for those who’ve lost them. We ended up adopting a dog soon after my 15yo Pomeranian passed away. That was weird for me, but we’d promised the kids. I’d never adopted that soon after losing a pet before but honestly, in that case, it helped me as much as the kids.
As for Bella, that’s a big jump in energy to go from 15-year-old doggo to a smol pup like Bella. However, Rachael and her husband just wrapped her show so Bella is going to have all the attention she needs. Plus it’s summer so Bella will have a lot on her to-do list: tons of bugs to catch, puddles to jump in, dandelions to attack, ice cubes to chase – honestly, I don’t know how she’ll get it all done:
This isn’t paid or anything, but Rachael’s dog food, Rachael Ray Nutrish, is amazing. I swear my dogs like it better than some of the more expensive stuff. I highly recommend it. Plus, they just donated $4M to feed companion pets during uncertain economic times.
Of course, with new puppies comes – new puppy pictures. Yay!
Photo credit: Instagram
Awww her new pup is adorable! I’ve always loved Rachael Ray, and in her recipe books there are lots of references to Boo, hopefully the new dog gets some shout outs too 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous
Ugh there’s something extra sweet about grey pitty puppies. They just look EXTRA soft, even as far as puppies go.
I thought I was going to go get a kitten VERY shortly after our senior cat passed in 2018. I waited a couple of weeks and visited a special event at the SPCA. And sobbed. I sobbed my heart out the entire way home haha. I was such a mess. I knew a new cat would cheer me up, but it was just too soon at that point.
Which is lucky, because a week or two later I saw a posting for an ‘oops’ litter, and fell immediately in love with one sassy looking little kitten in particular. We picked her up a week after that. The craziest thing is that this tiny little ragdoll/siamese mix right away started doing little weird things that our senior cat had always done. She quickly picked up Patches’ habit of sleeping on the pillow right behind my head, smacked the dog who Patch was never a fan of, and clung to me obsessively for weeks. If I cried over something, Cricket would come running and try to cheer me up in the same way that Patches would. There were just so many little quirks that overlapped – and we have another cat who never did any of these things. Patch was always my cat. She loved my husband, but she had taken to me very quickly when we adopted her at 13. I always joke that Patch picked Cricket out for me, because it was just way too perfect.
oh, @Erinn, I’m crying now.
I’m so happy you found each other!
That’s such a lovely and sweet story
I remember getting a family golden retriever in my opinion too soon after my lab had passed and hearing “would you rather cry into a blanket or cry into puppy fur?” The puppy did help but perhaps meanly I couldn’t say I love you to him until he was about four months
I hadn’t heard that phrase about the puppy fur! and your reaction was not mean, we all grieve in our own ways. My husband brought home two rescue dogs on two separate occasions, after my beloved Lab passed. I didn’t feel ready to move on.I told him, you have to stop trying to replace her! It can’t be done! – But these dogs desperately needed a home and we could take care of them – And of course we fell madly in love with them. I wouldn’t part with them for the world! So it was meant to be.
Our Lab, who we got the day we got engaged in 2004, died in October 2016. The kids were ready for a new dog right away, and my husband was too, pretty shortly after. I was not. I just didn’t feel ready at all.
He finally convinced me to “just go look” at the big city-run shelter in August of 2017 (not right away, but it still felt “too soon” to me) and I fell in love with a skinny, muddy little yellow dog that two girls out for a run found and brought in. They were literally walking her in as we arrived, she hadn’t even been processed yet. We waited to make sure she was healthy and that we would be allowed to adopt her, then filled out the forms, paid the fee, and waited for the call that her spaying surgery was complete and she was ready to come home with us.
She has slept on our bed every night since she came home and she is keeping me company in my makeshift dining room “home office” as we speak. My husband still teases me for “I’m not ready!! I don’t want another dog!! Ooooh, can we have this one, the very first one we’ve seen???” But I just knew. 😉
Totally agree about the dog food. Our picky pup loves it.
I love that she’s a lover of pit bulls. I swear that breed is just amazing
I lost my Brindle Pit going now on almost five years.My Zoe was the best.I have fostered some three dogs since then and have found them good homes and stay in touch.I feel for Rachel.Losing her Boo was probably huge!!.I still haven’t gotten over mine but good for her for helping Pit’s who have been given bad reputations.They are Angel’s and couldn’t be a better companion.
Adorable puppy!
Losing a pet is so hard. I had my first cat for 18 years, I still miss her so much. Very soon after she passed, someone needed a home for kittens, and I adopted 2. I feel like the best way to honor a pet is to save another, and it really does help the grief. Sometimes it’s fast, sometimes it takes a while to be ready.
Someone I knew from school lost their dog a year or 2 ago, and almost every day posts something heart wrenching about her. She sounds horribly depressed, but I think if anyone suggested fostering or adopting, she’d lose it. But I do think it would help.
I was going to post the same thing about the best way to honor the love you shared with your pet is to save another. And that loving a new pet does not diminish the great love you shared with any of your other pets. Pets love us and don’t want us to be sad. There are so many pets who need loving homes. Everyone needs to do what works for their grieving.
It is incredibly difficult, though. I had a soulmate tortie cat who passed away suddenly almost 4 years ago. I was devastated. And horribly depressed. I didn’t post about it, but I would go home and sob and sob for weeks after. My other cat was also depressed and started to lose weight without his buddy. 3 months later, I adopted a new tortie kitten and it helped so much. For me and my other cat (I am pretty sure he thought his buddy had returned). I still miss Bebe even now. That doesn’t stop me from loving my other cats to the moon and back.
My dog Davis of 16 years passed I was devastated, it took a year before I was ready to adopt. He was my kid, all 95 pounds of lab/pit/rot he was the biggest ham. I can’t have kids so he really was mine. My dad passed the same year 5 years ago, so I had a lot to process. I now have 2 small dog rescues just got the puppy in December, the older 4 years ago, and they are my new kids. Dogs/animals have such sweet souls.
That must have been hard, I’m happy you’ve found comfort from your new dogs
Aww so cute! I have an 9 year old pit/shepherd mix that is having severe walking and hip problems and will probably need to be put down in the next couple of weeks. He is kind of a jerk but I will miss him so much. I have two other dogs though so will not be getting a new one anytime soon. 15 years is a long time for a dog to live, especially a big one!
Three years ago I had a cat, Daisy, who passed away suddenly, not even four years old, I was devastated, I loved her so much. Three months later I adopted my Chloe, another brown tabby. She truly is the love of my life. I like to think Daisy picked Chloe out for me because she knew how much I was grieving. You can love again.
I know she picked her out for you. I know my Bebe picked out HarleQuinn for me. Our sweet angels don’t want us to be so sad. I’m glad you were able to open your heart. And I love the name Chloe for cats.
Yes, Daisy knew how much I was hurting. It took me a couple of weeks to come up with Chloe, I wanted something feminine. I love the names Bebe & HarleQuinn. What these kitties do for our souls! ❤
I got a kitten 5 months after my beloved 18yo cat passed. I never thought I’d have another cat, but the apt seemed so empty.
It helped my grief immensely. I still miss my old guy, but the physical grief is alleviated. You not only miss the pet, you miss caring for a creature. It’s not a replacement, it’s just finding a way to do all those loving gestures that are needed
I lost my old baby at the end of last July, just as a distant relative died and had multiple dogs who needed emergency rescue. I got my folks to hold her for a week and it took a while to get used to her, but I’m so glad I got my new (4-year=old) baby, especially with lockdown. She was utterly terrified of everything since she’d spent her whole life to that point locked in a yard with two much larger and very “assertive” brothers. She’s not the dog I would have chosen, but she’s the dog I needed. Hope it works out as well for Rachael.