So many times I have scrolled past sad expressions on Facebook from people who that very day had to put their pet dogs to sleep. They were reporting on a day that I and my family had been dreading for some time.

One Wednesday morning, March 18, my wife and I finally had to take Bella the Wonderdog to Dorr Veterinary Clinic, no longer able to forestall the inevitable. As Coleen said, we could no longer tolerate Bella’s obvious suffering and decline in the quality of her life.

We were introduced to Bella, a Lab Pointer, by our sneaky friend, Andrea Villareal, a Plainwell teacher who moonlights as an animal rescuer. She had learned not long before that we had been horribly saddened by the loss of Ozzy, a lovable naughty Yellow Lab, just weeks before to liver cancer and she brought in Bella, a timid girl that had been found abused and left to perish in a ditch.

We couldn’t turn down welcoming a new family member, and Andrea knew it.

We speculated that Bella had failed in her training to be a hunting dog because she almost immediately freaked out every time she heard gunshots. That later was true as well of fireworks and thunderstorms. There were times during walks on a leash in which she would act crazy upon hearing gunshots or fireworks.

But the timid dog also had another side. I discovered she had an uncanny talent in fielding grounders, bouncers and popups when I would hit a rubber tee ball in the back yard. Henceforward, I referred to her as Bella the Wonderdog because of her baseball ability and love of playing that game.

Sometimes she would overheat herself and act like a drunken milksop, staggering around the yard, in dire need of water. So we’d have to take breaks.

Bella also was hopelessly in love with walks, taking them with me nearly every day and demonstrating clearly she liked hiking the Rabbit River Trail best of all.

We believe Bella was nine months old when she first came to our house, so she was approaching 16 years of age when we had to have her put down. We believe she led a long and happy life because she was active, healthy and slender until the last several weeks when she showed telltale signs her back legs were failing her. She too often slipped and fell on linoleum in the house and had gotten to the point she struggled mightily after coming down from the couch.

On that fateful Wednesday, our grief was tempered by the nurturing and caring attitudes of the staff at Dorr Veterinary Clinic. Dr. Rachel Stawski and her assistant showed us empathy and understanding. It was a dignified and quiet, though solemn affair.

Bella was given a sedative to put her to sleep and then Dr. Stawski injected her quietly with the fatal solution, telling us the moment she was gone.

Not long afterward, owner Dr. Kayce Koski, herself a Wayland High School graduate, Dr. Stawski and virtually the whole staff sent us a sympathy card, with some of the comments genuine. About a day after that came the announcement that a tree had been planted in Bella’s honor.

I’ve said this in an earlier column, and I’ll say it again. I am immensely pleased that female professionals have been added to the work force in the last several decades because they so often bring more class during difficult times.

COVER PHOTO: Bella the Wonderdog: “I can think of younger days…”