Kevin Finney describes his three year old dog Stella as a Golden Doodle or a Golden Retroodle so you can probably guess at her parents. The combination has led to Stella being, in some ways, the best of both. She's very bright, sweet natured and will go get the ball if you throw it but...that's where the poodle comes in. Once she has the ball, she's not giving it back.

"She's a ball thief," he said, "Her favorite game is keep away. I say it's the poodle in her. The retriever goes and gets the ball and the poodle keeps it."

She's learned how to open our bedroom door. She comes in to tell me it's time to start my day. My wife Sarah usually gets up and then Stella comes in and tries to wake me up. She checks on me, licks my face or jumps up on the bed if she can get away with it. If we get the right blanket down she can do that."

Stella is a pretty powerful animal and so walks are required and they give her a lot of exercise. "A tired dog is a happy dog," Finney said, but they don't just walk when they go to certain places. Stella will do some towing. "I've got a scooter that I ride now and when she sees a seagull she will give me a real run for my money. It's a full adult size scooter and when it's the first walk of the day she's likely to pull me a little bit. At the end of the day I'm tugging on her to keep going. I got the scooter because my knees were hurting and so I get a little exercise and she get's a lot of exercise."

There's some conjecture about the origin of her name. "Stella Blue" is a Grateful Dead song. "We had Sadie and Stella in mind so maybe it's from the Dead tune, it's a good story. A friend afterward said, 'Like Stella Blue' and I said no, but that's a good one."

Stella loves salmon skin as a snack and normally eats dry dog food. She weighs in between 60 and 70 pounds.

"She's the best dog in the whole wide world," said Finney.

How to nominate your pet for Pet of the Week:

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