Watch Stella, the Labrador Retriever Whose Leaf-pile Bombing Enthralls Us Each Fall
Some of us fancy fall for the joy it brings with sweater weather, pumpkin-flavored everything, and beautiful scenery. And then there's Stella, a Labrador retriever who loves nothing more than cannonballing into colossal piles of crunchy leaves.
Known as the Queen of Leaves, the 9-year-old English Lab has gone viral over the years for her leaps for leaves and lovable personality. Her excitement for the season has earned her 433,000 followers on Instagram and 389,000 on TikTok. (Note: She also enjoys destroying snowmen in the winter.)
In her videos, you'll see Stella and her doggy sister, Mabel, along with a few of their four- and two-legged besties in their happy place. Stella and her family live in Maine, which would explain the high amount of stunning fall foliage.
Stella's dad, Jody Hartman, explained on Instagram that her leaf-jumping started in October 2014 when he was raking "the obscene amount of leaves" in their yard that fall.
"Stella just launched her little Labrador body into a giant pile without any prompting and disappeared," he wrote. "I brought out the orb of life (a.k.a. her tennis ball) to keep things rolling and busted out the camera for dogumentation."
With a background in multimedia, video, graphic design, and marketing, Hartman said content creation with Stella and Mabel has led to him taking it beyond a hobby. And we're so grateful for the masterpieces he and Stella have created together.
Below are five of our favorite videos of Stella that are bound to make you smile.
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Stella's Enthusiasm for Fall Is Truly Unmatched
One of the purest and most brilliant videos you'll ever see: Stella reveling in her leaf piles to "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas.
Her Humans Also Join the Leaf-jumping Fun
Is there anything better than some old-fashioned fun? Stella's humans show us they too fall for fall—literally.
It Doesn't Get More Wholesome Than This
It's the little tail wag that does it for me.
Of Course, Stella Loves Spooky Season
Alexa, play "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell. Stella proves she immerses herself in her favorite time of the year by occasionally being creepy cute.
She Even Has an Alter Ego … 'Judith the Pupperfly'
Rocking a butterfly costume, Stella—er, Judith—prepares for a majestic liftoff and endless zoomies. She's really out here living her best life.