Bailey...

We need to sing praise today sine it is Bailey’s birthday. She turns three today. She is our big little girl. Even though she has the manners of a doll, she is in league with Phoebe for the top position of our little pack.

When I first saw bailey she was sitting behind the chain-link cage at the humane society. I had just lost Jules (who needed to be put down at the age of 12) and I was just starting my new job as “kennel help”. I had told myself that I was going to be fine dealing with all the homeless animals that I would be seeing on a daily basis. Little did I know that one would steal my heart!

I didn’t think I was, but when I saw this little bundle of fur sitting there looking at me while her brothers and sisters were all around her playing I knew that I had to take her home. She was one of a litter of six and one of two that were yellow. Her mom was a pure black lab (she was in the shelter as well) and didn’t have the best demeanor.

On a daily basis, I would go over to the cage, bend down and get my little puppy kisses from her. I would open the door and pick her up, holding her to my chest and taking in the smell of poop. Any other place the smell of a puppy would have been the best, but have you ever been in a shelter with puppies? Poop is everywhere and they have no concept of what they are walking through.

The “new owner” had put her name on this little one. At Central Vermont Humane Society, they do temperament test to find out what type of home each dog should go in to (if at all). When Bailey’s test was done, we called the prospective adoptive mother to come down and we could talk with her. There were still two other pups from the same litter that had not been adopted as of yet. We told the possible adopter that Bailey would be a very hard dog to train. She was going to be a handful. This is what they believed at the time.

She asked to see all three possible pups that were from the same litter. We sectioned off an area for her to play with them and I left for a while. When I came back I asked her if she was still interested in the longed haired yellow one. She had no idea of how I felt. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I know I had to be shaking, but I was still trying to keep my composure. She grabbed Bailey and handed her to me and said, “If she is going to be hard to train, then I am not ready for her.” I grasped Bailey to my chest and headed up stairs and told my boss, “She’s mine. I want to adopt her!!”

I was out of work by 4 p.m. that night and headed home with the little one sitting on the passenger seat (which is the only place she wants to be when we are driving) looking at me. I still had not told Mark what I had done, but I wasn’t worried. I knew all would be well. Then again I forgot about Eva. We almost lost Bailey that night because Eva was being her dominant self. She didn’t want anything to do with this new little menace in HER house. I didn’t know dog behavior at this time so I was in fear for Bailey’s life. Eva growled (never heard that before), bit at, and tried to get rid of her.

I called and left a message for Mark at work. I was taking this puppy back to the shelter. Luckily I took the cell phone because Mark called when I was pulling into the shelter parking lot. He told me I had better not take the puppy back and that Eva will get over it. She was just being Eva. Mark talked to me for a while and I felt better so I headed home. Now she is celebrating her third birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAILEY!!!!