Bailey May

Last night, J showed me this heartbreaking story about a 2-year-old puggle named Bailey (talk about pulling at my heartstrings) who died after the groomer put her in a drying cage. Apparently, there are cages that dry dog’s fur after baths…news to me, use a towel! Short haired dogs, such as puggles, should never be put in one of these hell dryers and especially a short snouted dog who is notorious for breathing problems. The owners of Bailey started a blog and a website to raise awareness and put a stop to these unsafe drying cages! Take a look here.... http://badgroomer.com/Welcome.html (if you can handle it).

As J was telling me this story and my eyes were filling with tears, I laid there looking at my perfect little angel of a puppy sleeping in my lap and began to think of how I don’t even remember what life was like not having her. And thus, I felt the need to share the life story of my Bailey.

Two summers ago, J and I decided that we’d take a big leap and move in together that upcoming fall. Shortly before that I was overcome with an insane need to have a dog. I never liked dogs growing up, but during my senior year of high school my mom and brother decided they needed a dog to fill the void of me moving away to college, little did they know I’d make it two weeks in the dorms and be moving back home. Nonetheless, Koli, our black lab came into our lives and from that point on I was 100% completely a “dog person” and beyond. Not seeing Koli every day really created a hole in my daily life and I desperately needed to fill it, and so began the constant dog researching/begging/wishing/whining. This was a very pleasant time in J’s life, I’m sure of it. I knew I wanted a smaller breed of a dog, since whatever place we’d be moving in to probably wouldn’t be ideal for a large dog. So I’d research different breeds and look at pictures of puppies all day long. Then one day, I was having lunch by Lake Calhoun with my friend Christina and this absolutely adorable little puppy walked by! I remember so clearly, he was wearing a blue harness and his name was Miles, he was 12 weeks old and he was a puggle! What in the hell is a puggle? I had no idea but I didn’t care…this was going to be my dog. (Puggles are a mix of Pug and Beagle, if you didn’t know either.) From that point on, dog research turned into PUGGLE research. I bought the one, yes only one, puggle book in existence and read every possible puggle website there was. I even found two puggle breeders in Minnesota and one in Iowa. Amidst the puggle obsession, J and I found our townhouse and I was beyond thrilled that it was dog friendly! We were planning the big move for the end of November, perfect timing! We would move, get all situated, then in the early spring get our puppy so we could have her nice and potty trained by the time winter rolled around again! Now I just had to wait….

On November 10th 2008, J and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We were exchanging gifts and mine was a piece of paper that had a picture of an ipod touch on it. YES! An ipod! What an awesome gift! Then on the back it said “Just kidding! You can get your baby.” I was so confused, then J handed me this picture:

 The second one in from the right, with the one white paw! 

WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS? And then massive amounts of tears. J told me there was a litter from the breeder in Iowa that was born on October 9th and that tomorrow we would be driving 6 hours to the breeder’s to pick out our baby, and on December 5th we could bring her home. I stared at that picture the entire night. I said, “That one is mine. The one with one white paw.” The next day we hopped in the car and off we went, then we met Bailey, the one with one white paw.

 Bailey and I about 1 second after we decided she was the one!

 I was madly in love with her instantly!

The next month was psycho. We moved into our townhouse on November 29th, which gave me four full days to unpack, get organized and puppy proof our new place. It was a lot of work but the pure excitement and nervousness fueled me. Then on Friday, December 5th 2008 J and I drove through a snow storm to bring home our baby.

Our first family picture, at the breeder's, ready to taker her home

She was a complete angel and slept the whole LONG ride home

  Right after we brought her home, she was soooo tiny!

I cannot imagine my life without her. She is my child. She is so sweet and so smart and I love her more than anything. I cannot imagine what love for a human baby must feel like because I cannot imagine loving or caring for or worrying about anything more. She is my little angel and my little best friend. It is so amazing that no matter how stressed or cranky or sad I might be she can always cheer me up. She always knows when I need her and she is always there.

 Me and my baby

My favorite picture of all time. The loves my life.