Jenny and I spend so much time talking about our lives and what is going on from day to day, showing off our beautiful son and talking about all that he is learning and doing, but we have never taken the time to introduce our dogs to our readers. This post, aptly-named, will hopefully give you an inside-look at the relationship we have with our beloved Labrador Retriever, Bailey.
I knew I wanted a Chocolate Lab. I knew that I was going to be moving away to Kentucky and living on my own. I knew my childhood dog, at almost 14 years of age, would never make it living away from our home.
So I began searching for a Lab.
My search led me to a breeder about 45 miles from my hometown of Texarkana. I drove out when the litter was about 4 weeks old to meet the breeder and see the puppies. I didn't know a lot about Labs. I knew they were friendly, fairly docile, and loved water.
As I made my way towards the kennel where this litter was sleeping, the mother was removed and put in a nearby kennel. She watched every move I made the entire time.
I was fairly sure that I wanted a female. I picked up several of them, some males, but had my eye on one female. As I picked her up for a closer inspection, this fat little ball of fur made his way to the buckle of my sandal (I was wearing Birkenstocks at the time...way past the prime of that fad, but I loved those shoes). Finding the buckle to be a nice chew piece, this fat little Lab lit into my shoe. I picked him up and looked at him, discovered he was the "runt," and put him back.
As my luck would have it, I was the first person to put cash down on any of the dogs. I would later find out how lucky I was. The breeder was well-known, the lineage was great, and I was in a prime spot to take pick of the litter.
Two weeks later, I returned with the remainder of my payment. Two other individuals had come from several hundred miles away to take their pick after I had made my decision. I didn't know anything about picking a Lab. I just wanted a companion.
Again, I started looking over the females (trying to act like I knew what I was looking for...). A few minutes later, the still chubby little runt made his way over to me, and proceeded to untie my shoelace. I looked at the breeder, who smiled and nodded at me and said, "That's the same one that had a hold of your shoe the first time."
My decision was made. Bailey made his first of many trips home in my car that afternoon...home to my parents' home. His first home. His first of many homes.
Bailey is an incredible dog. No one knows him like Jenny and I do. He's not the same with anyone else.
Several years ago, my parents kept him overnight for us. I called the first morning to check in on him, and mom let me know that he didn't want to go to bed the night before. She had wondered if maybe he would sleep better in my bed, so she decided to go in and lay down in my old room with him. That didn't work. When she returned to her bed, he still wouldn't settle down. In fact, he stood over her.
When she replayed the evenings' events to me, I laughed and told her, "Well, you have to talk to him before bed."
Every night, we talk to Bailey. He's either standing beside the bed, or laying between us, or standing over us, but we talk to him. We talk about who he saw during the day. We talk about squirrels. We talk about his favorite toys. We spend about 5 minutes doing this, tell him goodnight, and he steps off our bed and onto his bed, and is down for the night.
Bailey is aggressive. Not necessarily just aggressive, but protective. I have no doubt that if someone came in and intended to harm Jenny or Benjamin, they would leave with a few less appendages. He's perfect in the Vet, loves playing off-leash at the dog park, and lets people pet him in Petco. But come in unannounced or without a proper introduction and he's not going to ignore you.
Usually, all it takes is a milk bone, a basic introduction, and he'll warm up to you.
We worried about how he would be with the baby. As you can see, he warmed up to him quickly. I'm still not sure if he understands what Benjamin is, but he's dealing with it.
Bailey made his way home that fall day to my parents' house in Texarkana. Two months later, he moved with me to Lexington. We lived in our first apartment for 6 months. Then we moved into a townhouse that didn't work out, and moved again in 2 months. We remained in the next townhouse for 10 months. We returned to Waco, where we had two different addresses. During that time, my parents moved to Jonesboro. Then we returned to Little Rock. While we were here, Jenny's parents moved away from Little Rock.
They say that a lost dog will often return home if lost after you move. I'm not sure where Bailey's true homing signal comes from, or where he would head, but I know we'd be lost if we ever lost him.
Bailey knows when you're sick, understands what it means to "Be quiet, Benjamin's sleeping," and loves to chew up hangers. He breaks them in the same pattern every time. Sometimes, when we're not looking, he'll destroy several at a time. The plastic ones are cheaply-replaced, this we know.
He will eat an SOS pad whole if he gets the chance, has swallowed an entire bar of Irish Spring soap, and his digestive system can break down a 700.00 wedding band in just under 10 days. We know because he swallowed mine on July 4, 2006. Stomach acid WILL break down a ring, if it sits there long enough. I know wear a much cheaper James Avery ring in case I ever leave it within his reach again.
Bailey spent 30 days undergoing intensive training, and will respond to various whistle commands in the field. He loves to water-jump off of long docks or piers, and a training "bumper" is always just the right gift for him on any occasion. He understands an astounding amount of words, but his most-used commands are down (which is a combination of sit, lay down, and stay...I was told by the trainer that he couldn't learn stay...it's "not in his vocabulary"), kennel (go to your crate), and "bring me your bowl."
Bailey will be 7 this September. We know the life expectancy of a Lab is 13-14 years, but we're hoping for more like 20-25.
There is perhaps no better dog. He's a little OCD like me, but enjoys piling up on the couch like Jenny. He worries when things are different, but adapts to change with time.
He loves going to camp (extended stays at boarding kennels), will swim for hours, and always seems to find stray dryer sheets around the house. He'll rip it down the middle, then move on.
He's alpha dog. I was told after his training that he's a one-man dog. He's proved this time and again. He'll respond to me in a split second after Jenny has worn herself out trying to correct him.
We love him as one of our children. We don't understand people who leave their dogs out in the weather for their entire lives. We know it's each person's decision, but we just think they bring so much love and personality into your home that you're missing out if they don't live with you.
I don't believe that Bailey has a soul, but I believe that he has a spirit. I believe that he was the perfect dog that God had in mind to be a companion to me when I lived alone, so far from home.
I believe that my heaven will include dogs. Lots of them. Jenny and I will always have a dog in the house. Probably will always have more than one at a time.
When the well-known dog expert and author Elizabeth Marshall Thomas was asked if she believed there would be dogs in heaven, she replied, "It wouldn't be heaven without them."
She, at one time or another, must have had her own Bailey.
