Bailey Boop

It has been a week and a half since we said goodbye to Bailey.  It all still seems surreal.  The house seems so quiet.  You don’t really realized the way someone takes up a house until they’re not there anymore.  There is no more barking when I pull into the driveway – Dakota just quietly meets you at the door. The bed seems so much colder and larger – Bailey definitely had a way of taking up the whole bed.  Meals aren’t exciting anymore either, “Who’s hungry” doesn’t cause a scurry of dog paws hurrying to get to the bowl to devour their meal in 30 seconds flat.

The best 8 years –
Baby Bailey came to us from a rescue in Kansas City.  He immediately fit right into the family – playing like a big dog with Doxy and Dakota.  He was so tiny and playful.

He loved his moose, he loved his Lily.  He was never more excited than when you asked if he wanted to go “bye-bye”.  He loved Tesla, they were always cuddling and playing together.  He loved food – unless it was healthy, then even he wouldn’t eat it.  He got so excited to go outside and sprint to the side fence in case the neighbors were there, they gave him treats!  He loved treats – one of the first car trips he took, some of his training treats spilled in the back seat.  The 7 hour car ride, all I could see was his little bum up in the air because he was set on getting the treats out of the crack of the seat.

He loved to go for a run (in his case, it was run as fast as he could for a few feet, and then get tired and be dragged… and then run as fast as he could again).  I took him for a walk one day in Bunker and he was so excited to be out and about that he didn’t even realize he had ruined the pads of his feet until about a day later.

He was so happy when we would go to my parents house in Sioux Falls.  The lab in him showed.  He would swim for hours and hours and hours, until he would come in and not move from being so tired.  He would sprint around that pool and dive in when Tucker would dive off the diving board.  He also would try to drown Dakota, anytime Dakota would end up in the pool, Bailey would swim over to him and sink him – what a brat :).

The day we brought Bailey home

The worst week –
To think that this was all over a piece of carpet.  Friday started out just fine, I took the dogs for a walk around the block (Bailey always choking himself by pulling hard, trying to ensure he was in front of everyone else).  That evening, Bailey didn’t keep his dinner down.  I didn’t think much of it.  I started to get concerned when Bailey started throwing up hourly throughout the night.  I got him into the vet (after he threw up twice in my new car) and they discovered he had a blockage.  He went into surgery and they removed 2 – 2 feet long strands of carpet that had gone all the way through his intestines.  I had to go to a friend’s wedding that evening so luckily one of my best friends’ husband was able to get him from the vet and kept him company until I got home.

It was to be expected that Bailey wouldn’t be comfortable after a surgery into his tummy, but to see Bailey repulsed by the smell/sight of food was heartbreaking.  By Tuesday, we hadn’t slept much and Bailey still wasn’t eating and couldn’t keep water down either.  I got him into the vet that evening and they ran some tests.  They didn’t see anything abnormal on his blood panel except that he was dehydrated.  They gave him a pain medicine injection and some fluid under his skin.  They walked him out after the tests they ran and it was the first time since the surgery he seemed like he was on the mend.  He had a little more skip in his step.  It wasn’t long lived – Bailey started panting in pain halfway through the night and we didn’t sleep much.  Things got worse, by Thursday, he couldn’t even move.  A couple calls to the vet, and I knew it was time to say goodbye.  It wasn’t our Bailey, he hadn’t eaten in almost a week and just laid there so uncomfortable.

Tucker drove up and we sat with Bailey for a couple hours, making sure he knew he was a good boy. When Bailey heard Tucker’s voice, he wagged his tail once, the first sign of excitement he had had in days.

 Amy came to the house and it was time to go.  Bailey and I cuddled in the back seat of Tucker’s car with his moose on the drive over – man did he love that moose.  We got to Andover Animal Hospital – I am so glad Amy suggested we go to this vet – they treated Bailey like he was the best dog (and he really was).  The vet came in and did an exam of Bailey, and confirmed out nightmares, he was a very sick boy.  Bailey passed away Thursday, July 27th, 2017 with so many people that loved him.  Tucker, Cassie, Amy and his moose were all holding him with me as he took his last breath and no longer had to suffer.

I picked up Bailey’s ashes about a week after we said goodbye.  It wasn’t easy either.  I made sure he got to ride shotgun one last time before I buried him behind the fence in my backyard with his moose.

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A rare family picture

Always down to cuddle, taking in Rotor when she was a kitty

That crooked smile <3

After a weekend of playing at the dog sitter

He LOVED the dog park, and always found the mud

The best co-pilot

They were the best of friends! He loved his Tesla

My running buddy.

He always managed to find a way to fit on the chair with grandpa

Bailey with his Lily, he liked to follow her because she usually fed him