Bailey

It seems like yesterday I was just writing about Millie and how she left us so suddenly and I guess after more than a year of not writing, it does seem like we've lost another good friend within moments of each other.

Photo: Bailey and Miguel, my goldfish

On Wednesday evening, June 26, around 6pm, our beloved yellow labrador, Bailey, suffered a massive heart attack and died in my mother's arms. He was 10.
Just a few hours before at 4pm, he'd been slobbering for biscuit treats outside my parents' bedroom window and running around the backyard with the 3 other Jacks. Nobody suspected he was ill. At around 5-ish, when he didn't come out of his dog house for his usual hair brushing session, my mother looked in and found him pale and panting. She thought it might be heat stroke so she cradled him in wet towels. The vet came immediately but after some moments, concluded that Bailey's heartbeat was barely audible and he was fading fast. It was indeed a heart attack and there was nothing our vet could do to save him. My mother told Bailey he was a good boy, we all loved him very much and that it was OK for him to let go and then he was gone.

Photo: Bailey in the backyard

Bailey came to our home as a rambunctious 8-week old puppy. He was a gift from a family friend; the largest in a litter of 8 yellow labradors to "Happy" (Dad) and "Honey" (Mom). Bailey was actually the pick of the litter and the family friend had decided to keep him for himself so my parents ended up picking out number 2 out of the remaining 7. At the "handover" party where all the friends came to pick up their puppies, our family friend changed his mind and decided we should have Bailey instead.

I was a student in Australia at the time but in my capacity as "official pet namer" of the family, I was consulted on names and decided our newest member of the family should be named "Bailey". Contrary to what some might think, it was never because of Bailey's Irish Cream. It was just a name I liked and it sounded like a nice yellow labrador name - sweet and sensitive.
Photo: Bailey wiggling his whole body in excitment

That's exactly how he was - sweet and sensitive. Bailey never lost the puppy in him. He was our gentle giant. Always ready for a game, always a good sport. He had such a good temperament. He was extremely loveable. He was a happy, playful dog. He didn't have any insecurities or "issues" (unlike our Jacks who often display "small dog complex") He was very submissive with everyone at home and would easily roll over at the slightest touch for belly rubs!
Photo: Play Tug-o-war or get a belly rub? What do I do? What do I do?

As a puppy, he loved to play Tug-o-war. He would drag his blanket over to anyone who would play with him. Even Rusty, our Jack Russell patriarch, who isn't the most sociable of dogs. If Bailey "won" a match, he would bring his blanket right back so the game could go on and on. If Rusty "won", on the other hand, you could be sure the game was over because the sneaky Jack would run off and hide his prize! There was no such thing with Bailey. He always shared and was always game to play. Of course when he got too big, playing with Rusty became a thing of the past. Rusty was just too insecure and intimidated by Bailey's sheer size and of course, Bailey could just stand still and hold his end of the towel and Rusty would never be able to move him!
Even as an adult, (up to 2 months ago when I was last home, in fact), Tug-o-war remained one of Bailey's favourite games. Whenever I came home, I'd say "Bailey, where's your blanket?" and you could see him sort of go "OOOh!" and he'd turn back, grab his old towel and bound up behind me ready to play. Photo: He'd just plonked his towel on my bed to entice me

Other great Bailey games were of course retrieving - He was extremely good at fetching tennis balls and one of his other favourite toys was always a half inflated football. (Half inflated because he couldn't put a fully inflated football in his mouth!) The football wasn't a constant thing because my parents were always getting him Adidas or Nike footballs and it was expensive to keep a football like that around regularly. So there'd be times when he'd be playing with one and then sometimes none if the ball got too mushed up and had to be thrown away! Photo: One of his earlier footballs

Bailey also LOVED water. I'd read that labradors love water but with Bailey it really did seem so natural! You could have a game with him and the water hose by just cupping the front of the hose and stopping and starting the water and he'd try and catch the jets of water with his mouth! He also liked dunking his face in his water dish. If he was hot, he'd do a dunk and spread water with his chin all over the patio and lie in a puddle. When my parents started keeping small fish and water plants in these large Chinese pots, Bailey would stick his head in when noone was looking and pull out all the plants! One time, when he was found out, he tried to hide in the yard behind the tree. It was night time and I think he thought we wouldn't be able to see him but his two gleaming eyes gave him up!
He was also crazy about bath time! Whenever any of our other dogs got a bath, he'd sit outside the backyard gate and whine until it was his turn. He'd make these high pitched "Ouf ouf" barks the whole time until we opened the gate and let him charge in! He enjoyed getting soaped up and licking up the suds.
Photo: Bailey playing with a rock in his mouth and getting an earful from the Jacks

One of the hardest parts about moving to Hong Kong to be with George was leaving Bailey behind. Up until the time I moved, Bailey often slept in my room with his worn out towel. He'd lie by my bedside and let me stroke him until we both fell asleep. Whenever he did roll over onto his back and I couldn't reach him from bed because he was so close to the floor, he'd get up again so I could touch his head. At night, if I didn't know where he was, I could always hear him slurping his paws and if I whispered his name, I would always hear a soft "thump-thump-thump" wag of his tail in reply. I felt so safe with him by my bedside.

With Bailey's weight and his liking for cold, hard surfaces to lie on, he did have a number of rough patches on his elbows and paws. One of our nightly rituals was to clean any of his sore spots and rub some cream on the dry bits like his elbows. I still did this every time I came home.

Bailey's sudden departure has been really difficult, particularly as I was very attached to him. He was really a good friend and my favourite out of all the dogs at home because we were so close. Whenever I'd had a bad day or I was miserable, I'd stick my face in front of Bailey's nose and let him slurp my face and I'd feel better instantly! He always knew how to cheer me up and when to drop the towel and sit quietly.

I never thought for a moment I wouldn't see him again during my last visit home in May. I never thought he wouldn't be around to meet our new baby. As I was thinking this though, I had an image in my head and this is it: it was Bailey on the left and Millie on the right, both smiling with their tails up and in the middle was a small toddler boy. And the thought occured to me that it was Bailey and Millie sending our boy on to meet us! How wonderful! It was a nice image and one I've been recalling in my mind since to help me cope and to ease the stress of his passing as my due date approaches. If dogs do go to heaven (because it isn't heaven if your dog isn't there) and babies come from heaven, then for all we know, our boy and my best friend have already met.

I'm really going to miss him terribly.

Photo: One of my favourite photos of Bailey running around and having a good time