She was an awesome dog

I lost one of my best friends today. Bailey came into our lives when we moved to Belgium. The deal was since we had to move there for DH’s job and I’d be in a country far from home/friends/family, and in a land where I didn’t even speak the language, we could get a dog. From the moment we picked her out of the mass of puppies it was love. She tried to eat the button off my sweater so I felt that she chose us. We’d read all sorts of books on crate training, but apparently she didn’t. She didn’t like her crate. She liked to roam free and all things being even, sleeping in the bed. She had us trained in no time.

Bailey was the ultimate European dog. She loved the city and there are a lot of people who are less well traveled. She’s been to France, Germany, the Netherlands, on trains, planes, and automobiles. She was happy when we moved to Canada, the glory of her own yard was hard to pass up. She was always a dog who loved everyone she met. She was good with other dogs and even small kids.

She didn’t love everyone. She disliked birds and on one occasion she batted a sparrow out of the sky as it swooped over the yard. She was quite proud of her victory over her winged nemesis. How she felt about birds was no match for her loathing of Mr. Skunk. She and Mr. Skunk met on several occasions and it never went well.

She’s been a very faithful best friend. Stuck by my side after watching scary movies, licked away a few tears over the years, and often sat faking an interest as I talked through plot points when writing. DH and I called her “the chaperone” because she liked to sleep between the two of us. We’re glad we had her for Christmas. She always loved that holiday. She liked to crawl under the Christmas tree and then use the branches to scratch her back. She was a big fan of opening presents and very aware of which stocking was hers.

After this Christmas she slowed down. She lost interest in food (which trust me, was highly unusual.) When we couldn’t tempt her with scrambled eggs and beef tenderloin we knew. She’d been our friend for sixteen years. We owed her the best.

I’ll likely be a bit quiet around here for awhile. I’m not feeling the happy/funny.

She was a great dog.

January 2nd, 2013