Bailey, Me and Sasha - :)
Meet the newest addition to our family: Bailey! We adopted Bailey from the Houston SPCA today. Bailey is a 4 year old yellow Labrador Retreiver and he was brought in as a cruelty case where he was starved and beaten. :( He has been at the SPCA for almost a month. This makes me so very sad! Bailey is still very skinny - in fact, you can see his ribs and his hip bones. The Vet said that he will definitely gain the weight back, but I can't over feed him and I also can't take him running until he gains more weight because he will burn the calories he is eating. It's hard for me to not give him all the food in the world right now though because he is starving. I know that it's in his best interest though, so of course I will follow the doctor's orders. I went to the SPCA a couple of days ago...and I can't really tell you what led me there. I just decided to go. I looked at the small dogs and puppies and I just know in my heart that they will all get adopted. I even played with one small dog named Boomer. And as amazing as Boomer was, we didn't really connect. I know that he will find a happy and loving home soon because he is just the cutest! See? I wasn't necessarily going there to adopt a dog...I wasn't really expecting myself to do something like that. But, when I went to the big dog room, I stopped in front of Bailey's kennel. I read his sheet and that's how I found out his information. All the dogs were barking wanting to be heard so bad, but Bailey...well, he wasn't barking at all and he just stared at me. He didn't whimper either and he had this look in his eyes like he didn't want to get his hopes up high. I asked the lady if I could meet with Bailey in the get acquainted room and she said sure! Bailey was so sweet in there...he was friendly and he didn't even tinkle. The lady then asked if I wanted to take him outside. Absolutely! When I took him outside, he tinkled (looks like he's housetrained) and just looked so free. I told the lady that there was no way I couldn't adopt him. Now, I just had to run it by Jim.
Jim was not easily convinced of having another dog, but after some pleading, he said okay. Yippee!
I know it sounds so silly to say, but Bailey and I really connected. There was a point where Bailey was sitting next to me. He leaned his head on my thigh and when I looked down, he looked at me and I swear he said: thank you. My heart completely melted and I started crying! We are so happy to be able to give Bailey a second chance at living life...the way he deserves. I cannot say enough how amazingly friendly and sweet he is. Our neighbors met Bailey and he just loves being loved. He hasn't even barked!....and then there's Sasha. Sasha is a barker...she barks at everyone and it takes her a little while to warm up to people. After bringing Bailey home today, I realize just how spoiled Sasha is. Don't get me wrong, Sasha is a great dog...but boy is she spoiled! Sasha is trying to get used to Bailey being in "her" house, but I think she will ease up in no time. Bailey on the other hand, has been so sweet, quiet and good. In fact, he's in his crate sleeping now...not a peep out of him. It's quite different from the first night we had Sasha. She cried all.night.long. I'm hoping that they will get to know each other this weekend and we can all enjoy each other's company as a family.
On another note, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever own a big dog. I've been terrified of big dogs since I can remember. I have also always bought my dogs from breeders. After going to the SPCA, I don't think I could ever buy a breeder puppy again. Going there was such an eye opening experience. People always say there's so many dogs that need good homes. I've heard it, you've heard it, we've all heard it. But I never understood it. Now, I do. If I could rescue all those dogs, I would. If I could give all those cruel people who abuse animals a piece of my mind, I would. I am so glad that I was able to rescue Bailey and give him the chance to stick his head out the window into the wind, sniff flowers, grass and trees, run around, play with toys, sleep on a comfy bed in air conditioning, hear I love you, Bailey over and over again..and the list goes on. The most wonderful thing about all this is, while Bailey is thanking me for rescuing him, I'm thanking him for the same. Bailey really has opened my eyes...and my heart.
This is me picking up Bailey from the SPCA. I have a crazed look on my face because I was trying to get Bailey to sit still for one quick second, while telling the lady to please hurry and take it before he drags me outta here! LOL
