Three Years

Woof!

So my mom was sitting there this morning, thinking about me (naturally, this being the 3-year anniversary of me going to the Bridge). Then, she started talking to me.
She said, "Bailey, I love you and I miss you soooo much, but I need a favor. Grandma is having surgery today, and I need to you go be with her and make sure she's okay."
No problem mom.

You know how sometimes angels get so close you can almost hear their wings flutter against the ground... Mom heard me go "Thud!" As soon as she finished asking me to take care of grandma, she heard what sounded like a dog, jumping out of bed. She was the only one home, and the other three furkids were in the living room with her.

The hospital grandma was having her surgery at is really close to the campground (the best place on earth), so she and grandpa stayed there last night, and grandpa will be staying there tonight, as grandma will be spending the night at the hospital. She's fine, by the way, I wouldn't let my mom down like that.

Anyhow... Today, baby Tyler, who is now 7 years old, went to the library at school and checked out a book. The title? "Bailey Goes Camping". I love that kid. He's very intuitive, and we're VERY connected.

Bailey

Still Cruising

Woof!!

Today was a great day! I got to go cruising with my mom and my grandpa, it was just like old times.

Okay, so I didn't physically get to go with them, but I was there, none the less.

It was the first big car cruise of the season in the Detroit area today. Unfortunately, grandpa's car, a 1964 1/2 Mustang convertible, had other ideas. The transmission went goofy. The car would only go in reverse, and even then, it wasn't moving that well.

Despite this, mom and grandpa decided to go. They were meeting up with some friends from grandpa's car club, so they loaded up the every day car. Mom told everyone she was cruising in a vintage 2010 Mercury Mariner, which had been restored to like-new condition (meaning it had just been washed) (my mom's kind of a nerd, but I love her anyhow).

As mom was getting in the car, she noticed something. The photo of me that grandpa had asked her to print out for him a while back, which he keeps on the dashboard of his Mustang, was now on the dashboard of the Mariner. He just looked at her and said, "Bailey loved to cruise, and by God, he's not going to miss out on this one!"

It was a good day.

Bailey

The Legend Lives On

Woof!!

It's no secret... I loved cruising in grandpa's car. I loved riding up and down Telegraph and Fort Street during their scheduled cruises. I loved sitting on the side of both roads, watching the other cruisers go by (although, I would have loved chasing the cars more, but mom is such a spoil sport). The only thing better than riding in the car or watching the other cruisers, was the attention I got.

At every cruise we did, I was a celebrity of sorts. People would beg grandpa to stop the car, just so they could take my photo and pet my head. We had people in other cars taking my photo. I even had one woman in McDonald's drive-thru get out of her car to take a photo of me with her phone!

I was the "It" dog, and I loved it.

The temperatures going up can mean only one thing... it's cruising season once again.

There's no question that my mom misses me (she still cries almost daily, 7 months after I had to leave). But, apparently, someone else misses me just as much.

With the cruising season rapidly approaching, grandpa made a request. He asked mom to print out a couple of his favorite photos of me. One, with me wearing my Doggles, looking directly at the camera, and another of me wearing my Doggles and riding in the car with grandpa. Mom got the photos printed and laminated them after grandpa told her what he wanted the photos for.

Every time grandpa takes his car out for a ride... I get to go along. That's right! I'm his co-pilot! He put my photos on the dashboard, up next to the windshield, right in front of where he sits. Who knew, after all the grief I gave him, that grandpa secretly loved me??? ;o)

This past Friday, grandpa took his car to a car show (not judged, just a monthly event open to anyone with a classic car). He hadn't been there long, when a man walked up and started admiring grandpa's car. It's a 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang convertible.

As the man came around the front on the driver's side, he started paying particular attention to the windshield on the driver's side.

"Oh my God!" the man exclaimed. "That's that cool dog! I saw that dog cruising on Telegraph! He's such a cool dog!"

As grandpa started chatting with the man (who he had never met before), the man told him he saw us go by and was so impressed by me, he was going to get his camera to get a photo of me if we came back by. But, we cruised by before he had a chance to follow through with his plan, so he never got the photo.

Grandpa told the man that I had passed, and the man said he was sorry, then he told grandpa again how cool he thought I was. It made grandpa smile. Of course, when grandpa told mom the story, it made her cry. But, these were tears of happiness and pride.

Grandpa said that is the memory he keeps of me... that I made people who didn't even know me happy when they saw me.

Bailey

The Mother's Day Sign

Woof!

Today, mom was suffering from a bad case of the blues. She was looking at my photos and watching some of my videos. At first, they made her smile and laugh, but then the tears began to flow.

She begged God for a sign to let her know for sure that I was okay and that I had forgiven her. This was followed by more sobbing.

Later in the evening, she joined grandma and grandpa at aunt Jennifer's house for dinner. She took my new sister, Hailey (cute name, huh?). The kids love her, plus mom doesn't have to crate her that way. Aunt Jennifer has a stash of toys for when mom's furkids come for a visit, so mom got them out for Hailey to play with.

As mom and aunt Jennifer were sitting at the dinner table, finishing up, baby Tyler (who's 5 years old now) came up to mom. He had my Bad Cuz toy in his hand.

"This is Bay's favorite toy," Tyler said, squeaking it repeatedly. "Bay loves it when it squeaks." Squeak, squeak, squeak. Then, Tyler set the toy on the table next to mom, looked her in the eye and said, "Bailey loves you."

More tears flowed, but mom was happy because she had gotten the sign she had asked for.


Happy Mother's Day!!

Love,
Bailey

Where's the Bag Check???

Woof!!

I'm gone for a month and a half and every bit of security at the house has fallen miserably to the wayside!

While I was on duty, not a single bag was brought through the door without a thorough inspection by me. I took this responsibility very serious. With so many evil doers in the world, one could not be too careful.

Bags that smelled like people food were great to inspect, even if mom and grandma told me to leave them alone. But, my specialty was inspecting bags that came from the pet store. I could sniff one of those out before they even came through the door!
If I detected the scent of pet store on the bags, I would put my head deep into the bag, practically pulling the bag out of the carrier's hand. Mom always had a heck of a time getting Christmas and birthday presents past me. Even if she made it past me, she had another obstacle... where to hide the bag so that I couldn't get to it. Those bags usually ended up in the top of mom's closet.

I've been watching from the Bridge. Mom has brought in several bags filled with great things from Petco... Do you know, the menace and her sidekick barely rousted themselves from the beds in front of the fireplace to see what she had brought in??? I know! I was just as astounded!! What's more, those bags are now laying on the floor in the closet!! C'mon!! I'm beginning to question why mom calls the menace "Nosy Rosie".

You know, one of these times, mom will walk in with a package, the menace and her sidekick will not inspect the package and it will turn out to be a cat or something worse! If that happens, you gotta know, I will be laughing my stubby little tail off!

Bailey

Beef

Woof!!

Did you think I was gone furever???

I'm doing okay, settling in. It's a 24-7 job guarding those Pearly Gates, but someone's got to do it! Thanks to me, not a single delivery person has made it in! Just kidding, but I do give them a big "welcome". The guy in charge is thinking about reassigning me to the bunny patrol. That would be okay too. I always enjoyed bunny patrol.

I got to thinking about some of the best things on Earth. First, of course, was my mom, grandma, grandpa and the rest of the family. Second, my great friends (okay, so most of them were cyber friends, as I did not "play well with others" at all times). Third, my toys. I loved my toys. What's great here, is there is always a pile of squeaky toys to play with. We all work on de-squeaking them. The best part is, even after we de-squeak them, the next day, all the squeakers are fixed. We LOVE that!!!

One of the greatest things on Earth has got to be "table food". You know what I'm talkin' about. Another name for it is "people food", or "that which should not be touched by dog lips".

I was a professional table surfer, who scored my fair share (okay, so a lot of dogs' fair share) of the edible deliciousness. Pizza, peanut butter toast, cereal, butter, more pizza... heck, I even had me some orange juice (to wash down the peanut butter toast).

Not long before the worst day ever, I got to surf some beef. oooooooohhhhhhh. (sorry, I had a moment)

I had gone to the campground (the best place on Earth) with mom and grandpa. We had gone up there to pick up a few brick pavers to use in the front yard at our house (the other best place on Earth). I also got to go for a nice walk with mom while we were there. On our way there, mom gets to thinking about her tummy and how it would be nice to have some lunch before doing all that work. We popped into the Arby's drive-thru and mom ordered a chicken somethingorother for herself and some sort of roast beef sandwich for grandpa.

Trust me, I noticed the omission also, but, being the nice guy that I am, I didn't see the need to panic. I also knew there would be some fries in my future if I played my cards right.

As we pulled up to the window, I got noticed by the lady working inside. I, of course, hammed it up. She called another woman over to gaze upon my wonderfulness, and asked mom "Would doggy like some roast beef?" to which, to her credit, mom answered "Of course doggy would like some roast beef."

Here's the thing. Mom thought the lady was joking. Grandpa thought the lady was joking. Heck, even I thought the lady was joking. But, I must have had a boatload of Karma working in my favor that day...

I estimate it took me 0.02 seconds to go from the backseat into mom's lap in the driver seat when I saw the lady return to the window with a LARGE french fry container, heaping with beef, glorious beef!!!

Before mom could even get it in the car, I was leaning out the window, getting my first taste of Heaven. And. It. Was. GOOOOOD!!

Mom managed to convince me to go back in the backseat so I could eat the side of beef the beautiful lady had bestowed upon me. Ooooooooooooooohhhhhh (sorry, another moment)...

Mom thanked the nice lady for me (not nice to talk with a mouthful, so I let her handle it), and off we went.

If you think eating that beef in any way, shape or form kept me from begging french fries off of mom or grandpa, you'd be wrong!! What goes better with beef than fries?? Nothing!! I got me some fries. It was a good day.


Bailey

Here Kitty, Kitty

Woof!!

I can't believe it!! I just can't believe it!!! An intruder breached the security of my backyard! Holy cow!!

I had been outside earlier in the morning, but, as per my usual routine, I had gone back to bed after getting my treat.

I was completely content, snoozing away. I am soooo not a morning dog!! Mom, who had gotten up early with a headache (her last day of work due to a permanent layoff), was brushing her teeth and walked out into the living room (not something she normally does). As she glanced out the window at the deck, she became a bit confused. There was an animal on the deck. MY deck.

It was a cat!! A cat!! A cat on my deck!!! This wasn't one of those black and white striped cats that my pal Gizmo dealt with (with convincing results...he's a tough guy like myself). This was an honest-to-goodness, sneaky, meowing, I-wasn't-put-on-this-earth-to-please-humans, c-a-t!!!

Mom opened the door and stomped her feet (Tyler's sandbox was sitting on the deck uncovered...need I say more). The cat took off.

Thankfully, the rucus mom caused did not rouse me from my slumber.

Mom decided I needed to make sure that the cat had indeed left the premisis (my yard). She came in the bedroom, uncovered me and picked me up (still, I managed to stay asleep). It wasn't until mom put my feet on the floor that I woke up. I noticed that she seemed pretty excited about something outside.

I ran out the door and caught a whiff of something strange. That's when I realized what had happened. I scoured the yard, searching for the intruder, but was unsuccessful.

Finally, mom said she had to leave for work (would hate to be late for her very last day). This meant that I needed to give up the search and come inside (of course, she covered the sandbox before we headed in).

I spent most of the afternoon outside with grandpa, putzing around in the backyard. I checked the whole yard and still have no idea how that cat got into the yard. I think I'll be camping outside tonight, just to make sure he doesn't try it again!!

Bailey

That Dog

Woof!!

So that's how I'm now known by my many fans. "That Dog".

This was the weekend I had been looking forward to all year. The Telegraph Cruise was held yesterday, and I was there in all my glory. What a wonderful time I had!

We started the weekend off on Friday. I went with mom and grandpa in the '64 1/2 Mustang convertible to see some fans of mine. Okay, so they are friends of grandpa, but they always ask about me when I'm not with him.
On our way there, mom asked grandpa to stop by McDonald's (fine dining). As we waited in the drive-thru line, the passenger in the car ahead of us got out of the vehicle and came towards us, carrying her cell phone. No, she didn't have a call for us. She wanted to take my picture with her cell!! I had my Doggles on, and she said that I was just the cutest thing she'd ever seen!! I hammed it up and gave her what she wanted. She patted me on the head, thanked mom and got back in her car (she didn't even offer to buy me dinner!). The papparazzi is everywhere these days!!

We headed off to grandpa's friends' house on the Detroit River. I did some great sniffing (they have a Westie), and we all jumped in our respective cars (classics) and headed off for some early cruising. We had a great time. We even took time to stop and watch the other early cruisers. I took that opportunity to thank my biggest fans by climbing from mom's lap into Barb's lap (without any prompting). I put my front paws on her shoulders and gave her some kisses. Then, I climbed from her lap onto her husband, Dan's lap, and attempted to cover him with kisses to. He was a little less receptive (grandpa said it's because they are "cat" people...and cats aren't known for showing their affection in such an extroverted fashion). It was a nice way to spend the evening.

On Saturday, we headed off for the Main Event. Telegraph Cruise '09. People out in their classic cars, with other people lining the road, watching the action.

As we cruised, many people were waving to me and smiling at the sheer joy I was feeling. Or, maybe it had something to do with the Doggles...who knows?

As we passed this one group of people on our first lap of the day, we heard this one man comment to his friends, "There's 'that dog'! I've seen him before!" Wow...I have a following!!

Later, as we made another lap, the same man commented to his friends, "There's 'that dog' I was telling you about!" Wow...people are talking about me!!

While we were at a red light, these teenage girls, who were holding a car wash for their cheerleading squad, went on and on about how cute I was. One girl even said that I was the "pimpest dog" she'd ever seen. Um, I'm not sure what that means, but I'm taking it as a compliment. They also ran over so they could pet me and take my picture.

Even on our way home, the adoration continued. We pulled up to a light and the man in the car next to us turned down his very loud radio to ask about me (I didn't even have my Doggles on). And, as we were passing a limo with a wedding party in it, they rolled down the window to say what a cool dog I was (with my Doggles back on).

A lot of dogs could get a fat head out of all this. But, my family really helps keep my paws on the ground. I wish they would knock it off!!

Bailey

Sneaky Snake

Woof!!

So I think my mom is mad at me right now. It's not really my fault (as usual). She's just being irrational (as usual).

We were at the campground (woohoo) and I was enjoying the wonderful sounds and scents of nature behind our shed. Okay, if you want to get technical, I was hunting for chipmunks (a new delicacy I've recently discovered but have yet to catch).
Mom was on the deck watching me, and got to wondering what I was up to. Hellooooo...I'm on a tether, how much could I possibly be up to??? She had already put the menace in the camper and decided it would be a good idea if I joined her (like I said, she's irrational).

She tried calling me. I didn't budge. She tried pulling on the end of the tether, but I was pretty insistant that I be allowed to stay where I was. This is where things took an ugly turn.

I was behind the shed. The shed sits next to the gazebo. Mom was about to step between the shed and the gazebo when she looked down and saw something she'd rather not step on. It wasn't dog poo (even though that's what she was looking out for...and eventually wished it would have been)...Oh no...It was much worse than that...

Between the shed and the gazebo and between me and mom there was a snake!!! That's right...A SNAKE!!!

Mom was about 2 feet from it when she saw it and noticed that it was eyeballing her. She couldn't move. She was frozen by her irrational fear of snakes (of the garter variety, by the way).

Knowing that I am the defender of the universe and killer of what she deems "cute and fuzzy" bunnies, mom decided her best course of action would be to have me "take care" of this unwelcome critter.

She called me and told me to "get it!"

I flew from behind the shed, chest puffed forward, muscles bulging, ready to take on the mighty chipmunk that was harrassing my mom.

Even though mom usually leaves Animal Planet on the TV when she goes to work, I have no idea what a snake looks like. I walked right passed the critter, nearly stepping on it in the process!

The snake apparently sensed the great amount of danger it was in, and promptly slithered underneath the shed (I never did see it...even though mom says it must have been about 35 feet long...remember, she is irrational and not that good with the math).

Maybe, if the snake had had a chipmunk in its mouth, I might have taken notice of it.

Bailey

Groundhog Day

Woof!!

I found an intruder in my yard today! In MY yard!!! OMD!! This like, never happens!!

As I inspected the yard, searching for breaches in the perimeter, I caught a whiff of something. Now, the menace and the runt each have an aroma about them, but this was something different. It was something a bit more wild.

I followed my nose and it lead me to the deck behind the house. The deck which is complete fenced with chicken wire. I sniffed and sniffed and sniffed some more. My nose was not misleading me. There was definitely something under the deck, threatening the safety of my family. Something had to be done, and I had to be the dog to do it!

I searched and searched until I found a small opening in the chicken wire. It wasn't much, but I was able to squeeze my sizeable muscles through it.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness beneath the deck, it became apparent that I was not the only one in the vicinity. Something was watching me, and it was watching me closely.

Crouched in one corner, there was a large animal. At first, I believed it to be a rabbit. It's been a while since I've had rabbit, so I was pretty jazzed about the opportunity to pick one off so easily. But, the closer I got to the creature, the more it became apparent that it was NOT a rabbit. For one thing, the long ears were missing. In fact, I didn't notice any ears at all. The cute, fluffy tail was also missing. This odd critter didn't even seem to have a tail. What the heck???

I sized it up, it sized me up. I began barking with excitement (I knew I could take the critter if I really wanted to, but it's more fun if there's a chase involved).

Unfortunately, my barking drew the attention of my grandpa. Dear grandpa. My cruising buddy. My camping buddy. Holder of the hose...Whoa! Hold the phone! I don't like the hose. My grandpa knows this. Why on earth would he be turning the hose on me at this moment, when he knows I'm about to close the deal on a terrorist hidden beneath the deck.

I decided the best thing would be for me to explain what was going on to grandpa. I found my way back out from under the deck and ran out to have a word with grandpa. Shortly thereafter, the creature made a break for it. This was the first time that grandpa was able to see what I was talking about. I gave chase, and the creature dove back under the deck.

Grandpa called the critter a groundhog. Well, he can just go hog someone else's ground! I will not tolerate this intrusion! Grandpa wouldn't let me get back under the deck, so the creature is still hogging the ground under our deck, no doubt plotting his attack for after my family goes to sleep tonight. We'll just see about that! I won't be sleeping tonight...well, after my nap, that is...

Bailey