I lucked out, I guess. 

After years of considering myself a "cat person," I agreed to adopt a dog when Buckaroo and I bought a house together.  I did a lot of research on dog breeds to determine a type that would get along with the cat I had at that time.  I came to the conclusion that my best bet for the size I wanted would be either an Australian Shepard or Border Collie, so I started contacting the various dog-rescue organizations to see if they had any up for adoption.  Finally I received a response that one of the foster homes had an Australian Cattle Dog (aka Queensland Heeler or Blue Heeler) available.  I wasn’t familiar with the breed, but since it sounded like Australian Shepard I agreed to take a look at the dog. 

Buckaroo’s schedule is extremely busy around this time of year (he’s in retail), so the only time available to go see the dog was Thanksgiving morning.  The foster home was kind of gross looking with at least five dogs and god knows how many cats.  The man there introduced us to a young pup around 9-10 months old he called "Lizzy."  We took Lizzy on a walk around the block and decided she seemed like what we wanted. 

That was nine years ago this Thanksgiving, and the dog of course turned out to be my sweet girl Bailey.

Bailey made me a "dog person" again.  My impression of dogs (despite having one growing up) was that they were smelly and slobbery and extremely dumb.  Bailey on the other hand is smart - very, very smart. 

As new dog owners, Buckaroo and I knew little about training dogs at that time. Fortunately Bailey just seemed to pick things up on her own.  She learned that if we say to her "We don’t beg" while we’re eating, she’ll go lay down.  She learned the difference between the commands "go potty" and "go poop."  She learned that it’s her job to keep the "birdies" out of our yard (particularly the pigeons).  She seems to understand what we are saying, maybe not from the words, but from the inflection in our voice, and she responds appropriately.  She learned who the "kitty cat" was and how to play with her.  And her loyalty, which I’ve written about before, is unparalleled.

Had it not been for Bailey being such a smart dog, we would have never gotten Karter.  I credit her for giving him the home he has with us now.  I know that every dog owner likes to think that their dog is brilliant, but I really do believe that Bailey is much more intelligent than the average dog.

Now at the other end of the spectrum, there’s this:
 

While you’re all enjoying Thanksgiving, my household is having a happy Bailey-versary.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.  You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.