Bailey

Bailey

When we lost are beautiful retriever after reaching a grand old age, our Dalmatian Jazz became lonely so we went to British Dalmatian Welfare (BDW) to see if we could find her a companion. We originally were looking to have a lovely girl called Sally, but unfortunately they did not get on together.

There was a lot of noise at the foster home and the most beautiful archetypal Pongo you could ever imagine came running towards us. His name was Riley and we were told that he had been rescued from a house quickly as he was going to be put down if he was not taken. It was love at first sight and Riley whose exact age was not known but estimated at about six or seven came home with us.

We gradually introduced Jazz to Riley, but we felt the name was not right, so Riley became Bailey. Within a week Jazz and Bailey became inseparable. Bailey was a chancer and if you were not in close proximity of the kitchen then any home cooking such as cakes or bread were gone, but over a period of time he learnt that it was more advantageous to sit by your side whilst doing food prep than to steal.

Bailey came with a few issues he ran away from brooms and hoovers and hated his front paws being touched, obviously he had some bad experiences, but overtime he learnt that they would not hurt him and now you have to hoover or sweep around him as he does not budge.

Five years ago Bailey became very poorly and he was diagnosed with bladder stones and had to be rushed in for an emergency operation. You can never imagine how relieved we were when he went for a wee. He is now on medication and a special low purine diet. We also learnt that at some point in his life Bailey had been chipped, the chip had gone down into his shoulder and we found out in his younger days he had also been called Eddy.

Bailey is still with us and is now a very old gentleman who likes nothing more than to lay in the sun a gentle walk in the woods and a cuddle on the sofa at night.

We lost Jazz three years ago and decided last year that maybe we would get Bailey a companion. We contacted BDW and waited to see if we could find Bailey a lady friend.

Then one day the phone rang it was Valerie, BDW coordinator she was looking for a home for Milo he had a skin condition and was finding it difficult to re-home him.

That’s when Milo came into our lives and yes you guessed it, Milo is a he! (see Milo’s happy story)

Pettican family