12/17/12|Submitted by Evan

Bailey's Story

We met Bailey the same day we moved into our new apartment. My wife and I had wanted a dog so badly, we pounced at the first possible opportunity to go bring one home. There was never a question that we would adopt. That's how we chose dogs in my family growing up, and it's something I felt strongly enough about to continue with my wife. At the Humane Society in Alpharetta, GA, we started by meeting an adorable black lab puppy. We took him into the interaction room and played with him. He was a great dog - cute, playful, friendly. But we didn't feel that special connection, that "I MUST HAVE THIS DOG!" emotion. With our new apartment full of boxes and both of us settling into new jobs, we weren't about to rush the decision unless we were absolutely sure. That's when I suggested we meet Bailey - whose name was Olivia at the time.

A brown & white hound mix, she was sweet and quiet and easy to pass over at first, but once we got her into the room, we fell in love. She crawled into our laps, like she instantly felt safe with us. She has these big droopy eyes and this trademarked facial expression - it was almost like she was asking us not to leave her. We had a tough decision to make. The apartment was nowhere near ready for us to bring a puppy home. But we were in love, and we knew Bailey wouldn't last long.

We must have stood outside her pen for an hour, debating whether we should make the spontaneous move and take her home. We decided to do the responsible thing and sleep on it... get our apartment unpacked, and if she was still available by the weekend, we would come take her home. If not, it wasn't meant to be. We made it about two more days, ravenously checking the Humane Society website multiple times a day, when we couldn't wait any longer. I took Friday off from work and we brought her home Thursday night.

Bailey is the perfect dog for our family. She has bundled of energy and loved to play, and is a world-class cuddler once you exercise her. She doesn't have a dominant or aggressive bone in her body - she gets along perfectly with other dogs. She's a little skittish around strangers, loud noises, large objects, etc. but has never shown an ounce of violent behavior towards anyone or anything. She's smart. Incredibly smart, if a little stubborn. She has learned her commands extremely well so far, and I think once she outgrows puppydom a bit, she'll be an extremely obedient dog. We couldn't possibly love her more. She sleeps in our bed every night, she goes everywhere with us. We can't imagine our life without her. We went back to the Humane Society yesterday, to pay the adoption fee for a needy pup in hopes of finding him a home for the holidays. We took Bailey with us and she cowered and shook and cried once we got inside. She must have remembered the place. It's a wonderful facility and the staff does a fantastic job, but no dog should have to live in a pen, behind glass, sleeping on a cold, hard floor. Bailey must have remembered what it was like, and we saw her reaction. No dog should ever have to feel like that. If there was any doubt in my mind before, there is none now.

Adoption is the right choice.