The new man in my life

Meet Bailey, or as I call him, Mr. Bailey-boo. We adopted him yesterday. He’s an Australian Cattle Dog mix and he has those deep, soulful eyes that instantly drew me to him.

I first met Bailey back in April. I was attending the Romance in CNY con in Utica with an author friend of mine (she’s great, check out her books here) and a local rescue, Rover’s Do Over, had some cute puppers there who were up for adoption. I saw Bailey there and it was love at first sight. I sat my fat butt right down on the floor and gave him some love and wanted to bring him home that day. But we already had three adults and two dogs in a very small Cape Cod house, and one of the dogs is an elderly, blind husky who is cranky and resistant to change and I didn’t really want to upset her world. So I went home from the con with a bunch of new books and no dog. I kept everything crossed that he would find a wonderful forever home.

In the weeks that followed, I found myself going back to the rescue’s website and Facebook page so I could at least see his sweet face. At one point I didn’t see him there, so I assumed he had found a home and was glad he had someone to love on him.

Then a couple of weeks ago a post from the rescue came across my Facebook feed, and there was my Bailey staring back at me with those beautiful eyes. The post said he was still waiting for his new home, and I felt like he had been waiting for me to come get him. So I filled out the adoption application and we traveled with Millie to Utica yesterday so that we could all do a meet and greet. It took a few minutes for Bailey and Millie to get used to each other, but after that they were coexisting in peace, if not overly friendly with each other. I was concerned about them being in the back seat of the car together for the 90-minute drive home, but they both behaved spectacularly.

Not a lot is known about Bailey’s background. He was found as a stray by some good samaritans and turned in to the rescue after they were unable to find his owner. It’s evident that he has been in a home before, because he is housetrained, microchipped, and neutered, he knows a couple of basic commands, and he seems familiar with the workings of a home. We are learning some things about his temperament – he is very mellow and loves people. Other dogs are fine, he just needs to warm up to them a bit. We know from his foster mom that he doesn’t like to be in a crate. We usually crate our dogs until they earn the trust to be left out during the day when we’re at work, but she said that she has never had a problem leaving him out, so we’re giving that a try.

Another thing we have noticed is that although he is okay with other dogs, he does not like them to come towards him head-on. A greeting from the side is fine, but another dog coming straight at him will elicit a warning growl. I wonder if that comes from his time as a stray. He also doesn’t like feeling trapped, which is probably why he doesn’t do crates. Last evening, just due to the layout of the room and the people passing through it, he was temporarily blocked in a corner, and that also earned us a growl. So he definitely has some self-protective issues that we need to work through. But we’ll get him feeling safe and secure, and completely spoiled.

Ever since I first met Bailey, he has reminded me so much of Huron, our sweet rescue boy who left us back in 2021. Bailey doesn’t look like Huron, but he has those same deep, penetrating eyes, and that same sweet spirit. As I was snuggling with him in bed last night, like I used to do with Huron, I wondered if Huron knew I needed another beautiful boy to love, another abandoned soul to mend, and he sent Bailey to me.