Bailey, the Buck mid night special
Wednesday evening 04-28-10, we lost a special member of our family, Bailey Frank Petramale Kliese. Bailey passed on to puppy heaven, a place where dogs are forever young and bones are plentiful.
Bailey's age has always been a controversy at every family gathering of the Petramale's. The only age we are positive of is that he was old and getting older. One time while I was at the vet with Bailey during a routine exam, I had mentioned how no one wants to ever play with Bailey any more except Bruce and I. The Doc explained that since he was so old, it would be like taking some ones 105 year old grandmother out to play and hope not to break her. I think It finally sank in how old he was.
It all started about 10 years ago when I met Bruce. He was renting a room from his sister in her house. She moved in with her boyfriend, leaving Bruce to tend to the dog and cat. Bailey
Frank was the dog and Tounces the driving cat was the cat. Bailey was what we called a "Buck Midnight Special". Bruce's cousin Ding had a old dog named Buck. Buck got around Athens, procreating younger versions of himself. Hence Bailey, a lab mix, the result of one of Bucks evening runs through town with the lady dogs.
The first time I met Bailey I fell in love with him and maybe Bruce too. Bailey was a slightly crazy dog with a lot of pent up energy that needed releasing. He would bark, run and act like a crazy dog all the time. Suddenly Bruce had to go into the hospital, instead of running between two houses, taking care of dogs, I brought Bailey to my house. My yard was fenced for my two dogs, K-K and Sasha. My only issue was getting Bailey accepted by Sasha or Cujo as I fondly called her. Sasha tolerated Bailey, and he was in heaven, running in and out through the dog doors doing laps around the yard. Every now and then there would be a cat chasing problem, but how else would I find out a cat can run sideways on a wood fence. I honestly didn't think something like that was possible but I guess with claws, it can be done.
Another one of Baileys issues was bolting out the front door. Every time we had company, they would open the door, Bailey would plow them over and take off up the street. Bruce or I would have to jump into the car and hope to keep him in our sites. If we could get close enough, we would attempt to entice Bailey to get in the car. Car rides ruled over anything. Bailey would sit in the back seat, head hanging out the window, biting the air the whole ride.
Eventually Bailey fit into my household of creatures as if he was born and raised there. He calmed down, the escape issues lessened and he learned not to chase the cats as much. He still barked like crazy at anything he could.
We had the opportunity to purchased the farm house where we currently live, we needed a bigger yard for our puppy's and this was the dream house we both always wanted. Now the dogs, have a 1 acre fenced in yard to run wild in.
K-K and Sasha are gone now, we still have Jake, who is 15, Max, who is 5 or 6 and Pumpkin who is 2 1/2.
For the past 5 years, Bailey and his age has been one of our topics of discussion. He's turning 17, no 18, no 19??? Who knows for sure? We are only sure of one thing, he was old and had a long, happy life with us. Bailey will be missed greatly by Bruce and I along with the lives of other people he has touched, licked and sniffed.
Bailey's age has always been a controversy at every family gathering of the Petramale's. The only age we are positive of is that he was old and getting older. One time while I was at the vet with Bailey during a routine exam, I had mentioned how no one wants to ever play with Bailey any more except Bruce and I. The Doc explained that since he was so old, it would be like taking some ones 105 year old grandmother out to play and hope not to break her. I think It finally sank in how old he was.
It all started about 10 years ago when I met Bruce. He was renting a room from his sister in her house. She moved in with her boyfriend, leaving Bruce to tend to the dog and cat. Bailey
Frank was the dog and Tounces the driving cat was the cat. Bailey was what we called a "Buck Midnight Special". Bruce's cousin Ding had a old dog named Buck. Buck got around Athens, procreating younger versions of himself. Hence Bailey, a lab mix, the result of one of Bucks evening runs through town with the lady dogs.
The first time I met Bailey I fell in love with him and maybe Bruce too. Bailey was a slightly crazy dog with a lot of pent up energy that needed releasing. He would bark, run and act like a crazy dog all the time. Suddenly Bruce had to go into the hospital, instead of running between two houses, taking care of dogs, I brought Bailey to my house. My yard was fenced for my two dogs, K-K and Sasha. My only issue was getting Bailey accepted by Sasha or Cujo as I fondly called her. Sasha tolerated Bailey, and he was in heaven, running in and out through the dog doors doing laps around the yard. Every now and then there would be a cat chasing problem, but how else would I find out a cat can run sideways on a wood fence. I honestly didn't think something like that was possible but I guess with claws, it can be done.
Another one of Baileys issues was bolting out the front door. Every time we had company, they would open the door, Bailey would plow them over and take off up the street. Bruce or I would have to jump into the car and hope to keep him in our sites. If we could get close enough, we would attempt to entice Bailey to get in the car. Car rides ruled over anything. Bailey would sit in the back seat, head hanging out the window, biting the air the whole ride.
Eventually Bailey fit into my household of creatures as if he was born and raised there. He calmed down, the escape issues lessened and he learned not to chase the cats as much. He still barked like crazy at anything he could.
We had the opportunity to purchased the farm house where we currently live, we needed a bigger yard for our puppy's and this was the dream house we both always wanted. Now the dogs, have a 1 acre fenced in yard to run wild in.
K-K and Sasha are gone now, we still have Jake, who is 15, Max, who is 5 or 6 and Pumpkin who is 2 1/2.
For the past 5 years, Bailey and his age has been one of our topics of discussion. He's turning 17, no 18, no 19??? Who knows for sure? We are only sure of one thing, he was old and had a long, happy life with us. Bailey will be missed greatly by Bruce and I along with the lives of other people he has touched, licked and sniffed.
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