4/2/2003 - 6/17/2010

(please scroll to read about Ms. Bailey)

Sometimes we would call her Ms. Bailey and sometimes we would call her "Whiskers".

Ms. Bailey was the love of my life. She was just a little bit naughty... always making me laugh. It was hard to get mad at her. She didn't have a mean bone in her body.

She was a feisty little pug... not surprising since her daddy's name was "Pistol Pete". She mustered all that energy into a lovable little clown.
Life was always interesting with Ms. Bailey in the house.

She came to us as a little baby and joined her "brother" Barnum. Barnum and Bailey... a real circus.
They instantly bonded, although I'm sure on some days he wondered why this little pup wouldn't leave him alone.
They were best friends. Always together. They ate together, slept together and played together. They would run around the house in their younger days.
She was very fast and would grab hold of Barnum's tail and he would take off running with her hanging onto his tail. It was all in fun.

As a pup, she punctured the cornea of her eye with a rawhide chewie (these were never again allowed in the house) and had emergency eye surgery.
Her eye was salvaged and went on to lead a normal life. We were unsure how much vision she had in that eye but it did not slow her down.

She had some GI problems... would often vomit her food but after much testing it was determined that she simply ate too fast. She did everything with gusto. That was just the way she was. So we would feed her a little bit of "puppy stew" and then pick up the bowl of food so that she would eat more slowly.
She had a bit of an underbite and I'm sure that did not help her eating problem.

She loved to eat corn-on-the-cob and would gnaw at the bits of corn after we had finished eating.

Unfortunately, Ms. Bailey preferred to do her business on paper as opposed to going outside.
She just never got the hang of it even though she would watch Barnum do his business outside.
She would patiently wait until she got inside and then go to her special place with papers and do it in private. Maybe she was just embarrassed.

I always said... "when Ms. Bailey turns two she will be smart". She was seven years old and just recently learned how to count to three. I would always count and on "three" she was to "jump" and I would lift her onto the bed. Barnum learned this trick long ago.

And how she loved to play "tuck and run". I would clap my hands and she would tuck her little butt in and take off running in circles. She was such a spirited little girl.

She loved sitting in our little garden with me as we watched the birds at the feeders.
She would watch the doves walking on the ground quite close to us and never make a move.
When I would ask her... "where is Mr. Squirrel?" or "where is the kitty kat?" she would immediately look up in the trees trying to find them because that is where she was accustomed to seeing them.

She loved going for walks and always had to walk right next to Barnum.

She was a bit mischievious and taught Barnum the bad habit of grabbing the end of the toilet paper and running with it to see how far it would go.
Got to the point we had to take the roll of toilet paper out of the holder if we wanted some left.

She loved her little toys... Mr. Fox, Mr. Pheasant and Bunny Rabbit, and would bring them to bed at night.

She protected us and did "homeland security" from the back of the couch and would bark at anything and anyone who passed by.
It was a ferocious bark and I'm sure she would have protected us if it was ever necessary.

The best times of day were spent sharing quiet time with her. She would sit by my side and was so very gentle and loving.

Of course she and Barnum shared the bed with us and bedtime was a special time.
She would always get a drink of ice water from a glass on the bedside table before retiring for the night.

Life for Ms. Bailey was always a "good tail day" (any pug with a tightly curled tail is having a "good tail day").
She loved life. And I loved her so very much and cannot imagine life without her by my side.
Ms. Bailey... you will always be my "sweet girl".
I love you... forever and ever...