Bailey

Age: 9

Birthday: September 16, 1999
Astrological Sign: Virgo
Element: Earth
Zodiac Year: Rabbit


I got Bailey, then Nanook, around September 16th of 1999. He was a cute little Rottweiler that my step-mother's niece gave up because they found out the were having another baby and Bailey might not be good with a new born baby (I agree whole heartedly that no dog should be left unattended with a baby or toddler and all interaction should be under proper supervision BUT Bailey LOVES children and he is very good with them ~ I will save this complete rant for a later post). I was looking at getting a dog, possibly a Rhodesian Ridgeback, but I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to get a dog so I took Bailey.


I had never had a dog of my own so having Bailey was a learning experience, having a hard-headed Rottweiler was a major learning experience. My family had always had a dog but they never put any time into training whatever dog they had (but to go outside to potty) so I thought having a dog was really just all fun ~ OH was I wrong!

At first I was just so happy to finally have my own dog that I really put little into training him. I taught him the basic sit, down, and come; but there was very little walking on a lead and the only socialization I did was with my dad's Golden, Morgan and my friend JJ's Husky, Nanook (see why I changed his name ~ plus a Rotti shouldn't be named after the Mal in "The Lost Boys" movie).


When I moved from my apartment to my friend's house I had to crate train Bailey and he had to learned an invisible fence so he could be free in the 3/4 of an acre yard to run and play with his best friend Nanook. The crate training was easy and he loved being in there. I was even told he would just chill in there when I was not home. The invisible fence on the other hand was creating bad habits. Since we lived on a road that was frequently used for a local bicycle race, Bailey and Nanook would chase any bikers or joggers up and down the property line. Little did I know this game of chase was creating a headache for us later in life when we would encounter either a biker or a jogger while on a walk or in a park. So we always had to keep a fast eye for bikers and jogger, which didn't give us the peaceful walk we would want. Although he is much better now after a lot of training and desensitizing, he still likes to give a nice woo woo woo at some of them. Another issue with having a large yard is that I didn't take Bailey out to play with others and that lead to his lacks of social skills. Life lessons ~ we all learn them. Also with him being a Rotti and all the judging people do with the breed, made me tense therefore Bailey would pick up on my tenseness and would react, it was just a vicious cycle of bad vibes that I had to get over.


It wasn't till Bailey was about 5 that we started training him in formal classes and we started undoing his bad habits. He is a Rotti (we even had him DNA tested and he is majority Rotti with a trace of Dobi). His first class was really to just get him more social interaction with other dogs. Unfortunately that class was a bust because the trainer seemed to be afraid of Bailey and the class had no doggie social interaction time, which is what Bailey really needed since he had all the basics commands down, Carrie and I had been previously working on all of the basics and Bailey knew them with ease, also he is a Rotti he'll do whatever I say in a snap fashion (which I love). I had stressed to the trainer that Bailey knew the basics and what we needed was help in the socialization area. What we learned from that class is that we needed to seek out a trainer that worked with strong working breeds.


Carrie had taken Ananya (you'll meet her later) to another trainer and although it was a pretty good class, it wasn't the right class for Bailey ~ more for Goldens, Labs, Weimies, etc., so the search went on for a good trainer. Finally Carrie found a trainer that understood the Guarding type breeds and after one class we knew we had the right one. Bailey's attitude changed almost right away when we had the correct training tools to address his behavior around other dogs. So much that we decided to start fostering Sibes (that is how Magnum, Blue and Meeko came to join our family).

It is no secret that Bailey is my favorite (I even have his paw, actual size, tattooed on my right forearm). He has taught me so much about dogs and training and given me more confidence and taught me patience. My favorite quote is by Roger Caras:


"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."