On our walks, Bailey’s long nose is our guide.  Often, when we first step outside she pauses and tips her nose to the sky to breathe in all the world can offer her. She inhales the earth and all of its scents and I wonder what she thinks. It seems like each blade of grass brings a new thought to her mind – who was here before her, what were they doing, when were they walking in this same spot and with whom?

Bailey loves to walk and looks forward to that everday. With 42 acres, she has plenty of room to roam and grass to smell, but we only walk and run on a portion of that. One path leads to our road and she walks unleashed down the path, but waits for me to attach the leash before we get there. She knows there are whizzing cars and motercycles. She dislikes those the most and barks loudly at them as if to say if you are going to make so much noise then I am going to as well! She knows the leash also attaches us and she loves to be attached. I always think, that unlike most dogs, she likes being leashed more than not. She protects me and in turn I protect her and she likes that.

I don’t know if it’s because she is my first dog or not, or it is because of her personality that we are so attached. I think it is perhaps a sweet combination of both. I think Bailey is forever grateful that I picked her from the shelter – a dog that was adopted and then returned by someone and then adopted again by me. That is a turbulent existence for man or dog. The big difference is that I was never returning her. We were now mother and daughter.

She loves that I dote on her and vice versa. My husband complains about all the time she “takes up.” I look at it differently since I feel I am “devoting” the time to her. I feel she is deserving of all the love I have to give her and she loves me right back. She kissed me first and I accepted.  An unconditional relationship begins. So as we walk, I look at what she looks at and think about what she is thinking. I ask her what it is that she smells and sometimes she replies by circling her nose around and around in a certain patch of grass and I know right there it’s something good and I am glad I can witness the enjoyment she has in such a simple act.