A Not-so-Shaggy Dog Tale

A NOT-SO-SHAGGY DOG TALE

This essay was written in February 2014 and my beloved Bailey passed away in November 2017.

Bailey is my beloved Irish terrier. She was a rescue dog who belonged to Glen, who resided in Peachtree City in a house opposite to the one where my daughter Dee and family lived. When Glen decided to move to Uruguay in 2006 he was not able to take Bailey with him. Dee’s neighbour, Elaina, who already owned a dog, agreed to take Bailey in. A month later Elaina told Dee that Bailey was “not fitting in with the household”. Dee immediately agreed to adopt Bailey. Dee and the family had immigrated to the USA in October 2005 and I was looking after the pets. A few months  thereafter  I arranged for their two dachshunds, Daisy and Freddie to be transported from South Africa to Peachtree City. The cats “emigrated” several months after the doggies’ departure. When I first saw the pictures of Bailey that Dee sent me, I immediately fell in love with her. She was my kind of dog.

Bailey is a very loving friendly dog and very obedient. She can be relied upon to come when called, and she definitely cannot be regarded as a “barker”, unlike the dachshunds, who can wake the dead when anyone arrives at the house. They will perform until they have been petted and a fuss has been made. Bailey will also jump and expect to be petted, but without the vocal accompaniment.

While out for a walk Bailey is a sociable dog. She is friendly, but aloof. She does not mind doing some sniffing of other dogs, but is reluctant to be sniffed in return. She has never been an aggressive dog.

When Stephen and I moved into a condo in Atlanta in 2012, I asked Dee if I could take Bailey to Atlanta “on approval”.  I had no idea how she would take to living in the city and having to be “walked’. The condo is very pet friendly and our unit, being on the first floor, is conveniently located immediately next to the steps that serve as the pet exit. Pets are not allowed to use the lobby, unless they are carried.

In Atlanta, and in the condo grounds, pets have to be on leashes and “pet stations” with bins and rolls of small plastic bags for cleaning up after pets are strategically placed in our neighbourhood.

Well, Bailey took to condo living as though she was born to it. We have established a routine for going out and if she needs to go out at any other time she will come and put her paw om my lap until I get the message and take her outside. We have an understanding.

If we have left her on her own for a few hours, Stephen tries to “test” her ability as a watchdog. He will very quietly and slowly unlock the door and see if he can catch her unawares. No matter how often I tell Stephen that she knows it is us and that she will not come and attack us, he still likes to play the game.

 Bailey will sometimes bark or growl and then after investigation I will find that a parcel has been left at the door by a postman.   If there is a knock at the door and we open it to a stranger Bailey will bark and perform until we tell her it is OK.

At times when I have taken her for a walk she will see someone in the distance and she will stop and stare and not move. I have then thought that perhaps she thinks it is Stephen coming to join us, but then after a pull on the lead she will continue with the walk.

Now I come to the point of my story. Yesterday Stephen and I took her for a walk along the Beltline. It is a paved path in park-like surroundings.  The path follows a creek for some of its length.  As we were walking along, with Bailey doing her usual stopping and sniffing, she suddenly halted and stared behind her. In the distance I saw a youngish man with long hair and a beard walking next to the creek in our direction. Bailey would not budge when I said “Come along, let’s go”. I thought that perhaps she had decided that she had had enough of walking and wanted to return home. She had done that often enough in the past. Stephen also called her and told me to pull on the lead.  But Bailey pulled in the opposite direction and kept staring at the scruffy man. As he got closer she started growling and then barking.  By then he was close and said to me “Your dog doesn’t like me” and I replied “She certainly does not”. He continued past us and went to sit on some rocks next to the creek. Bailey then continued walking with us without further ado.

This is the not the first time Bailey had displayed this type of behaviour.  Once before, while walking past some businesses on a busy road, after having been to a local pharmacy, Bailey also came to a stop,  and  stared with a warning look.  The approaching, disreputable, pedestrian did a left turn into an alley, and we continued on our way. I believe that on both occasions Bailey smelled or sensed something that she was concerned and  unhappy about, and was giving a warning.  Had other dogs displayed this behavior towards these persons before?  Particularly in the case of the one who made the remark that my dog did not like him?  I wonder what Bailey would have done had she not been on a lead.

The rest of the walks thereafter were normal and both these strange men were not seen again What do you think?

Did Bailey have a sixth sense?