It has been a joy of mine to watch Bailey grow up. When I wake up I pick her up and take her to the living room. I can let her outside. I feed her and give her water and we quietly hang out until her mommy wakes up. Sometimes she isn’t as quiet as I’d like but that just depends on whether or not she is in a playful mood. I usually drink my coffee, write and read, waiting for her to rise. Since I get up early Bailey is usually still sleepy and after she goes to the bathroom she goes on the couch and sleeps for a while. During the day I get to take her on two or three walks per day. She loves walking around the complex, smelling everything and running around with any of her dog friends that she sees. I love that she has friends she can play with. 

She has been told many times even by residents with pets that she is the cutest dog in the complex. Everyone loves her playing and running around. My favorite part is seeing her run around having fun while smiling. When she is done spending time with her friends. I take her to a couple hills that she likes to run back and forth on. She truly is happiest when she is running around exercising or sleeping. I don’t want people to think I’m comparing having a human baby with a dog. Bailey is the closest to a human baby my wife and I will ever have. I love watching her discover new things, want to spend time and cuddle. Before it gets dark she knows she should be getting one more walk. The only pain is when she wants to go for a walk and I’m done for the night. Becoming a dog dad has made me more protective than I used to be. When my wife and I started living together I started doing Kempo classes which is a form of martial arts. I wanted to do whatever I could to ensure our safety short of buying a firearm. The classes themselves have given me the self confidence I was lacking in my life. Once when I was taking Bailey out on a walk a dog ran out of another apartment, went after Bailey and then took off in the complex. My instinct was to pull Bailey to safety. The dog was about the same size as Bailey and I didn’t know what it was going to do. Another time I was walking Bailey and a big dog crept up to her and started growling and it worried me that the dog wanted to hurt Bailey. So we stopped walking around that part of the complex. While thinking of those two stories I realized the lesson I learned from my mother, “be aware of your surroundings” she would always say.