I've debated on writing this, and gone back and fourth with it because I don't like to be sad.  I hope that in some way whenever you listen to WKDQ or click on my blogs, that I make you smile.  But I also enjoy sharing my life with you on air and online, and I guess this is just unfortunately not one of the happier times, but it's a part of life. 

Melissa/WKDQ
Melissa/WKDQ
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Yesterday I said goodbye to my best friend for the last 10 years.  Bailey is...was my family's chocolate lab.  She was old, she was frail, and her body was shutting down, so we made the hardest decision any pet owners will ever make and decided the best thing for Bailey was to let her go.  The pain is overwhelming.

Let me tell you something about Bailey though, she was the WORST dog ever.  I'm not kidding.  And if you have ever been lucky enough to have your heart won over by a Lab then you know, they are actually the worst.

We got Bailey when I was 15, a couple months after losing our Golden Retriever, Maggie.  I wanted another dog so badly, that my mom finally caved, and Bailey came barging into our lives.  For the first couple years of her life, Bailey ate everything.  Every single one of my makeup brushes, my corsage after my junior prom, and she chewed a hole all the way through the dry wall in our entry way just because she felt like it.   She had this strange belief that all socks must die and it was her civic duty to make sure no sock when un-chewed up, she ate shoes, was really selfish when playing fetch (sure she'd run and get the ball, but you never got it back), and she was terrible at walking on a leash.

Melissa/WKDQ
Melissa/WKDQ
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She took on a Honda Civic when she broke off her leash at 6-months old and went sprinting out into the highway near our house.  Luckily the hub cap broke her fall, and she only sustained a torn due claw (a quick surgery later, she was fine).  She was one of the few dogs who loved going to the vet so much she got excited and drug my mom into the vets office and knocked my mom down in the waiting room.  She even drug me through the mud once when I was trying to take her on a leisurely walk around the block.  She saw another dog and bolted, pulling me down and dragging me through mud.  Of course my neighbors were outside to witness the entire thing.  I gathered up what tiny ounce of pride I had (just kidding I was mortified, there was no pride) and drug her home yelling "BAD GIRL BAILEY, YOU'RE A BAD DOG!"

But then something happened.  

Melissa/WKDQ
Melissa/WKDQ
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Bailey eventually wasn't so crazy, and she started enjoying things like laying outside on a warm Summer day instead of destroying her home.  She started enjoying things like sitting by the window to keep watch on the cars going by and making sure no squirrel (or God forbid, a cat) would enter our front yard when they weren't welcome. Her favorite part of the day was when her humans came home, and she was always right at the front door wagging her tail the second our key entered the lock.   If you walked by a room she was in when it was dark out, you'd start to hear the  "thump thump thump" noise of her big tail hitting the ground to let you know where she was and she was happy you were near.   But Bailey did as all dogs do, she got older, and she got grayer, and ended up turning into the greatest dog in the world.

Melissa/WKDQ
Melissa/WKDQ
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Getting around got harder, and Bailey continued to get grayer, and her body was getting old.  Even though we knew she wasn't feeling her best she still never missed a chance to throw a one dog welcome home party for you when you walked through the door. She was so patient when I decided to get a rambunctious puppy, and let Wrigley waller all over her.  There was no kinder, gentler, or more patient soul on earth like our sweet Bailey.  I'm sure if you've ever loved a senior dog you understand that.

But yesterday we had to say goodbye.   Her body was failing her, and we made the hardest decision, to let her go.   Saying goodbye to my best friend of the last 10 years was singlehandedly the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

Life will go on, and there will be other dogs, but Bailey will forever hold a special place in our hearts.  From absolute worst dog ever, to stuffed animal snuggler and all around good girl, she will be so missed.

If you have a dog whether they're currently "worst dog ever" or they're living our their senior years, hug them extra tight today, and let them know that they are a "good dog".  And if your dog is in the "worst dog ever" stage, as frustrating as it is, be thankful, because once they get older you'll wish they were young and healthy and tearing everything up again.

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. - Winnie the Pooh

Rest easy sweet girl, you are so incredibly loved.

Melissa/WKDQ
Melissa/WKDQ
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