Our good ole' dog, Baylee

It has been ~10 years since I convinced Jeremy that we just had to go get this dog. We drove a couple hours from Macomb, IL (where we lived at the time) to the Quad Cities one night in February 1999. There was snow on the ground. I remember telling the owners we would give him the best life we could and we did.
Unfortunately our beloved dog, Baylee was put to sleep this morning. He has been ill for awhile - having seizures as well as old age. His doctor did all he could to help him but just ran out of options.
I am not even sure where to start to describe Baylee. He was our very first dog. He was devoted to us from the time we picked him up. He was a young one when we got him, only 4 years old. We changed his life, he was use to a fenced in yard and people around 24/7. We both were gone during the day and we had no fence. We had to travel, so car rides were a must. But he did wonderful with adapting to our life, no matter how it changed through the years. Baylee was our kid, he just had fur and 4 legs. He gave us his all.
There are so many things to remember about him...10 years is a long time. I remember while we lived in Macomb we had a waterbed. Baylee's bed was on the floor next to my side. Every morning we would find him in bed with us and not know how he got up and on the waterbed without waking either of us. While our first house was being built he lived with us at my parent's house. He put two German Shepherd in there place...you would think he owned the place. Our first house has a ton of memories from it...like the day it was snowing and there was already plenty of snow onthe ground. He jumped off the deck into the snow and bounced around. Due to his long hair he had snowballs stuck in his ears, behind his legs, on his tail and on his undercarriage. Or playing catch with him. We had a tri-level so you would throw his toy upstairs and he'd bring it back and then you would throw it downstairs and we would do this until he went under the dining room table because he was tired. He would wrestle with his toys and growl when you played tug of war with him. He LOVED going out to the farm (my parent's house)...he would find all the old bones that the boys had finished chewing on and drag them out like they were treasures. If the boys would go chasing something, so would Baylee...he may have been much smaller than the 100+ pound shepherd but he did his darndest to keep up. He loved having the backyard at our current house. He was such a good listener, he would not run off and he was not afraid to tell other to stay away (although some times he would tuck his tail and run after barking).
I remember the day that Jeremy came home from being gone in September 2004 and him jumping up to the couch to see him and him slipping the disk in his back and being paralyzed. We could not afford the surgery that could possibly not work, so we tried acupuncture and by January 2005 he was back to normal.
He was there through every failed attempt to get pregnant. He laid with me while we waited the two long weeks before finding out the last attempt worked. He was my protector. It broke my heart to be put on bedrest and not see him. After getting home without the kids he was what kept me together. And then when the kids did come home...you would have thought that he gave birth to them. He was awesome with them, even when he was not feeling the best. He was a great dog and they loved him just as much.
He watched his two little girls, Doris and Sam get sick and passaway, but still had enough love in his heart to accept Roxy. In his last few days he had a little spunk to him, so he was enjoying life. Well now he will enjoy life at the Rainbow bridge with his sisters- pain free- and wait for us to meet him there.
So here's to Baylee, you are very loved and will be missed dearly. So when you see your pet today give them an extra treat and hug, for they are not around forever even though we want them to be.
Love, Jen