Rolling Dog Farm Blog

This is little Bailey, the miniature Dachshund with a bad spine who came to us earlier this year from an animal hoarder court case.  I took this photo at breakfast, while all the other dogs were up, the house was bustling, and Bailey was — as he always is — not stirring.  No, sir.  He lies on his cot in the living room, drifting in and out of sleep, in the midst of all this activity.  Nothing moves but his eyes, and even then it’s usually only his eyelids moving … and they’re sliding down, so he can go back to sleep.

I saw this scene from the breakfast table and thought it looked rather decadent.  Bailey won’t actually spring to life until we are finally heading out the door to take care of the horses.  Then he realizes he has one last shot to get outside, so he shakes the bedding off, climbs off the cot, and skitters to the front door, his tiny back legs fish-tailing side-to-side as he goes.

Because of his spine problem, he’s incontinent — he doesn’t go all the time, but he doesn’t know when "it" is about to happen.  Thus going outside in the morning doesn’t mean he’s necessarily doing his business out there, but it’s part of his routine.  (We always have to change his bedding because he wets his bed every night.)  During the day, as soon as he realizes he’s beginning to poop, he races to the door, trying to get outside in time.  It’s always too late, though, and in the process of getting to the door, he leaves a trail of pee and poop across the floor.  (That, dear reader, is why we have linoleum!)  Bless his little heart, Bailey may not be able to control it, but he knows he should be going outside, not inside, and he tries so hard to get there!

(Click on photo for larger image.)