#ForgottenMachines

[creativemantis]

THE RUSTIC EMOTIONS: Diving into the forgotten world of abandoned vehicles, capturing the emotions and stories they hold.

[feeferj]

forgottenmachines replied to your photoset: We had to put my beautiful boy Bailey down today....

I just lost my 13 year old mutt. I know how hard it is. He looks like a sweet boy and I’m sure he was one of a kind.

He really was. He was perfect. As a puppy he never chewed anything in the house. He'd get pinecones and chomp on them, but never destroyed anything in the house. He house trained like he'd done it before. When my sister in law found out I was pregnant, she made the asinine comment that we'd have to get rid of him because "Akitas were dangerous".

Yeah. So dangerous that when we rescued the ghost twins, he broke into the bathroom to lay in the tub with them. They were less than three weeks old without a mother, and they would cry when I left the room. I bottle fed them. I put a stuffed animal in there so they'd have something as a mother figure, but they'd still cry. So this dog, this huge, German Shepard/ Akita mix broke into the bathroom in order to crawl into the bathtub with three tiny little kittens. And when we let them outside to play? He would whine. And then herd them back to the house if they got too far away for his liking.

The children I was meant to be worried about from this obviously vicious, dangerous animal? Ha. He'd also whine when they cried, and then go lay down wherever they were. Every step of the way he was with them. If someone he didn't know came into the house, he would stand between them and the kids. He'd also do quiet barks when they were asleep. I never trained him for that. He never got trained. Ever. He just *did*. He could be left outside and not run. He knew his boundaries. We had deer in the woods in Quantico. He would want to chase them. He'd want to, but he would wait, and he would look to us for permission before he so much as moved an inch. We'd give it once we knew there was no chance of him catching any of them. He'd go tearing off into the woods, hit a certain point, and come back as happy as could be.

He was a good boy. The best. and I don't think we'll get another dog after this because... we had him. And I don't think any other dog will ever compare. Because Bailey was Bailey. Perfect dog. Best friend. Ultimate snuggler when you were upset. Comfort. Peace of mind when the husband was deployed. Safety because he had a mean bark despite the fact that he was the world's biggest, sweetest, goofiest baby. Mean bark though. Really mean.

And now he's gone. My husband is an absolute wreck. The children don't understand. Apparently the cat is going around meowing for him... They don't tell you when you buy a twenty dollar mutt puppy with the floppiest ears you've ever seen that he's going to be one of the best, and brightest points of your life. They don't tell you that. And they don't tell you how much it hurts when you have to make the choice to put them down. He'll never be forgotten though. Not ever. He was our boy and he was so very loved.