[Dailydrool] A Tribute to our first foster dog with AZBHR!

[Monique Merola]

Well droolers and Foster Mommies and Daddies of AZBHR, friends and family,
it took me almost 5 months to do it, it's been a hard 5 months without her,
but here it is at last...our tribute to our first foster girl with AZ Basset
Hound Rescue!

 A Tribute to our Baylie Ann Merola 7/16/1995 - 9/8/2008

 

She just needed a foster home for the weekend.  AZBHR had just rescued her
from a breeder in Tucson and she was only 5 years old.  We were new with
AZBHR and I thought, "what is just a weekend, let's try it".  She was petite
and red with sparkling white markings and LONG ears.  She walked into our
home and climbed into Tim's lap.  It was love at first sight for everyone
and she claimed him as her Daddy within 5 minutes.  That was September 23,
2000.  We adopted her just 2 days later!  "SHE" became our Baylie, Baylor
Butts, Heart Butt and Goose Chest!  So many names for a princess!  For 7
years, 11 months and 8 days we loved her with all of our being.  She was our
alpha, our sweet girl, all wrapped in one.  She pretty much ran the Basset
show at our house and kept everyone in line.  She posed for more pictures
than imaginable.  She knew how to do tricks!!  I never knew a Basset could
do tricks!  She would sit up, roll over and give paw for treats.  Her Daddy
discovered this standing in front of the refrigerator one day with a piece
of turkey in his hand..she just sat up, rolled over and put her paw out as
if begging for it!  She endured dozens of foster dogs and kept them all in
line, even another alpha girl, Penny Lyn, even Penny Lyn answered to Baylie.
She did not like it, but she knew Baylie was "in charge" at the Merola
household.  She attended every Waddle, every Howl-O-Ween and every other
event known to AZBHR for all 7+ years and loved it!  She was also the first
Basset to give our newborn son a gentle kiss on the cheek when we got home
from the hospital...a very cherished memory!  In October 2007, Baylie was
diagnosed with Apocrine Gland Adenocarcinoma, which is a very malignant type
of cancer in a tiny gland near the anal gland.  This type of tumor is common
to Bassets, yet I had never heard of it!  It was caught very early and she
went through 5 rounds of chemotherapy to stop it from spreading and she gave
us 13 more months of love, truly unconditional and she was so brave!  The
first week of September 2008, Baylie would not eat, soooo NOT a Basset,
especially not for Baylie, so we knew her time was drawing near.  We called
our Veterinarian, Dr. Montana and her Oncologists, Dr. Waltman and Dr.
Hillers.  We wanted to let them know of her situation and significant
decline in her quality of life (maybe I just needed to hear from them all
that it was okay to let her go, I don't know!).  Then we called the most
wonderful Vet (Dr. Christina) who does in-home euthanasia.  Baylie had her
favorite songs playing, our song to her "I Believe" and she laid on her
favorite bed in front of the TV and had beautiful red flowers around her and
candles lit everywhere to guide her to The Bridge.  Her angel, Dr. Christina
helped her on her way to The Rainbows Bridge on September 8, 2008 at 1:55pm.
AJ and Mommy laid on her bed with her and Daddy took pictures.  We did paw
prints, imprints in clay and got a lock of fur to make a memory box and we
planted a special flower outside just for her.  AJ said, "Baylie is with
Jesus now Mommy, so you don't have to cry anymore because now she can eat
steak and corn on the cob and everything again"!  So, we all cried some more
and held her and covered her beautiful fur with tears.  Saying goodbye is
always so hard, but there was something different with this loss.  Maybe it
is because she was our very first foster, or maybe it is because she was our
"pack leader" or maybe it was just because she was our Baylie.  I do not
know, but on September 8, 2008, a piece of our hearts went to The Bridge
with her.  The Merola household is so quiet and our pack is very confused
about who the leader is now, but we are slowly adjusting.  I want to take
this moment to thank AZBHR for rescuing an extremely beautiful part of our
lives.  We are forever changed by her love and loyalty and if it were not
for AZBHR, we would not have been blessed by her life!  So, we have said our
goodbyes, but not forever.  We are so blessed to look at our Bassets and
know how special they each are and how much love they give.  Losing Baylie
just amplified our love for the ones we still have....Skipper, Jennie, Joey
and Sophia Jolene....and all the fosters that have come and gone and to all
the ones to come...Baylie started a special tradition in our lives....foster
one, even just for a weekend, and watch it change your life..wow, it sure
changed ours!  Thank you again to all the incredible volunteers and foster
families with AZBHR!  We love you all!

 

Tim, Monique, and AJ Merola

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