Not the Turkey

After furtherbinvestigation, we discover that Bailey's allergies may not be related to the Turkey. SAfter a further investigation into the ingredients of her Dry food from "Taste of the Wild", we discover that the Venison and Bison Flavor includes Peas! We are putting her back on the Salmon and Sweet Potato flavor, "Taste of the Wild" that does not include peas, but poor Bailey has another ear infection and she is miserable.

It's the Turkey

Bailey is still eating the beef and rice mixture and her itching has decreased. It seems she is allergic to Turkey. After 4 days of being Turkey free, she is hardly itching at all. I will still start adding some beef broth to her mixed food, as the beef and rice are a little dry for her. I was going to add gravy until I remembered that gravy is made with flour or cornstarch. At least for today Bailey is getting some relief. We will start reintroducing her grain free biscuits tomorrow and see if she is actually allergic to any of those.

Rice

Bailey is itching more than ever now. Maybe I should of left the rice out of her cooked beef mixture. After all, she is allergic to other grains, she could be allergic to rice too. I will cook some more beef and mix in some gravy and see how she does on that.

Back to Beef

Taking away all of Bailey's biscuits has reduced her itching. I have read the ingredients on the biscuits and I still don't see anything she is allergic too. Since she did not have any adverse reaction to the beef and rice I mixed up for her before, I will start her back on the beef and rice today with some dehydrated beef jerky treats. She is still on the Taste of the Wild Venison and Bison Potato dry food and that is not causing her any problems. I will keep her on the dry food and substitute the beef for the turkey as a moist food. After a couple of days I will introduce her back to the biscuits and see how she does.

Sock Thief

When Bailey was a puppy, she quickly discovered that her possession of someone's errant sock would set off a lively game of chase, with the sock owner trying to regain possession of the footwear. Now that she is older, she still makes off with any socks that are carelessly left on the floor, the chase game is not as long as it used to be. Now she prefers the attention she gets when she gives the sock up. The promise of a belly rub or a head scratch will quickly return the now soggy sock to it's owner.

Itching Again

Bailey had us all up at 3 Am this morning. Not really her fault. My brother had stayed over, and he was getting reaady to leave for work at that time, when he noticed Bailey was awake and wanting to go outside. Unfortunatly, the security alarm was set off, so everyone else ended up wide awake. I took Bailey outside and noticed she was scratching more than ever. I brought her in and gave her some Benedryl, so now she is sound asleep, and I am still wide awake. We will now take her off of all her treats, with the exception of the turkey jerky I made her on the dehydrator, and see if we can find out the cause of the itching. If she is still itching tomorrow, we will take her off of all turkey and see how she does.

Trixie

Bailey's sister dog Trixie, is a 13 year old Jack Russell Terrier, who thinks she is the Queen of the Universe. She also has food allergies, and is highly allergic to chicken. Her incontinence and hatred of the House Cat has relegated her to outdoor life since I moved in with Mom. I believe after being stuck inside the Condo alone during the day while I was at work, she enjoys the outdoor life. She has a sheltered, heated area when it's cold, and her own swimming pool when it's hot. I think the only thing she really misses is watching television. When we lived at the Condo, I would leave the television on for her during the day while I was at work. Many times I would come home to find a couch cushion pushed off onto the floor in front of the television with Trixie in the center of the cushion thouroughly engrossed in whatever was on at the time. Her and Bailey are great friends except when Bailey accidently stumbles over Trixie when they are playing chase. Trixie quickly reasserts herself as queen of the universe and Bailey is confined to a small area of the back porch until all is forgiven. They do love each other, but Trixie is the Queen.

Food allergies

So far, we know that Bailey is allergic to corn, wheat, oats, soy, flaxseed, and peas. She is also potentially allergic to green beans, chicken, barley, and rosemary. She did not have the "No Grainers" biscuits at all yesterday and she has not been itching so far this morning. The rice I mixed into her diet does not seem to be causing her any problems. Hopefully we can keep her on her current diet.

Bailey's diet

Bailey's diet right now consists of "Taste of the Wild" Venison and Bison formula dry food. She gets 3 cups a day divided into 2 feedings.
She gets a tablespoon of plain yogurt or cottage cheese mixed into her morning feeding. In the Evening she gets 2 tablespoons of my homemade mixture mixed into the dry food. By mixing a little canned food or other goodies into their dry food your dog won't get bored with their food.
My homemade mixtures are ground turkey or beef, browned and mixed with either rice or mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes. I also mix canned salmon with mashed sweet potatoes. I cook up enough for of these mixtures to last the week and then on Saturday mornings I fix enough for the next week, alternating between the recipes. The mixture is stored in a large covered Tupperware bowl in the refrigerator. It lasts good for a week in the fridge.
Since Bailey is now getting food that does not have all the grain fillers found in most commercial dog foods, she is now dropping some of her weight a little at a time, and starting to slim down. She also has more energy and a shinier coat. She is not getting all the sodium, sugars and preservatives that are found in most canned food and the "Taste of the Wild" Dry food has limited ingredients with high protein and a single carbohydrate source.
We are still watching her treats for any allergic reactions. She seems to like the "Natural Balance" brand venison and sweet potato biscuits, and so far we have not noticed any reactions. I can tell more tomorrow, as Mom slipped her some of the "No Grainers" biscuits yesterday, so she is not completely off of those yet.
I looked into the"Natural Balance" Brand dry food, as an alternative, but it has flaxseed meal, and we already know Bailey is allergic to flaxseed. luckily they do not use flaxseed in their line of treats.

Rosemary extract?

The Beef and Rice didn't seem to cause Bailey any more problems than the Turkey and sweet potato did. Mom neglected to tell me that we were running out of the ground beef mixture, so she cooked up some more of the Turkey mixture. We are leaving the green beans out for now. This week we are taking Bailey off of the "No Grainers" Treats and we have some "Natural Balance" Dog Biscuits from Petco that are Venison and Potato. These are small dog biscuits that look like milkbones. Bailey seems to like them. The only thing I can see in the "No Grainers" that Bailey might be allergic to is the rosemary extract. Since she is allergic to flaxseed, I am almost certain she is having a slight reaction to the rosemary also.

Dogs are people too

A conversation at work yesterday turned into the human like idiosynchrosies of my coworkers dogs. One lady that has 3 dogs, told us that when she gets home and finds something torn up, she looks at her 3 dogs and says "who made this mess?" The 2 innocent dogs then both turn and look at the guilty dog. The guilty dog then tucks tail and slinks out of the room.
My own Jack Russell Terrier "Trixie", is quick to show her displeasure with me by sitting with her back to me and ignoring me, of course she turns her head just enough to make sure I see that she is ignoring me. Trixie also loves to watch television and she will sit on the couch, on her bottom with her legs straight out, just like a little person. She looks like she is waiting to have a bowl of popcorn placed on her lap.
When Bailey is confused, or trying to figure out how to communicate to you what she wants, she curls her lip up on one side in contemplation. We call this her Elvis lip. It's funny to see all the human like qualities these dogs can have. I guess they are all just spoiled children.

Lost dog or lost car?

I saw a sign on the way home today that read "Lost Datsun".... I wonder how you go about losing a small japanese car? Maybe they left the garage door open and it got out.

Here's the beef

So far Bailey's itching seems a little better, but I don't know for sure if it was eliminating the turkey from her diet or the green beans. I am leaning toward the green beans, since we know she is allergic to peas. We are still giving her the No Grainers brand treats but we will discontinue those later this week, so she will only be getting Beef and Rice by the end of the week. Oh, and a banana, as her and my mother share a banana every morning. Watch out Bailey, if you are still itching next week, I'll be taking your banana away.

Cheaper at Walmart

Our Veterinarian has recommende putting Bailey on Glucosomine for her hip problems and Omega 3 Fish Oil for her shedding and dry skin from the winter. Knowing Mom is on a fixed income, she told Mom to purchase the human quality from Walmart in the 1000 mg size as they would be much cheaper than the ones made for Pets. The fish oil capsules, I cut open and drizzle over her food. The glucosomine are large tablets and we have to shove those down her throat. But they seem to help and her shedding has been greatly reuced since she has been taking the fish oil.

New Diet

I started Bailey on her new diet today. We switched her to "Taste of the Wild" Venison and Bison flavored dry food a week and half ago, as she seemed to be getting tired of all the salmon in her diet. Today I took her off of all the turkey and the green beans and I browned some ground beef, drained it and mixed in some steamed white rice. I had also purchased a dehydrator last month and I had been dehydrating Turkey Breast strips into Jerky for her as a treat. I have taken her off of the Turkey Jerky for now and I made up some Beef Jerky strips for her. She was still itching this morning, but by this evening she had stopped. Of course we celebrated my 17 year old nephew's birthday today, and we had lots of company to play with Bailey. She may have been too tired to scratch an itch this evening. I should be able to discover more if her new diet is working by tomorrow afternoon.

Mom's Home

Bailey is one happy little girl since Mom came home yesterday. She almost looks like she is smiling. She is back now 2 eating 2 meals a day. I will be making her up some ground Turkey with rice. I am going to leave out the grean beans and see if that helps with the itching. I am reintroducing Bailey to rice to see if she is allergic to that also. Our investigation continues.

Moping Around

Bailey is still moping around, missing Mom. She is once again relegated to the back yard while I am at work. I left thr terrier in her kennel today because I suspect she has been bossing Bailey around. Bailey is only eating her food once a day now. I guess when Mom gets home today she will get back on her routine. In the meantime I will have to start back to checking the ingredients in her food and treats as she has been itching quite a bit this week. I hope she's not allergic to the turkey treats I have been dehydrating for her. Maybe it's the green beans or just the additional exposure she is getting this week to the pollen

Pollen

Leaving Bailey out in the yard during the day while I'm at work seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, Bailey is allergic to all the pollen that is in the air right now, I have had to start giving her 2 Benadryl tablets morning and evening. Only one more day until Mom comes home. Bailey sure misses her.

Bailey Misses Mom

My mother left on a weeklong trip 2 days ago. I was home those 2 days, but had to return to work today. With no one available to check on Bailey while I'm at work, Bailey was relegated to the backyard for the day. We used to leave Bailey in the house while we were on a trip and hire a teenage neighbor to come in several times a day and walk her. Our teenage neighbor started college last fall and we have not found a replacement pet sitter yet. When I put Bailey out this morning with my Jack Russell Terrier, Bailey seemed to know she would be outside for the day. I think she will do alright, but I know she is missing my Mom. The last couple of days she has alternated, laying by the front window watching for Mom's truck, to crawling up in Mom's recliner and moping. When Mom called last night, I held the phone to Bailey's ear, her tail started wagging and she laid her head firmly against the receiver. Mom will be home soon Bailey.

Bailey's Hip Problem

Now Bailey loves to eat, despite all of her food allergies, and she is a hefty girl. We know she is overweight and try to cut down on her treats and her food and make sure she is getting plenty of exercise. She loves to run and play with the terriers in the back yard, even when they get fussy, and occasionally nip at her for stumbling over them.
Last summer we went to Kansas to visit relatives and my cousin had what he called a "Goat Dog", that was 1/2 Greta Pyrenees and 1/2 Akbash. He said these dogs were used to protect livestock from coyotes. My brother had recently lost a whole herd of sheep to coyotes. My teenage nephew decided that they needed a "Goat Dog" so they could get more sheep. There was no detering him from this idea. We got back to the hotel and he got on my laptop and found some Great Pyrennnes/Kangul(Anatolian Shepherds) for sale in Oklahoma. So on out way back to Texas we stopped and picked up one of these huge puppies. It stayed at our house while he was small, until we felt he was sufficient size to defend himself from Coyotes. He got along fabulously with the other dogs. The problem was, he grew, and grew and then grew some more. He and Bailey would chase and then wrestle each other. The puppy would run and nip at her hocks. It wasn't long before we noticed Bailey was limping. A trip to the Vet and we learn Bailey has some slight turning out of one hip, that the vet thinks is from her being overweight. She recommends a diet, and some glucosamine tablets. She tells us to buy the people brand of glucosamine at Walmart and give Bailey 1000mg per day. We do that, and then I see some milled flaxseed at the grocery store. I had heard before that it was also good for joints, so I buy a box, and instruct my mother to mix a tablespoon into her food. Bad idea, as now we discover that Bailey is allergic to Flaxseed. I go over the ingredients of some of the dogfood that Bailey was sensitive to before and find Flaxseed listed as an ingredient. Mystery solved. We add Flaxseed to the list.

Peas

We are now feeding Bailey the "Taste of the Wild" Salmon and Sweet Potato, no grain diet and we bought more of the Socal grain Free treats. I am also supplementing this with ground Turkey or canned Salmon, that I cook and mix with potatoes and green beans, in lieu of canned food. Life is good, her red blistered feet are clearing up, she is shedding less and she is more energetic than she has been in months. Then I decide to mix in some sweet peas instead of grean beans to her cooked turkey mix. The rash returns with a vengeance. Bailey is apparently allergic to peas. Since the Socal treats we have been giving her have pea flour, we discontinue those too. I have seen an ad for NO Grainers Pet treats and I find those at Walmart. Now Bailey is completely Grain Free, the itching and rash are greatly reduced and we are all feeling a lot better.

Food Allergies

With Bailey's food allergies, we have also had to take a closer look at the treats we give her. We avoided anything with corn, same as we were doing with her food. Still throughout the next year she was plagued with ear infections and red itchy paws. We found the Diamond brand foods at the local feed store, that advertised no corn, wheat or soy. We changed her over to the lamb and rice. She liked this food, but she was still scratching and her feet were still broke out. Another trip to the vet, with yet another ear infection, we are told that Bailey needs a completely grain free diet. The vet recommends a prescription diet that is way out of our budget, we decide to shop around and then if the allergies aren't any better, we will try the prescription food. I had seen Dick Van Patton's Natural Balance Dry Food at Petco and it came in a Salmon and Swett Potato Grain Free formula, but I had also seen Taste of the Wild Dry food at Tractor Supply. It is also completely Grain Free, but more within our budget. We start her on the Taste of the Wild Salmon and Sweet Potato. After a week on this diet, the itching is less frequent. We stop feeding her any canned food, and I cook ground Turkey mixed with mashed sweet potatoes and green beans. We find some treats at Petsmart that are Grain Free, made with pea flour, called Socal. Finally we think, we have found the solution.

Bailey The Treasure Hunter

In our yard, no stone is left unturned or hole left undog. Bailey is constantly in pursuit of any small foreign object she can dig up, or find. No metal detectors needed, Bailey can detect the smallest nail or screw and dig down 8 or more inches to retrieve it. These treasures she proudly clenches between her teeth, and with you in pursuit, she dashes and dodges around the house or yard for her favorite game of chase. In the house her favorite treasure trove is unguarded waste baskets, where she may discover a discarded tissue or a cardboard toilet paper roller. I have had my hand in Bailey's mouth, more often than I have my hands in my own pockets.

Treats

Mom took Bailey to Petsmart yesterday for a bath. She noted on the check in sheet that Bailey has food allergies. I told her she should of packed Bailey some treats and left them with her. Yes, that's right someone didn't read the chart and Bailey has been itching like mad since she was picked up. We have known a couple of the girls that work at this Petsmart since Bailey was a puppy and they were always allowed to give Bailey a little treat. Once the food allergies were diagnosed, we had a hard time finding treats that Bailey was not allergic to. We have not had Bailey to Petsmart in a while, so the girls were unaware of the extent of her food allergies. The result is a clean but itchy dog. We will have to be more verbal next time we leave her for a bath.

Venison

PHZ5MVEZMPBK When our supply of the Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice puppy is running low, we return to Petsmart and speak with the representative from Nutro Natural Choice Dogfoods again. She recommends that we feed Bailey, the Natural Choice Adult Lamb and Rice, since the Large Breed puppy is no longer available. We discuss Bailey's allergies again and she directs us to the Natural Choice Venison and Brown Rice. We have a winner, Bailey likes it and although she is still itching some, she does well on this food and our 10 year old terriers seem to like too. Even though Bailey is now 6 months old and still considered a puppy, we feel that she is getting the proper nutrition with the Nutro Natural Choice brands, and our research has shown us there is not much difference between the puppy and adult foods from Nutro. By now I have done extensive research of dog food and food allergies online and found that most of the better pet foods are sold for all life stages, puppy through adult, without having a food made specifically for puppies.

Fungal Ear Infection

About the same time we met the representative from Nutro Natural Choice Pet Foods at Petsmart, Bailey developed her first ear infection. She was shaking her head and scratching her left ear like mad. When I soaked a cotton swab with alchohol and cleaned her ear, the cotton swab was stained with a smelly brown gunk. The Nutro representative told us that it was most likely a fungal yeast infection caused by Bailey's allergies, and she recommended we supplement Bailey's diet with some plain yogurt. Bailey's Veterinarian confirmed the yeast infection and put Bailey on steroids, antibiotics and packed her ear with medication. The Vet also told us to make a wrap to go around Bailey's ears with some old nylon pantyhose, to keep Bailey from shaking her head and causing damage to her ear drum. We tried the wrap, but Bailey thought her little hat made a nifty toy, so that didn't last long. We did try the Yogurt too, I don't know if it helped, but Bailey likes it mixed into her morning meals.

Back to Petsmart

We head back to Petsmart to once again check the dogfood labels in search of a food that Bailey is not allergic to. This time there is representative in the store from Nutro Dogfoods. We explain our dogfood dilemma and she shows us the label ingredients on Nutro's Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy Lamb and Rice. The first ingredient is Lamb, and there is no Poultry By-Products, which the Nutro Representative tells us is the parts of the chicken that are not used for human consumption, such as skin, intestines, beaks, feet etc..., Yuk, who wants to feed chicken parts like that to their pet? We buy a small bag of the Natural Choice and start Bailey on it. She is still itching a little, but not as much as she had been. Finally, we think, we have found a dry food that she can tolerate, we also got a few cans of the Natural Choice Lamb and Rice Puppy, to mix in with her dry food, and she seems to do well on that also. Bailey seems to be doing well on this food but, as we begin purchasing it on a regular basis, we notice that the supply of the dry large breed puppy Lamb and Rice is dwindling. We buy what is available at that store and and at a couple of other stores, including Petco, and then learn that the company has temporarily discontinued the Puppy Lamb and Rice, due to changing their lamb meat supplier. By now Bailey is 6 months old. Although the company representatives tell us that the food will be produced again in a few months, it doesn't happen, and Bailey has to eat now, so we are back to searching the dog food labels again.
(2 years later this food is back on store shelves)

Potty Training

Bailey took to potty training right away. We got her the friday of a long weekend and during the day she was taken outside every couple of hours. The first couple of nights I set my alarm to get me up at 2 AM to take her out to potty, but she would start whining around midnight so I would take her out then and then into my bedroom until she dozed back off. The second night I dozed off too, until she started whining again around 5 AM and woke me up. I think that night my snoring may have frightened her, because after that night she didn't whine anymore and slept until I got her up to go out at 2AM.
My Mother being retired, she kept up with taking Bailey out every couple of hours during the day. Bailey quickly learned to go to the door when she needed to go out and after the first week, she was sleeping through the night until I woke up at 4:30 AM to get ready for work.
This of course worked fine for us because my mother was home during the day to take the puppy out, but I know a lot of people get puppies and have to leave them alone the entire day while they are at school or work. My recomendation for this would be to place the puppy in a room where they can't destroy anything and to set their bed and toys up in a crate in one corner of the room, then place a puppy pad in the other end of the room. While you are home, put the puppy pad near the back door and everytime they need to go, move them to the pad. Once they get used to the pad, they should start using the pad in their room. Also leave the Television or Radio on softly in their room. A bored Puppy is a destructive puppy.

Another Allergy

After perusing the PetSmart and studying various Dog Food ingredients, our next purchase is Nature's Recipe Lamb and Rice Puppy. We start her on this gradually changing her over from the Purina One, by the second day of mixing in the Nature's Recipe food 1/3rd to 2/3rd. of the Purina One, she is itching worse than ever. Here are the ingredients for Nature's Recipe

Lamb meal, ground rice, pearled barley, oatmeal, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dried egg, lamb digest, tomato pomace, flax seed, potassium chloride, salt, taurine, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), inositol, niacin supplement, vitamin A supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, beta-carotene, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), minerals (zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, iron proteinate, copper sulfate, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), choline chloride, yucca schidigera, rosemary extract.
We are stumped at this point, so back to Petsmart we go.

Is it the Chicken?

When we got Bailey, our first stop was to the Pet Store to stock up on the food she was already being fed by the Breeder. It was a national brand dry puppy food (Pedigree) and we felt it best to keep her on the food she was used to. Once we diagnosed the possible food allergy, we took a look at the ingredients in the puppy food . This was a chicken flavored food and I have a Jack Russell Terrier who is allergic to chicken, so we thought that might be the culprit. We head to the grocery store and pick up a bag of Purina One Lamb and Rice puppy food. After a couple of days we notice she is still scratching but not as much as before we changed the food.
I would like to add that both of these are decent Pet Foods, unless you have a dog with food allergies.

Compare the ingredients in the Pedigree Puppy to the Purina One Puppy

Pedigree Puppy Chicken

Ground Whole Corn, Chicken By-product Meal, Rice, Corn Gluten Meal (source of Lutein*), Animal Fat (preserved With BHA And Citric Acid), Ground Whole Wheat, Monocalcium Phosphate, Natural Flavor, Salt, Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Fish Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols)[source of DHA*], Vegetable Oil (aource of Linoleic Acid), Vitamins (Dl-alpha Tocopherol Acetate [source of Vitamin E], Choline Chloride, L-ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate [aource of Vitamin C*], Vitamin A Acetate, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], D-calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Riboflavin Supplement [Vitamin B2], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Calcium Carbonate, Taurine, Dried Vegetables (Peas, Carrots), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Potassium Iodide), Marigold Extract, Added FD&C Colors (Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Blue 2), Rosemary Extract.

Purina One Healthy Puppy Lamb and Rice

Lamb, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, oat meal, fish meal (source of DHA), whole grain corn, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), poultry by-product meal, animal digest, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, salt, caramel color, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.

Since she is still itching with the Purina One and it has no chicken, maybe it's the corn, at least it's a common denominator.
Now we head back to the Pet Store and start reading dogfood labels.

Food Allergies

We got our White Lab puppy, " Bailey" when she was 7 weeks old. We stopped at Petsmart on our way home with her and bought the same puppy food the Breeder had been feeding her, a pillow, a puppy collar and some toys. All the new puppy essentials. We got home, played with her, fed her and then settled her on her new bed in the laundry room for the night. When she started whining, I took her out to potty and then into my bed until she dozed off again , then I put her back into her own bed in the laundry room. She slept through the night and I took her out early the next morning for her potties again. She did pretty good, no accidents in the house. She plays and sleeps and eats, and seems to be settling into her new home just fine. So far so good, but why is she scratching so much? We examine her for fleas and find none. We start suspecting a possible food allergy and that starts our investigation into food allergies. It takes a lot of trial and error to diagnose potential food allergies and it would be a while before we found almost everything Bailey was allergic too.

New Puppy

Bailey is my mother's dog. When my father passed away in January of 2008. his 17 year old Rat Terrier passed away the day before he did. My father had always said that if something happened to him he wanted my mother to get a yellow lab. By Easter we found an ad in the local paper not for a yellow lab but for white lab puppies. located nearby. Bailey was the fattest girl in the litter and she made a beeline for my Mom, pulling on her shoe laces, while her litter mates playing nearby, ignored us. She was the one, she had picked my Mom as her own. Bailey is 2 years old now and a treasured member of the family.