If You Love Your Dog...

If You Love Your Dog…

On January 18, 2005 we were blessed with the greatest miracle of all when Elle Jordan Karen Godfrey was born at 7:01 p.m. in Dunedin, FL. I had fallen in love for the third time in my life and needless to say our lives were once again changed forever.

In the months leading up to Elle’s birth, we made the decision that Bailey would no longer sleep on our bed. We were worried that once Elle was born, Bailey might jump on the bed and unknowingly injure or kill the baby. Truthfully, the adjustment was tougher on me than it was on Bailey. Just like every other major change in our lives, Bailey handled the move to the floor without missing a beat. To Bailey these changes were minor. As long as he remained in our company, he was happy.

Melinn’s obstetrician Dr. Joy Wolff, was introduced to us by Roy and Brandy Halladay. Dr. Wolff had delivered virtually every Blue Jay baby in the Dunedin area for the past 20 years. Dr. Wolff did not have any children but was an avid dog lover—having two dogs of her own. As Melinn neared her due date, Dr. Wolff warned us:

“If you love your dog, don’t leave him alone near the baby.”

Dr. Wolff believed that any dog, no matter how docile or friendly, is bound to be jealous of a new baby. In the worst possible scenario, a jealous dog could injure or even kill a newborn leaving the family without its child and its dog.

Naturally I resisted this advice. Irrespective of what Dr. Wolff had said, I knew Bailey and he would never do anything to harm anything or anyone—much less a member of our family. But Melinn took the advice seriously and I was left without a choice. This was an issue where I could not afford to be proven wrong. As a result, when Elle was born, her bassinette would be placed beside our bed and Bailey (and his dog bed) would be just outside our bedroom.

Once again, the adjustment in sleeping arrangements was harder on me than it was on Bailey. To Bailey, life was good and having a baby in the house gave him one more person to love. But these sleeping arrangements wouldn’t last long. When Elle was just over a week old, Melinn and I woke up one morning to find Bailey in our room sleeping beside Elle’s bassinette. Bailey wanted to be closer to us, and that meant being closer to Elle as well. We realized that the rules that applied to other dogs and other families didn’t apply to Bailey and our family.

As Elle grew older she would insist that Bailey was her brother. Even when an adult would tell her that she didn’t have a brother, she would correct them. “Bailey is my brother,” she would say.

Now imagine waking up one day and not being capable of hatred, anger, jealousy or any other negative emotion. What if the only emotions that we were capable of having was happiness and love? This was Bailey. In my entire time with Bailey he was never angry and never jealous. He hated no one. He was our best friend, our son and our brother. Most of all he was our teacher. He somehow knew that life was far too short to harbor a single negative emotion—even for a brief moment. He treated every day as a gift from God and every person as a blessing in his life. As a father, I pray that I can teach my girls these lessons. If I can, it is because I have been taught by Bailey—the world’s greatest dog and teacher.