Kissed By An Angel

May 19th, 2015

It was bound to happen sooner rather than later and I was the culprit.  Since bringing Bailey home at 9 weeks of age, we have been careful about giving her free range of the house.  Don’t get me wrong.  Bailey is not kept on a leash while inside.  We just make sure that she is supervised to limit the amount of headaches for her and us.  Someone is always nearby to see that the wood furniture does not take the place of Bailey’s rawhide bone or we don’t miss her attempts to alert us about going outside.  However, someone fell asleep on the job last week.

I am one of those people who get up early in the morning around 5 am.  Is it because I have a paid job that starts early?  No, I just like the solitude of the morning.  This is a time when I can collect my thoughts, savour my coffee and now, hang out with my Newfoundland puppy.  But, like any puppy (just bigger), she’s energetic and hanging involves being active.  We play fetch the moose (or a few other items depending on Bailey’s mood), take numerous tours of the yard and fit in a couple of short training sessions.  This type of activity has replaced my book reading on the sofa for the first hour and a half of my day.  The only thing is that the 20 minute nap taken by me before the boys explode through the door afterschool does not happen anymore.  I admit that I miss my nap.

Last Wednesday afternoon, I was feeling more tired than usual because of the morning spent on spring cleaning the bedrooms.  Bailey and I also had been enjoying the milder weather outside in the yard.  When we returned inside, Bailey retrieved her stuffed moose a few times but, I could tell she wanted to rest (and so did I).  I seized the chance to get a book and lay down on the sofa with the sun streaming through the window onto me.  Bailey lay beside the sofa with her moose safely secured in her mouth.  I stroked her fur for a few times as I read.  That’s the last thing I remember.

When I bolted awake, it was to a slobbery pink tongue that has grown in size to match our much bigger Bailey.  I had been in a very deep sleep and awoke with a shock.  But, not before Bailey had got in a few good licks to the face and ears.  Not an issue unless your pooch has been treated recently for roundworm – that’s an earlier blog post.  As I went to grab the book, my hands grasped something very wet and slimy – definitely not a book.  It was an extremely wet stuffed moose.  I guess Bailey had caught her second wind and decided to put her moose on top of my stomach in the hopes of getting my attention.  I was in the Land of Nod or, as my boys say, “deader than dead”.  By this time, I was awake enough to know what had happened.  Like a guilty employee who had fallen asleep on the job, I surveyed the area for anything out of place.  Nothing. I was safe!  I looked back at Bailey who was still sitting beside the sofa in front of me.  She was patiently waiting to resume our game of fetch the moose.  Her mouth was open with that bright pink tongue hanging out in what seemed to be a big smile.  It was in that moment I felt “kissed by an angel”.

P.S.  At 16 weeks, Bailey is now 20.3 kg or 44 pounds 12 ounces.