“Bad Bailey” has a big backstory.

He’s the dog that cost me $11,000 to save – he’s been a challenge – but he’s the show pony of my team, and there is a reason for this blog.

Bailey’s life started in Melbourne and when I lost my heart dog, Reba, to a snake bite while I was in the United States for the World Dairy Expo. My world imploded without Reba – I felt her loss profoundly on so many levels. Losing her really hurt.

*With my two favourites, Reba and Bluechip Hero Marion, the 2019 International Dairy Week Supreme Intermediate Champion.*

*Reba used to sit on the cat when I was late for the calves, and she was ready to go. The cat’s name is Bear and he’s now in New Zealand too.*

When the opportunity came a few months later to give another broken-coated Jack Russell pup a safe landing place I couldn’t say no.

The lady selling him was from the other side of Melbourne. I was coming from our farm at Shepparton in northern Victoria. We met midway between our homes – both two hours driving – at the Melbourne Airport. I ignored that she pulled out a bottle of sav blanc and a plastic cup and had a drink while I looked at them. Although it was a little concerning, if I’m honest.

I was immediately drawn to Bailey’s broad head and placid attitude. I decided on him, and a few weeks later I took him home.

*It’s true, they are cute when they are asleep. Bailey was no exception…this is him in Aussie.*

He always seemed a little distracted, but I just accepted that it was him. He clicked quickly with my working Kelpie, Will, and we all pushed on. When we moved to New Zealand, Bailey, Will, and our two rescue cats, Bear and Bella, came with this.

Post my marriage break-up, Bailey started urinating blood. I rushed him to the vet, and they discovered a kidney stone. We operated and took it out. It was sent to America for further testing, and the results came back with additional information that would be the start of a big journey…

Bailey was diagnosed with a liver shunt*, which meant his blood wasn’t being filtered by his liver.

*The liver filters out toxins and metabolises nutrients before sending them to the rest of the body. With a liver shunt, blood bypasses this important step and instead moves directly into the general circulation. The portal vein also supplies nutrients and oxygen to the liver, helping it survive, and function.

So that “dirty blood” was moving through his heart and head – which is a hideous thought – and which explained his distracted behaviour. Some dogs have fits and worse…

I knew quite a lot about saving cows – it had become our superpower in Australia. Dogs? Now that was a different story. I was all at sea. I really missed my Aussie vets at this point. I hadn’t formed any bonds with New Zealand vets, and I remain eternally grateful to our Aussie vet, Rob Bonnano, who was amazing at explaining to me exactly what I was facing. That’s his superpower. A vet who can paint pictures with words. Who knew?

The bills were incremental but all significant. We had to scan him to see if it was an operable “outer shunt” or a tougher to operate “inner shunt”. It cost $2500 to scan him – and, if I chose surgery he could go straight to surgery from that scan – or, I could have paid $500 for a less accurate scan, and then if I wanted to operate, I’d have to double back and do the $2500 scan on top of the $500 one. So, the $2500 scan straight out of the gates it was.

He was aged two at the time and he was given a 93% chance that surgery would fix it forever. What was I to do…another $6000 or so to operate (not to mention all the prep work which was significant). I was fresh out of a marriage, in what felt like a new country, no cows, no calves, and a dubious income stream. I could have made the call to put him down or tried to just medicate him – which would have cost more in the end.

But, I chose to operate. I even found the specialist to do it and Bailey was his first operation in the South Island after he relocated from the North Island. The poor man, I did hunt him down a bit.

*This was the second time he was opened up…*

Bailey was a trooper. Tough. Private in his pain. And, he slowly recovered. By this time, I had formed a bond with the vets, and they understood my deep need to know, and my extreme commitment to observation and learning.

Bailey has since developed allergies – a lesson for me about potentially intervening with congenital issues.

But regardless of all that, he’s a pretty cool dude and everyone loves him. He’s so laid back, he’s nearly horizontal, and he loves hanging out in crowds. He’s found his place in my world.

When my DDNZ partner in crime, Lois Natta, met Bailey (well, before she met him when I told her about his latest misadventure) she adored him, and she has decided he will be our DDNZ mascot. So, I thought perhaps it was time to share a little of his back story.

*This is Will and Bailey in Aussie when Will was still a working dog.*

I could have made many calls to end his life prematurely, but my life at the time was chaos, I was still missing Reba, and I couldn’t face abandoning him when he needed me most.

We’d spent so many more thousands on vet bills for our cows over the years, honestly. So, here he is…the little bugger.

I often turn around from my desk to watch those big paws at the end of those short legs dropping clups of mud across my floor. He gets that mud under those paws by rearing up like a horse and joyously plunging down into the earth to dig holes. Often followed by his snout!