Welcome
- Bailey Cook, Yorkshire Terrier, researching her next article for “The Bailey Bark”.
Hi, I’m Bailey Cook, Yorkshire Terrier, Member of the Cook Family Pack, President and CEO of Baily Bark. I created this site to share canine insight with the world.
Don’t think for a minute that the Bailey Bark is typical. It is anything but. Week by week I will write about topics pertinent to Dogdom. Together, we will explore the world of health, apparel, training, toys, fleas (God forbid!), and psychology.
A little about me: I come from a long line of intelligent canines who had a lot to say. A couple of years ago when I was purchased from Forks, Washington on Craigslist, I discovered that my pedigree wasn’t well-documented, and therefore, didn’t fetch a respectable price on the dog market. I was crushed. In a society where worth is determined by papers, credentials, and registration with the AKC, my dream of being a VOICE in the world would be difficult, if not impossible to reach. For months I found solace and comfort with my adoptive family, laying in laps and playing with run-of-the-puppy-mill toys, all the while wondering how I would overcome the life of mediocrity that lay before me. The thought that my value was to be measured by length and type of coat, dimensions of body length, weight, color, and stature, incited passion within me to rebel, so one day, I did.
My humans and I were walking together at a public park when I saw another of my kind– a Yorkie. Nina was my size and color exactly, a real sweetheart that I would normally love to play with. She and her humans approached us going the other direction on the path and we began to roughhouse until our leashes tangled. It was all well and good until I noticed her topknot: the lengthy ponytail that bobbed to and fro as we frolicked. Oh that topknot! It really got me. Though my rational mind told me it was nothing more than a method of keeping her hair out of her eyes, my heart felt otherwise. As it flipped back and forth, I started to see it as something to be despised. It was a symbol of pedigree…of status…and of all the things that stood in the way of my identity and dreams. My eyes saw nothing else. I thought about my own measly topknot–as small, short, and spindly as hers was lush.
In a moment I am not proud of, I lurched forward and took that wisp of hair into my mouth and held it fast. No matter how she struggled, I had her by the topknot. Try and move now, Sister! How does it feel to be held back? At once, my sensibilities returned and I opened my mouth, relinquishing control over helpless Nina.
Shame overwhelmed me. I sat down and pretended it didn’t happen. She wagged her tail in response. It said “No hard feelings”.
It was at that moment that I determined to be myself, regardless of what limits life imposed on me. I would be the Voice God intended. I would be ME. Me without the kudos of man. Me without proper endorsements. Me just because there’s none other I could possibly be. And you know what? I don’t wear a topknot anymore, because it’s not my thing. Long hair? None here! I am Bailey, and that is enough.
P.S. Yes, this is a true story!
