Matthew & Darla: Trixie & Bailey

Trixie & Bailey...............our 4-legged 'children' for the past few years. We sure love them and would be lost without them! Since they are such a large part of our family, we thought we'd share a few pictures of them.

Bailey is our little 'cuddle bug'. She came into our family first, about a month after we moved into our house in October of 2004. We had both grown up with dogs when we were younger and had been wanting one for awhile. We felt it would be best, though, to wait until we had a house with a yard before doing so. Shortly after moving into our new home, we decided we wanted to go ahead and get a dog. A couple of our best friends knew this and told us about a family who was looking for a new home for their dog. We were able to get in touch with that family and kept Bailey for a 'trial' weekend over the Thanksgiving Holiday while they went out of town. Matt fell in love with her on the drive to our house after he picked her up across town. She climbed right into his lap and rode there all the way home...........and she's been with us ever since.

Bailey is just little thing and VERY cuddly! She's very much a 'lap dog' and super sweet. She also LOVES to ride in the car! She is great with children (one of our criteria in getting a dog), but is particularly fond of little babies. We feel very blessed to have her in our home.

Bailey sometimes likes to sleep on the stairs.....and she's little enough that she fits!

She HATES the cold.......can you tell?

Here she is with longer hair. We take her to get her groomed every few months.

Cuddling with Matt.

Here she is with shorter hair. She tends to stay spunkier and more active with her hair shorter. We think the hair weighs her down and makes it hard for her to see when it starts getting in her eyes.

Like I said........she's very cuddly!

Trixie is also very loveable. She's a LOT bigger, but still likes to act like she's the same size as Bailey at times.

She came into our family about 6 months or so later. We had been taking care of our friend's (the same ones who told us about Bailey) dog and we watched how much Bailey seemed to enjoy playing with the other dog. We then began to think about getting her a 'play mate'. I actually found Trixie on an adoption website online as I was searching through shelters, etc, to find a 'play mate' for Bailey. As soon as I saw her in a picture with all of her brothers and sisters (she was a puppy)........it was love at first site! I called the number and found out when and where we could see her to decide whether we wanted to adopt her or not. On a Saturday a few weeks later, we went to a local PetSmart store and watched eagerly as they brought all of the dogs in to be adopted. Again, as soon as we saw Trixie.......it was love at first sight! We adopted her that day and brought her home.

Trixie is quite a bit more active than Bailey. She's very affectionate, loving, loyal, and protective.........and incredibly intelligent! She's also very 'talkative' and keeps us entertained all the time.

Trixie and Bailey have become great friends and enjoy playing together, in spite of their size difference.

For some odd reason, Trixie has always liked tight, confined spaces ever since we brought her home. She sometimes likes to squeeze into smaller spaces and sleep..........not quite sure why, but it's funny to watch her.

Every day when Matt comes home from work, Trixie will greet him at the garage door, 'talk' to him about her day, and then jump up on the arm of one of the couches in the living room and give him hugs. Just like this.............