I was a new medical resident, recently moved from PR to Miami. I was living off of a resident's salary and living in a not so great neighborhood. Being a single female and looking to get a guard dog, I saw a friend from college post photos of Bailey. She was fostering her at the time but had many other dogs, cats, small vermin, children, etc and couldn't keep Bailey. Bailey was 2 or 3 at the time, completely house and crate trained, chipped, very protective. But I didn't read any of that in the caption my friend posted, I just saw her photo and knew. I would explain what I meant by "knew" but if you have fallen in love at first sight you know.
Love at first sight isn't just romantic love, its the love I felt when I saw Bailey, when I see my best friend, when I see my siblings, when I hear from an old friend. I feel a sense of "home".

That's what I felt when I saw Bailey, that I was home. So after seeing the photo, I messaged my friend and went to work the night shift in the ER. At 7 AM, when my shift ended - I went home, showered, changed , and rented a van that would fit Bailey's crate because my own car at the time was too small. I then drove 3.5 hours to meet her. My beautiful friend had a house full of love, kids, pets, and ... me. Bailey was the most rowdy of all the pets, running, zooming, barking. She would try to jump on me... stop, and then proceed to push her whole body weight onto me as a sign of affection. She was so happy that I was afraid to take her away from my friends house . I figured she wouldn't even get in the car with me.... But my friend couldn't keep her... So I started to pack away her crate and things in the car only to have her jump in the back and lay down. I started the car thinking maybe she would start crying but she perked her head up as I drove and looked at me expectantly like - ok - where to now ?.

I talked to her the entire 3.5 hours back to Miami. She would stare at me, bite her paw and then wander around the car and lay down.. and then stare at me again. Like a dog would do, obviously.. I got back to my apartment, walked Bailey and started bringing all her stuff up to my apartment wondering if I had made a huge mistake. She wandered around my place sniffing everything, while I arranged her crate and things . I showered and sat down on the floor of my living room, my back against the couch, thinking what do I do now, as Bailey rummaged through my stuff. I turned on my TV and closed my eyes.

I jumped when I felt Bailey standing between my legs sniffing my face. I tried to pet her but she turned around 4 times ( no really - 4. I counted because I was very VERY scared ) And then she laid down between my legs, putting her right front leg above my right leg and resting her head on my stomach. She looked up at me at that point , so I snapped a grainy quick photo of her on my iPhone 1 or something equally as old..... and I asked -" Bailey, are you tired?" And rubbed her head. She fell asleep after about 10 mins. I didn't move that entire night. I slept against the couch as she snored against me... I had never felt so safe and loved. And I have Bailey to thank for that.