Bailey Breakthrough!

I'm sure this picture isn't that extraordinary to you. But to us, it's quite meaningful. This picture shows Bailey at the top of our stairs. Although this isn't a remarkable feat, it certainly was for Bailey. This weekend, marked the first time she accomplished this. For some reason, she got very scared going up the stairs as a small puppy and would whine once making it half way up. Then, we put up a "puppy gate" to keep her from going up the stairs. But after we realized she was too afraid to make the trek upstairs (or more importantly, back down), we took the gate down. She never even tried going up the stairs. She would just sit at the bottom and whine. Eventually, she started to stand on the landing and stretch her front legs up four or five stairs. But, she could never get those hind legs off the ground. Recently, she became more adventurous. When she got really excited, she would get a running start and try to come up after us. But as she soon realized she was a few stairs off the ground, she would quickly come back down. Over the weekend, she made it half way up and started whining. I did what any normal pet owner would do. I encouraged her to come up. We've done this before to no avail. But for some reason, she decided it was high time she give it a try. And, she made it! Ever since, she has become my shadow and follows me EVERYWHERE. Although we are quite proud of her, this new skill of hers has its drawbacks - Until this past weekend, the upstairs (where our bedroom is) had been our sanctuary, our Bailey-free, hair-free, drool-free zone. Alas, no more. No more.