My Kayla-Baby

I haven't felt much like writing lately. I do not even want to look at my own blog, as I do not want to see the reminder post that Kayla is gone. The house is so empty without her bright-eyed, goofy presence. Isis misses her sister, she stays in the living room waiting for her and runs right to Kayla's couch to see if she came back when Isis was not looking. After 11 years together, we all feel lost without our bully friend.

The Veterinarian who treated Kayla and then helped her to finally rest sent us a very nice card. She really liked Kayla and appreciated her perfect temperment. It is nice to know my shy girl made such an impact on so many lives. She was a gift, one of the most perfect kind.

The story behind my beautiful American Bulldog is one of a kind. I worked at an Animal Shelter in my hometown for about 6 years. I loved it there, met so many great people and wonderful animals. I also learned more than I can explain. I remember seeing my Kayla for the first time like it was yesterday. Linda, the Animal Control Officer, had gotten a call from an elderly woman who said a dog was killing her sheep at night. She then found a large "pitbull" had gotten trapped in her fenced garden. This property was immense, a huge estate. Linda went over and found a thin white and brindle dog, petrified beyond imagination wandering around the garden. She spent a week trying to catch this dog with her rabies pole, but Kayla was an athlete and far too quick. She came back to the shelter one day and asked me to help her bring the coyote trap over. (This was not a leg snap trap as some might imagine, but a huge hav-a-hart trap, completely humane). She put some cheeseburgers in the trap and we left for the afternoon. That night, the call came. It did not take Kayla long to get herself locked in, she was hungry. We went over and took a good look. She was thin, her skin pink with bruises and she was very, very scared, but she did not growl or make a sound when we approached. We carried the cage into the back of the ACO van and went back to the shelter. Kayla was very cooperative, running into her kennel as soon as we opened the door. She cowered in the corner and would not even look at anyone. For two weeks, she ran out to whatever part of her kennel we could be close to her. She took a fancy to the large male lab next door to her, so I sat every day outside their kennels and fed him pupperoni and tossed pieces to her. After the two weeks, she finally snuck over and grabbed one from my fingers through the fencing. We stuck to this routine for another week, then Linda finally allowed me to sit in Kayla's kennel and wait for her to come to me. I sat in her dog bed and tossed her treats for over an hour. Suddenly, in she came! She walked into the inside of the kennel and sat right in my lap and licked my face. Her large (70+lb) body of muscles melted into me and she had the most grateful appearance. Finally she had someone to trust. I can not describe how happy I was to have this dog in my lap, to trust her to lick my face and somehow know she would never hurt me. She never did. For 11 years she loved me, and I loved her. She would only go for walks with me, no matter how hard my Mom tried to get her to go for walks with her. My Kayla was the most loyal friend I could ever dream of having in my life.

I will miss her forever, but now no one will ever hurt her. She is free, but somehow I know she will always be with me when I need her.

Oh, and by the way, Kayla was not the dog killing those sheep. We later found out that a neighbor's shepherd and lab were the murderous culprits. My bull was a lover, not a fighter.