Baxter Barkley was a beautiful dog. My mother picked him up a few months after he was born, and I recall him being pretty big for a puppy. But, I was only five at the time, so I guess alot of things were bigger. I had Bax throughout most of my childhood and teens, and he was always there for me. Our back deck overlooked the road where I would walk home from school, and every day, he would sit on the top deck and wait for me. As soon as he saw me, he got really excited and ran all over the house. He always greeted me and cheered me up even if I was having a bad day. We took care of each other.
I was able to save his life a couple times too. One time, I was coming home from school, and he decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. He would occasionally run away now and then. But we got him each time! Anyway, this one particular time, he fell in the lagoon and couldn’t get out. I heard his cries for help and a neighbor and I pulled him to safety.
About 6 months before he died, I came home to find him very ill. He was disoriented and he tore apart some of our furniture. He also was barking and yelping alot. Baxter never acted like that before. He would never tear apart furniture and also would never act so strange as we was. I decided to take him to the vet, and I’m lucky I did. He had some sort of kidney infection. His disorientation was due to a high fever and he lost 8 pounds. He apparently had it for a couple days although it wasn’t all that noticeable before. I think it was finally taking it’s toll on him but, the vet was able to save him and he came home two days later. But ever since then, he was never himself. He was slow and he occasionally acted disoriented.
About 6 months later, I came home to find that he defacated all over the house. There was alot of blood, but he acted completely fine. My father and I agreed that it was time to put him down. It was so painful saying goodbye to him because he was acting like nothing was wrong, he was acting happy. I couldn’t bear to go to the vet with my dad, so I stayed home. He was clearly sick, and I knew that he was suffering. The vet told us that his kidneys had slowly weakened ever since his infection and he really wouldn’t have lasted much longer.
There is a bizarre twist to this story though. After he died, my house had a few strange occurrences. For instance, all at the same time, my computer turned on by itself and my sister (who was on the phone) yelled at me because the line was clicking and she thought it was me playing with the phones. But it wasn’t me. On another occasion, I had turned the air conditioner off and opened the windows because it was cool outside. I then took a nap and when I awoke, the air conditioner turned on by itself. Really scary, but I think it was Baxter telling us that he was safe and happy. By the way, the hauntings did stop.
I will always remember Baxter. He was my best friend, my companion, and most importantly, my brother. God bless him.
I love you!
| Baxter Barkley |
| Brad |