Bailey

• Benjamin De Laet, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2017

“We are never going to get a dog!” said my Dad, one morning. I said, “Come on. That is so unfair”. So my quest for a dog began.

To give you some idea, my Dad never had pets growing up. Well, he had a turtle but it didn’t move very much. He didn’t have cool pets like dogs or cats so he became a bit scared of them. My good friends, Andy and Dan, both had dogs. Andy had a dog the size of a horse and my Dad was always very scared of Elvis, the dog.

Me wanting to have a dog started with us, as a family, watching ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ at the cinema. The film was about a 10 year old boy (my age) who had a dog called Bailey. They got up to lots of adventures together and were very close.

The first thing I did was write down a list of advantages of having a dog and there were many! I couldn’t think of any disadvantages to write down, apart from my Dad saying no.

Then my Mum and I started researching the breed of dog that would suit our family. I didn’t think a Rottweiler or a Doberman would be a good idea! We eventually found a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. My Mum then started to look for good breeders. Finally my Mum found a breeder called Mel who lived on a farm and her dog had just had nine puppies. We knew we wanted a boy so we could call him Bailey.

My Dad still kept saying no to a dog but we never gave up. Soon it was Father’s Day and my teacher said “You need to write something nice about your Dad. I will select the top five best people.” So I got home from school and wrote why I loved my Dad. My main reason was because he gave me a cat called Pebbles and a dog called Bailey. My teacher selected me to read out in front of the whole school and all the Dads.

A week later it was Father’s Day and we gave my Dad a book called ‘Dogs in Sydney’. My Dad loves to walk so I thought if he could see there are lots of places to walk in Sydney with dogs, he might want one.

Three days later, I walked back from school. I unpacked my bag as usual. Then my Dad said to my brother and I, “Boys, come and sit down at the table. I have something to tell you. You and your brother are going to be the owners of a dog called Bailey and we will get him on the 13th of October.” I jumped in the air with happiness. “Thank you so much, Dad.”

So if you are out there trying to get a dog, the lesson I have learned in life is never give up!