The Barney Story
Is anyone up for a Barney story? Barney is our dog. He's a mutt, the offspring of Shane's Corgi and the neighbor's Blue Heeler. We got him last fall when he was several months old. Aside from a ridiculous obsession with chasing airborne birds and jumping up too often, his main offense so far was that he did a disappearing act several weeks ago. He returned after several days, looking innocent and offering no explanation.
Last Thursday a week ago Hiromi saw Barney and Buck, Grant's dog we're babysitting right now, on their way to Partridge. Hiromi told them to go home, but did not do so himself, proceeding on to the post office as he had set out to do. The dogs were nowhere to be found when he headed home. Driving around on the nearby country roads revealed Buck, who soon came home. Barney didn't.
I prayed about the Barney matter, but didn't know what else to do. When Doris Nisly stopped in I told her that Barney had disappeared. Since they own a sibling of Barney's they're very aware of what our dog looks like (almost exactly like theirs) and have often seen him here before.
On Friday evening, over a week after Barney disappeared, Elaine Y. from Partridge saw the dog owned by Doris' family and exclaimed over how much that dog looked like one that had been hanging out at their place earlier for several days. On the Saturday before, she and Mae Y. had taken him to the animal shelter. Doris told Elaine that she thinks the dog at their place must have been our dog. The next day Doris called us to tell us about what she learned of Barney's whereabouts. She also knew that they would hold him for three days to see if the owner came forward. After that he would be put up for adoption. The three days were up three days before we knew any of this.
I called Elaine to check on a few details--the color of his collar, the time he appeared there, etc. to satisfy myself that it was indeed Barney. It was.
On her own initiative, Mae called the shelter to see if she could reclaim Barney for us. The news was not good. Someone had already made a down payment on his $150.00 adoption fee. Before they could have him, however, he would have to be neutered and they would have to pay the entire amount. Mae was told that if we came forward immediately, showed a picture of Barney, and paid the full adoption fee, we had first chance at the dog. The neutering requirement still applied because he had become city property three days after he was admitted to the shelter.
I looked desperately for a picture, not sure that I had ever taken one. But there it was. He was sprawled out with Buck in the backyard another time when we were babysitting Buck. I was grateful that Joel had showed me how to download pictures from the camera to the computer the week before. I printed the picture on plain paper.
Hiromi and I talked. At first he wasn't sure that it was worth paying all that money for a dog that wouldn't stay home anyway. "Let them have him," he suggested. I pointed out that all it would have taken for Barney to be returned to us promptly was having a tag on his collar that listed our phone number. Kathy T. had told us that such tags can be custom-created at Petco, but Hiromi had not taken time to stop by and I had not gone to town yet to get that done. I also said that it's possible that he would be less likely to roam if he were neutered. Furthermore, this dog got along well with the cat and left the chickens alone, which was a lot better behavior than some dogs we've had in the past. He was a good size--not so big that he eats huge amounts, and he had learned some of the things we had tried to teach him. I really didn't wish to start over with a digging dog and puppyish behavior. Hiromi listened and then suggested that I call the shelter and get some more information.
One other piece of the story is that we had made an appointment with the vet to get Barney's shots, and had to cancel the Wednesday's appointment after he disappeared. I asked Anastasia who answered the phone at the shelter what all was covered in the $150.00 fee besides the cost of the neutering surgery, which had already been scheduled for today, Monday (I suspect this would not have been the case if adoption procedures had not already been started). She rattled off a list of vaccinations, including the ones Hiromi was sure he would have had to pay for if he had taken him to the vet. He would also be microchipped. Hiromi was listening on the speaker phone and smiling and nodding his head by this time. He was not willing to make the trip himself however, to fill out an adoption application at the animal shelter. "Too much to do here at home."
So I trundled in there, checkbook in hand. I mentioned my intention to buy tags for Barney's collar on the same trip. "Oh," said Anastasia, "we provide these." She showed me tags exactly like the ones I visualized buying. She wanted to know his name. Twisk was what they had named him, but she changed it in their files. She also wondered what breed he was. They had guessed Corgi and German Shepherd. She said several times that he was a really sweet dog. Then she asked if I wanted to see Barney. I did!
Barney was overjoyed as was I. I told him he was coming home and that he should never do such a naughty thing again as to run away. I hoped he had learned his lesson. I sat down and he put his front paws in my lap and I didn't scold him. I had him practice the "sit" command, and he finally remembered what to do. When I left the visiting room he tried his best to sneak out the door with me. I had to shut the door in his face and felt really mean for doing so.
I'm so very grateful that God took care of Barney and that he's coming back on Wednesday all fixed up for what should be a long and good life together. We would have had a hard time deciding to arrange and pay for all those things that are being done to and for Barney, but these things may well be exactly what makes having a dog manageable for us. We haven't gone to the work of comparing costs, but we might even be ahead financially over having taken Barney to the vet when we planned to. Don't try this at home though. I think making it all work out alright must be a God-sized job. I know I couldn't have managed it.
Last Thursday a week ago Hiromi saw Barney and Buck, Grant's dog we're babysitting right now, on their way to Partridge. Hiromi told them to go home, but did not do so himself, proceeding on to the post office as he had set out to do. The dogs were nowhere to be found when he headed home. Driving around on the nearby country roads revealed Buck, who soon came home. Barney didn't.
I prayed about the Barney matter, but didn't know what else to do. When Doris Nisly stopped in I told her that Barney had disappeared. Since they own a sibling of Barney's they're very aware of what our dog looks like (almost exactly like theirs) and have often seen him here before.
On Friday evening, over a week after Barney disappeared, Elaine Y. from Partridge saw the dog owned by Doris' family and exclaimed over how much that dog looked like one that had been hanging out at their place earlier for several days. On the Saturday before, she and Mae Y. had taken him to the animal shelter. Doris told Elaine that she thinks the dog at their place must have been our dog. The next day Doris called us to tell us about what she learned of Barney's whereabouts. She also knew that they would hold him for three days to see if the owner came forward. After that he would be put up for adoption. The three days were up three days before we knew any of this.
I called Elaine to check on a few details--the color of his collar, the time he appeared there, etc. to satisfy myself that it was indeed Barney. It was.
On her own initiative, Mae called the shelter to see if she could reclaim Barney for us. The news was not good. Someone had already made a down payment on his $150.00 adoption fee. Before they could have him, however, he would have to be neutered and they would have to pay the entire amount. Mae was told that if we came forward immediately, showed a picture of Barney, and paid the full adoption fee, we had first chance at the dog. The neutering requirement still applied because he had become city property three days after he was admitted to the shelter.
I looked desperately for a picture, not sure that I had ever taken one. But there it was. He was sprawled out with Buck in the backyard another time when we were babysitting Buck. I was grateful that Joel had showed me how to download pictures from the camera to the computer the week before. I printed the picture on plain paper.
Hiromi and I talked. At first he wasn't sure that it was worth paying all that money for a dog that wouldn't stay home anyway. "Let them have him," he suggested. I pointed out that all it would have taken for Barney to be returned to us promptly was having a tag on his collar that listed our phone number. Kathy T. had told us that such tags can be custom-created at Petco, but Hiromi had not taken time to stop by and I had not gone to town yet to get that done. I also said that it's possible that he would be less likely to roam if he were neutered. Furthermore, this dog got along well with the cat and left the chickens alone, which was a lot better behavior than some dogs we've had in the past. He was a good size--not so big that he eats huge amounts, and he had learned some of the things we had tried to teach him. I really didn't wish to start over with a digging dog and puppyish behavior. Hiromi listened and then suggested that I call the shelter and get some more information.
One other piece of the story is that we had made an appointment with the vet to get Barney's shots, and had to cancel the Wednesday's appointment after he disappeared. I asked Anastasia who answered the phone at the shelter what all was covered in the $150.00 fee besides the cost of the neutering surgery, which had already been scheduled for today, Monday (I suspect this would not have been the case if adoption procedures had not already been started). She rattled off a list of vaccinations, including the ones Hiromi was sure he would have had to pay for if he had taken him to the vet. He would also be microchipped. Hiromi was listening on the speaker phone and smiling and nodding his head by this time. He was not willing to make the trip himself however, to fill out an adoption application at the animal shelter. "Too much to do here at home."
So I trundled in there, checkbook in hand. I mentioned my intention to buy tags for Barney's collar on the same trip. "Oh," said Anastasia, "we provide these." She showed me tags exactly like the ones I visualized buying. She wanted to know his name. Twisk was what they had named him, but she changed it in their files. She also wondered what breed he was. They had guessed Corgi and German Shepherd. She said several times that he was a really sweet dog. Then she asked if I wanted to see Barney. I did!
Barney was overjoyed as was I. I told him he was coming home and that he should never do such a naughty thing again as to run away. I hoped he had learned his lesson. I sat down and he put his front paws in my lap and I didn't scold him. I had him practice the "sit" command, and he finally remembered what to do. When I left the visiting room he tried his best to sneak out the door with me. I had to shut the door in his face and felt really mean for doing so.
I'm so very grateful that God took care of Barney and that he's coming back on Wednesday all fixed up for what should be a long and good life together. We would have had a hard time deciding to arrange and pay for all those things that are being done to and for Barney, but these things may well be exactly what makes having a dog manageable for us. We haven't gone to the work of comparing costs, but we might even be ahead financially over having taken Barney to the vet when we planned to. Don't try this at home though. I think making it all work out alright must be a God-sized job. I know I couldn't have managed it.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
10:15 PM
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