Monday, November 30, 2009

Cousin Lexie Girl


Barley spent Thanksgiving at her favorite place (other than home) - DoGone Fun - while we went to Pittsburgh to spend time with my family. In addition to having tons of fun with all of the people there, we also spent some quality time with Barley's super sweet cousin Lexie. She's such a nice and well-behaved dog. Even my mom loves her!

I'm not sure how much Lexie would like Barley because Lexie is so much calmer, and Barley is well...Barley, but they do have one thing in common - they're the cutest dogs ever!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

This Doggy Loves Her Pappy...

...about as much as Barley loves hers...

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Sunday, November 15, 2009

1 Year Stats

This weekend was officially named Barley's Birfday Weekend. On Saturday, we went to a dog park in Wicker Park where Barley played with a bunch of new dogs. Then today, we took her to an agility demonstration at the Anti-Cruelty Society. She was very excited to be there and was even more excited to get all of the new and interesting treats they had (cheese, hot dogs, etc.).

Barley has come a long way since we first brought her home and took her to train with Jim -- so far in fact that when it came time for us to try the agility course by ourselves AND off-leash, she listened fairly well. We had a few hiccups here and there, but she made it all the way through. It seemed like something that she could be really good at and would probably burn off a lot of that energy she has.

Now, before I get into Barley's 1 year stats, I should say that in addition to all of the fun activities, Barley got two meat cakes today made from leftover flank steak trimmings and rice from Friday's stir fry, topped with shredded carrots and chopped peanuts (see pic in post below). With all the meat cakes and treats, she may have gained a few extra pounds so don't hold it against her...

Length 41"
Height 22.5"
Weight 67 lbs

Our girl has certainly grown since we first brought her home last March. We can't wait to see what she looks like this time next year!

Happy Birthday to You!

Dear Barley,

Happy 1st birthday! We've only had you for about 8 months, but it's hard to imagine life without hearing your paws on our hardwood floors as you run around chasing your tennis ball, your whine every time you hear your buddy Jax go out for a walk, and your bony elbows crushing our feet as you lie down on us while we watch TV on the couch.

You make us laugh, you try to protect us, and most important, you give us the best doggy love and kisses a couple of yuppy puppy parents could ask for -- we just hope you're having as much fun as we are.

To another year of fun, laughter and meat cakes...

Love,
Mammy and Pappy


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

They Love on Each Other All the Time


As you know, Barley has been going to day care at DoGone Fun about twice a week for a few months now. At first she was a bit hesitant every time sb dropped her off, but now she pulls toward the gate once we get out of the car.

She has made a lot of friends, and according to the daily report cards the staff gives us, her favorites are Nemo, a very large Burnese Mountain dog, and Prince. We never knew which dog Prince was until yesterday.

So yesterday, I checked in on my girl through the day care's handy dandy Web cam, and she was wandering around this pretty golden retriever. All of a sudden, she jumps on the goldie's back and starts humping him. Now, I've seen other dogs hump Barley (which she does NOT like), but I've never seen her be the humper. The staff quickly separated the two, but not long after that, Barley was chasing after the goldie again. The poor dog finally jumped onto the slide to hide from Barley.

SB was trying really hard to pretend like it was some other black dog, but when we picked her up, we got confirmation. We asked one of the staffers who Prince was because he's always listed as one of her doggy friends on her report card. The staffer said, "Oh, Prince is a golden retriever with a reddish coat." Scott and I looked at each other and realized that Prince was the one who Barley was chasing around and humping all day. And then, the staffer added, "Yeah, Prince is the owner's dog. Barley and Prince are great friends. They love on each other all the time."

Of course. Of course my dog would hump the day care owner's dog. Of all the dogs at day care, my dog chooses the owner's dog to violate.

Sigh. We're really hoping that she stops doing this because we have a feeling that some day, we're going to pick her up, and her report card is just going to have a big EXPELLED stamp on it.