Wild Barley

When I was a kid I always wanted a dog. It was however a firm and definitive no from my Dad and we ended up having pretty much every other pet under the sun. Cats. Guinea Pigs. Rabbits. Gerbils. Hamsters. Fish. An aviary full of Budgerigars and Cockatiels. And I loved them all. But they were not a dog.

When I left home, went to University and then started working, I moved around a lot with seasonal work. But it was still something there in the back of my mind. A dog.

When Lee and I became a little more settled in one place it began to come to the forefront more and more. While I was undertaking my Masters it really began to set seed. We began discussing it more and more. It got to the point that Lee playfully started answering my question of when can we get a dog with ‘Tuesday’.

Once I had finished my MSc and I started looking for work, with our base now firmly in Norfolk, I started to seriously consider getting a dog and started looking into available puppies. Red Fox Labradors started to catch my eye. We were keen on labs with Lee having grown up with them. It was a time where Red Fox labs were not as commonly seen and there were all these beautiful reddish blond squidgy puppies for sale.

It was however from a litter of puppies in Wales that my Tuesday arrived, when Lee’s Dad sent us a picture of a puppy he had found.

It was with a nervous anticipation and excitement that we made that trip back to Wales in August 2010. One we had done so many times and yet this time was so very different. I could hardly believe my eyes. After all these years here she was, my very own dog. We settled on the name Barley and our little family had its first fur baby.

How do I put the next 14 and a half years into words?

The cuddles, the love, devotion, companionship, the chasing balls, picking up dummies, but getting confused over a pheasant (she wasn’t allowed to touch birds). The sit, stay, down, flat, go get it, bring it on, get round. The bringing of slippers, post and picking up of the her lead from the floor. The launching into rivers, swimming in the surf and the laying down in the smallest of puddles to cool off.

Being able to balance anything on her head (toys, chocolate bars, pizza boxes, extra fur to name a few). Sleeping all together in a tent and her climbing into my sleeping bag! She headed right to the bottom before worming her way back up to sleep alongside me with my arm as a pillow. The patiently waiting and following us around as we went bird ringing, following us through fields, forests, reedbeds and gardens. Watching all kinds of birds, finding her own nests! Her ever present presence at the reed bed site in Cranwich.

The joy. Sometimes frustration. The fur! (everywhere). The eating of everything (although in the end not bananas). The worry over emergency surgery right in the middle of lock down, after she ate some corn on the cob. The plastic cheese wrapper and random plastic alien! The health concerns over the last few years, and just so typically Barley to get a condition that is uncommon in dogs and that led to numerous exclamations of ‘we learnt about this but I have never seen it!’ from vets.

The cuddling up at our feet, creeping up onto the sofa for a cuddle holding herself still except for a wagging tail knowing she shouldn’t be on the sofa but enjoying the closeness. The curling up in front of the wood burner and hogging the gas fire.

The joy of becoming a family dog to little people, her patience with them and their grabby hands and noise….

The zoomies when she got excited that would turn to scooting as her bottom got lower to the ground. The wiggling bum in the air as she rubbed her face in the carpet or grass.

The bounding through fields of grass taller than her, with just her head appearing and disappearing. The leaping through snow and launching herself into the air to catch snow balls. The ears flapping in the wind at the coast or up a mountain. Watching seals. Dolphins. Birds.

Being affectionately called Barley Moo for no real reason and the name sticking, with her responding not only to Barley but Moo and Moomins!

Above all she was an inspiration. There would be no Wild Barley, with out Barley.

She gave unconditional love and affection, and it was the hardest thing I have had to do to say goodbye, but I will always be thankful for my first dog. Barley Moo.