Barney

On May 3, 2010, I adopted “Rookie” from Golden Beginnings Golden Retriever Rescue. He had been a stray picked up in Alief. I immediately changed his name to “Barney” which was my father’s nickname, short for Barnett, and for some strange reason he acquired a lot of my father’s personality traits. My father and I were very close, and he had belonged to Toastmasters for many years. Barney was also a great talker with a different sound for everything, so I always knew if there was a squirrel in the tree, cat out front, bird on a rooftop, UPS or FedEx making a delivery, dog being walked on the street, fireworks, someone mowing my yard or next door, etc. This will be the first time since I got him, I will not have to close the doggie door when fireworks go off in the neighborhood.

Barney went through temperament testing in April 2011. Throughout his career he was the parking lot greeter at many Caring Critters Workshops besides making visits to the following facilities: Autumn Leaves, Cinco Ranch, Cypress Station, Focused Care, Houston SPCA, Krause, the Lighthouse, Owens Elementary Reading with Critters, STCL, TC Pediatrics, and TCH – West.

The following are some of the traits that made Barney so special: On walks he knew the phrase “No Talk” used when I’d see a dog approaching on the greenbelt, I knew he wouldn’t care for, or when dogs on the other side of the fences would be barking as we passed by. When Betty, my neighbor, wanted a kiss, she would bend over and point to her check and he’d give her one. The way he had a 6th sense when dealing with special needs children/people…OMG, it was unreal to watch him get through to them.
He had the prettiest tail out of all my Goldens.

I’m so fortunate he didn’t suffer long. On May 20th, I had taken him to my vet as an emergency drop-off because he just wasn’t himself and was not that interested in eating for a couple of days. They did blood work immediately and discovered his red count was very low (anemic), and I then okayed x-rays and ultrasound to see what was going on. He had a mass in his small intestine, what looked like enlarged lymph nodes, and other spots in that general area. After confirmation from a radiologist, my vet recommended I take him to GCVS or SLVS. We decided on Sugar Land Veterinary Specialists. I had a hard time getting an appt because they wanted his complete medical history first. I ended up taking him on June 1st to the ER there where they did more blood work and contrast ultrasound. Early the next morning, an internist called to say they were going to insert a feeding tube, and he was scheduled for surgery that morning to remove the mass from his small intestine, find the cause for his gallbladder leakage, he may need his appendix out, and the list went on and on. I received a call during surgery that he was in worse shape than they thought so it was time for me to let him cross over to rainbow bridge. He’s the first one I was not with when that happened, and it still hurts so much.

Thank you, Barney, for being “YOU” and touching my life and others the way you did. You weren’t born to be a therapy pet, but with training and lots of coaching, you did a great job of it. I know you’re no longer in any pain at the Rainbow Bridge. We’re so glad you didn’t suffer long. Forever in our hearts…

By Sheila Gurwitz