Barney was with us for 13 years. He was a six-month-old puppy when we got him. It seems he was the last of the litter and no one wanted him. But we sure did. Unfortunately, he wasn’t house trained and when he moved in, he determined where he would do his business and what chair would be his throne. He damaged a few rugs, and we got use to his piddle pads laying around. While I always referred to him as Carter’s dog, it was clear from the beginning that he bonded with me first and viewed me as the alpha dog. He always perked up when I entered the room and often followed me around like my shadow. In the summertime I would leave my studio door open for air flow, and he would often figure out where I was and come up to my studio to visit with me. His only real bad habit was that he was a barker. Always barking through the fence at the neighbor’s dog and under the gate at people passing through the alley. I always told folks that was his breed, that they were historically Chinese palace dogs and bred to warn of intruders. Not that they could do anything about intruders, but they made a lot of noise. Barney also learned too, that his barking got him much better food than his canned dog food. It always annoyed the hell out of Carter, but I would say he’s a dog, we haven’t trained him well. I sure miss that barking now. He used to jump up into the bed to sleep with us and as he aged and his eyesight waned, he quit jumping and came to my side of the bed and lightly gruff, telling to pick him up. Carter goes to bed before me, and I would always take Barney up to be with him so they could have snuggle time. But he would always find a way to sneak out and come downstairs to be with me. So, I started to close the door to have him stay upstairs. I would often find him sleeping on the floor by the door when I came up. On his last night with us I put him in bed with Carter, but left the door ajar, hoping he would slip out and come down to see me. He did. He was such a good little guy. I miss his terribly.
