Barley was another of the smaller boys at birth and we thought he was going to favor Penny in size and build -- but he has turned out
to be a much bigger dog than we expected and weighs 60 pounds at 6 months of age. A strong, active puppy, he enjoyed playing with
his brothers and sisters and was especially fond of attacking the stuffed skunk and other toys in the whelping box and puppy room. He had
a tiny white line in his forehead that had pretty well disappeared by the time he left Fern Hill, and also has a small white blaze on his chest
like his Dad. With his especially appealing little face and charming manner, you wouldn't expect him
to be one of the boldest explorers, but he was -- the outside was intensely interesting! He was also the first of our male puppies since we began breeding
to end up with an undescended testicle, which was surgically removed at 6 months of age.
News About Barley
March 14, 2010: Here are some photos of Barley at 6 months. Isn't he handsome? All of a sudden he looks like an adult rather than a puppy.
Barley at 6 months, March 2010
Still busy exploring! March 2010 (picture at right)
March 11, 2010: Barley is about 60 pounds now. We had to change his food - he was having some diarrhea with the Iams. He's now eating
Solid Gold Wolf Cub kibble (bison and salmon based - much more expensive, of course) but doing fine with it. I think it was the corn in the
Iams that was bothering him. Barley just had his undescended testicle removed last week. It was very small and in the abdominal cavity.
The past week has been trying - he's supposed to be calm and quiet and only go out on the leash for bathroom needs. Also he has to wear the
Elizabethan collar to keep him away from the stitches.
December 20, 2009:This is Barley in the snow this morning. He loves it.
He is now about 32 lbs and a bundle of energy. His right testicle is still undescended. I have discussed it with my vet and we will probably
remove the undescended one when he's 6 months old. I plan to wait until he's mature (a year and a half or so) to have him completely neutered
based on the information you gave us [about the protective effect of hormones on growing bones and helping to prevent bone cancer]. Our only
other health concern is that he has a fondness for eating rocks. We have been hyper-vigilant about it and he is no longer allowed in the backyard
unsupervised. He was digging them up and eating them. My vet tells me that it is unlikely to persist after the puppy phase and we just need to
keep him from doing it until then. The snow will really help. He is very vocal, we're working on having him not be so demanding if he feels
we're not paying enough attention. He will start puppy kindergarten in early January and has been attending a puppy play group in the meantime.
He has some dog friends in the neighborhood that he likes to play with every day. He is really enjoying having both boys home for the holidays.
He has a new job, from his point of view. He thinks he has to chase any birds who come to the feeders in the back yard.
He is a joy, but both Mark and I are feeling our age. We had forgotten how much energy a puppy takes - also this time we don't have an older dog
at home to teach the new one the house rules.
November 17, 2009: Barley is sleeping through the night and was 17 pounds on the Tuesday after he turned 10 weeks old. The vet s
ays he's just the right size - not at all fat. He's beginning to get that lanky puppy look - all legs and feet. Still waiting for that second
testicle to descend. The vet says we have a little more time when it might come down on its own.
November 5, 2009: He knows, come, sit, down, and we're working on wait. He also loved helping to carve the pumpkins. [See picture below!]
October 29, 2010: This is Barley, last weekend, it's a little out of focus, but you can see his whole little body. He's grown
and changed since then. His head is a little broader - more like Drake. I'll send another picture when I get one I think really captures him.
He's about 10.5 pounds now, according to my bathroom scale. He would eat all the time if he had access to food. He loves to eat. We have to
keep him out of the garden or he will eat the old tomatoes left from the frost! He has continued his adventurous ways, to a point. I swear
he is creating a map of his new world in his head. Each time out he goes a little further - but only a little. He will run happily around
the areas he knows and go much more cautiously into new territory. This is true both in our backyard (which is wooded, not lawn) and on
walks in the neighborhood. He has a great nose and often sticks it up in the air when something interesting is around. He looked up when
a flock of geese flew over yesterday! Can't wait to see what he does when he smells the wild turkeys that live near my father-in-law's house.…
Barley, end of October 2009
Helping to carve the pumpkins
October 21, 2009: We're all still tired from the trip but all is well - we have a puppy to make us smile. We have decided
on Barley as Black Boy's name. I guess the official name will be something like Fern Hill's Barley. We took him to our vet today for the
puppy check and have a small issue. His right testicle is undescended now. Is it possible that your vet mistook Red Boy for Black Boy?
[Editor's note: Red Boy's testicle was undescended at 4 weeks but was down by 6 weeks; my vet never detected an undescended testicle
on Barley]. It seems possible given how close they are in size and color. Are you certain he had both down last week? My vet tells me that
it is not uncommon for puppies to retract a testicle if they are stressed; but it would be good to know if this is new or if it's possible
it's an ongoing situation. We'll be taking him in again in the next few weeks and will certainly check it again. I'll keep you posted.…
October 20, 2009: We made it home very early this morning (about 3:15 am). Black boy (yet to be named - we'll decide in the
next day or so) made a spectacular adjustment. He whined for a while, but after a couple of rest area explorations he settled down and napped -
first on my lap, then Danny's. We finally learned that he really preferred the floor between the seats and he only whined when he needed to go
out. He had only one small accident when he peed on Mark's jacket shortly after we got on the road. The rest of the time when he woke up he
would chew on a towel, the toy or nylabone, then get a little more active, then whine a bit. When he whined we would stop for a romp and he
would do his business. He will be extraordinarily easy to house train. All our Goldens have been easy, but this one is catching on very
quickly (or he's training us).
When we got home in the middle of the night he whined in the crate and didn't like it at all. I got him up, gave him a drink and a few bites
of kibble and put him back in, while I sat next to the crate so he knew I was there. He went right to sleep and slept several more hours.
He got up at 7, ate breakfast, explored part of the back yard, and came back in for another nap. Now he's learning all about our kitchen.
For now we have him gated in there when he's not right with us in the house.…
Baby Pictures
Barley, who was known here as Black Boy, now lives with Mark Letizi and Maggie Brewer and their sons John and Danny in
Michigan, where he will be a pet and Mark's hunting companion.
