For The Love of Barney

Its been a couple of weeks now and I thought Barney deserved his own blog post.

I wanted to tell you more about him and his life.

My Brother had Barney from a Puppy, he was to be a companion for his Son Billy, who was around 9 or 10 at the time.  Billy loved this little dog, and they grew to be best friends.

My memories of these two were of the fun, Saturday mornings at at our House, Paul would drop in with Billy & Barney and they would head to the garden with my eldest Daughter Devon, running around the garden, the tug-of-war with the dog toys, Barney always won, and Barney always popping Devon’s blow-up Barbie balls and Paul having to replace them only to be popped again the following week.

As Barney got older he developed problems, his tear ducts stopped working so his nose dried up and his eyes needed ointment applied numerous times every day to keep them moisturised, otherwise they would also dry up, but around 18 months ago, he had to have an eye removed,  he had lost the sight in it and by having it out he would be more comfortable.

Barney’s nickname was Barney-Boo, he was such a regular at the vets, they all knew him so well, and they knew what he meant to Paul.

Barney loved banter with Paul’s other dog Harley, they would fight over toys, bark like mad when anyone knocked at the door, fetched the post from the front door, in Barneys last months Harley protected Barney and cleaned him, Barney loved his treats like most dogs, but his favourite was Kebab meat!

Nearly 4 years ago Barney lost his best-friend and sole mate when Billy was killed at the young age of 21, a victim of knife crime in his home town.

A few weeks back I looked after Barney for my Brother whilst he had a holiday to see friends in the US, Paul knew it was nearly time to say goodbye to Barney, his body was tired, but it just didn’t seem the right time, the attachment that Barney had with Billy was tremendous and to let go of Barney was letting another little bit of Billy go, so he came here to stay, still with so much zest for life and wanting to play with my dogs, enjoying his food, but his legs were weak.  I decided then to make a memory for Paul, I took Barney to the studio, it took minutes, he was such a good boy!  It was Paul’s Birthday whilst he was away and I didn’t know what to get him, the answer was staring me in the face.  I processed the image in a fine-art style giving a timeless and beautiful feel,  printed on fine art paper and framed beautifully. Barney has a glint in his eye which never left right up until his last moments.

A week later Barney was ready to go,  even turning his nose up at his beloved kebab meat.   Myself, Paul and his Fiance Tanya took him to the vets and he passed peacefully in Paul’s arms at the ripe old age of 16, his ashes will be scattered with Billy, so I guess Paul takes comfort that the duo are re-united again.

I’m so glad I made that image for Paul