Ode to Barney

June 2007 008
Originally uploaded by sillyschramm

I was going to come up with a clever poem for our beloved dog, but seriously, I cry whenever I think about him too hard. We took Barney for a long hike in the Sourland Mountains. Of course, he rolled in something dead, so the car stunk horribly the whole ride home (very typical indeed). Jonathon then bathed him while I packed up all Barney's things. I said my goodbyes to the old beast and cried on the front stoop while Jonathon and Barney drove away. I wasn't sure Jonathon was going to make it safely to the kennel, but thankfully he did. Jonathon talked for a while with the owners of the kennel. Barney escaped his leash one last time and ran back to the car. Jonathon was able to coax him back when he was then dragged out of the office into the back. They are a no-kill shelter, so no, he was not "taken to the back." He will be put up for adoption again and we hope he finds a good family. Otherwise he will spend the rest of his days at Roycefield Kennels. Tonight Jonathon came home after a church meeting and we cried about it again. We feel kinda empty. We loved our dear dog. It probably would have been easier to put him down, since that would mean no more suffering from whatever disease he would have had. But no, we had to give him back. Betray him. He was a good dog.