A Dogue called Barry- Part One

So someone questioned on the fb page asking if my Bordeaux ‘Barry’ has had his tail docked. I realised that I hadn’t covered Barry in blog yet so here goes with part one of Barry’s story…

We wanted another dog for a while but waited until the time was right for us. For everyone that is different for us it was because we had more time available to spend with another dog. Flo was 9 and pretty much not bothered about other dogs, never really liked playing or socialising. She was never aggressive just not bothered. I think it’s important to get a dog or another dog because you want to share your life with that dog, this means committing time to the dog (if you want it to be happy and well behaved anyway) and in my opinion it’s not generally a good idea to get another dog whose main purpose is to be a friend to your other dog. It will be nice when they do get on but a dog that only interacts with other/another dog will generally only listen to that other dog. So quality time available to spend with new dog, check!!

We looked at some dogs on Sunderland Animal Adoption website for months, one caught our eye called Baily and we said we would phone when we got back off holiday and sure enough he was gone. A Dogue de Bordeaux had always been on our radar and we contacted the DDB welfare who just so had a Dogue coming into the kennels that needing rehoming that week. The DDB Welfare (Bev our contact) were excellent and so thorough, home check, meet Flo lots of questions all great.  I went to see him with my son Alex as soon as he got there we liked the look of him despite having no tail and being about 2st underweight. Next day we took our dog Flo up to meet him. They had a walk and a mooch and thankfully again no problems so we went ahead with the adoption.

 

It’s hard to remember back now but at the time it was very exciting but quite scary. It was pissing down the night I brought him home. I wanted to take him for a long walk before I took him in the house so did that then washed him down out the back. We must have both looked like big drowned ginger rats when we eventually got in. Beth was a bit freaked out (as was I if I’m honest) the kids were excited but wary and Flo basically acted like a cat and spat at him every time he even looked at her (she settled after a month or two) Poor Barry god knows what he was thinking about the whole thing. They sure are big dogs when you are only used to smaller ones and that takes some getting used too. When he finally settled and lay down we could all take a deep breath, sit down (with a whisky in my hand) and look forward to our lives together.

 

Barry as he became known, his name picked by Beth as they always are (I’m sure she just wanted me running around the park shouting ‘Baaarryy’!) settled in quite quickly, we had him neutered straight away (he was 18months anyway) I slept downstairs the first week to help him settle in, a diet of Royal Canin and Tripe meant he put on 2 stone in two months and was up to fighting weight. His tail never grew back and he lost a big tooth the first week (where’s that warranty at!) We attended some socialisation/training classes and slowly he became the dog he is today. He was quite high energy for Bordeaux and as I have since discovered in my business some dogs that have been severely under exercised can take months to get rid of the pent up energy that has built up and eventually find a level that they are happy with. We walked, ran, biked, I bought him a backpack for him that he loves wearing. We used to walk to the butchers and he would carry the meat home in his backpack. He loves his food his family, his walks, his bed, his van, his Land Rover (which we sold and neither Barry nor Beth have forgiven me!) It has been some journey with the odd down to counter the many ups and there is too much to tell in one blog. I really think the skills and knowledge I learned when we got Barry were a big factor behind me starting my own business Pack Leader Dog Adventures.

 

One quote which stays with me always is from Bev at DDB welfare who said this to me on the day they got him in. I always try to remember this when I am dealing with dogs, including my own ‘He is not the perfect dog but he could be’ How right she was.

Barry even has his own facebook page now Everybody loves Barry