Team Little Dog

To those who knew me when I began letterboxing in 2003, you might remember that I had a different trail name at that time.  My little mixed Yorkie and Westie named Barney and I formed Team Little Dog.  Barney went to events with me and  hiked with me and kept up so well in spite of being...well...a little dog.  His first letterboxing friend was Dude the Wonder Dog, the hound part of Hikers and Hounds.  Barney had one flaw when we were boxing, he thought that everyone we saw on the trail was there to pet him.  My letterboxing was much slower in those days due to spending time convincing Barney that we were looking for little plastic boxes, not new people to pet him.  I slowed down in boxing when my grandchildren arrived, choosing to spend more time with the beautiful babies my daughter shared with me instead of plastic boxes.  However, I did still dabble in boxing but Barney was no longer my trail companion.  He was over ten years old by this time and content to stay at home and sleep.  I changed my trail name to Janila and only used the Team Little Dog name on the few times  he did hike with me.  Barney was the best little dog there was.  He was easily trained and eager to please.  He was not a barker in spite of his small size and Yorkie heritage.    On Sunday, December 30, we had to make the difficult decision to send Barney to the Rainbow Bridge.  He had begun to exhibit signs of dementia, forgetting where he was, not remembering when we opened the door that he should come inside or go outside, walking in circles for hours at a time.  That night, he had been walking in circles and I was sitting with him.  He would lick my hand and then walk, lick my hand again and then walk some more.  He couldn't relax from the walking in circles and I knew that he was giving me the signal that it was time to go.  We took him to the Berks Emergency Animal Hospital where we were treated with so much love and respect that it made a very difficult time a little easier.  I held Barney as he received his shots and caressed him till there was no heartbeat.  

I don't think another dog could ever replace this happy, sweet little dog.  I look forward to seeing him again some day.