Barnie - Arrived @ Tailends 24th April 2005

Barnie (formerly known as Arnie) was brought to Tailends by Mandy on April 24th 2005. He was a thirteen year old white and brindle entire male. (We decided he was too old to be neutered especially as he had a very bad heart condition.)

We put Barnie in the front garden and brought the other dogs out one at a time as usual. He seemed quite interested in Sugarlump, the little Jack Russell, but not in the same obsessive way as Bruce had been. Barnie was just interested in everything because it was all new to him and he probably had not seen anything quite like Sugarlump before. He soon lost interest in her and started to explore the garden around the bungalow. We have a small shallow pond in the back garden, which has a low fence around it and is not usually a problem for the dogs as they just wander around it. However Barnie seemed intent on plunging into it. We dried him off after the first attempt but he then tried to get back into it. He seemed to be very thirsty but could not keep any water down. Immediately after having a drink he brought it straight back up. Barnie had never seen a home before and it was all such a new experience for him especially after his long journey. I was not unduly concerned at that stage but thought he would settle down after a few hours.

I started to get worried as the day wore on and Barnie did not improve. He seemed so hot and thirsty so I rang my vet and arranged to take him up to be examined. His temperature was 104 degrees and he was given three injections of antibiotic, analgesic and anti-emetic. We made an appointment for the Saturday afternoon for him to be checked again but agreed to bring him before if he was no better. He had a bad night and seemed to be in some distress so we rushed him back to the vet where he was put on a drip and kept under observation. Blood tests were also done but did not indicate any problems.

Two days later, on Easter Sunday, we were allowed to bring Barnie home. He was much recovered and completely back to normal. He was so pleased to be home, although he had actually spent more time at the vet than in his new home at this stage.

Barnie had had quite a hard past before he was brought into the care of Northants Greyhound Rescue. He lost a toe on his front left foot at some stage and then instead of treating and resting him, he was raced with the injury. This had resulted in the foot being splayed out at 90degrees to the norm and made it look like a flipper instead of a foot.

Barnie also had severe arthritis in his back legs in association with nerve damage. He was a very happy courageous chap and did not let any of this hold him back. He was so happy to be here and bounced around the garden and just loved his walks. He had a very bad heart condition for which he was treated with Vetmedin. The main problem with Barnie was stopping him from overdoing it! He was so fascinated with everything he saw when he was out. He literally laughed in glee at the ducks and geese on the lakes and the seagulls screaming over his head. Then he gazed at the rabbits quietly nibbling the grass in the next field or the cows grazing on the hillside. He stared in disbelief at the sea and listened to the thunderous noise of the waves as he stood on the highest dunes looking down at the bay.

We changed his name from Arnie to “Barnie Rubble”, as it seemed to suit him so much better than the rather macho image of Schwarzennegar or the nickname for the police Animal Rights Network Index. He was a big softie who had no aggression in him at all. He was gentle with the other dogs and did not mind when poor little blind Tweenie bundled into him when he was sleeping.

Barnie was very fond of digging holes. His bad legs did not seem to hinder this activity. I often found him out in the garden with clouds of sand wafting across the grass as yet another digging operation was in progress. I thought he had collapsed once when I found him lying in the hole he had just dug on top of what we call the “viewing platform” (a raised area where they can stand and look at the rabbits in the field next door). However when he saw me he sprang up and I realised he was just having a rest from his labours. He was such a character.

He was a big bouncy clown who loved to act silly and pretend he did not want to go out or have his dinner when he really did. He would lie quietly and shut his eyes and when you thought he was asleep, he would bounce up and charge towards the door asking why you were not ready! Then you quickly put your coat on and got his harness and you found he had gone to lie down and was pretending to be asleep again. Everything had to be a game with Barnie! He was quite amazing when you consider that he was a very old dog.

Barnie’s summer Mac was orange with a black trim and he looked very smart in it as he sauntered along the lanes sniffing for rabbity smells. He could not walk too far as his arthritis affected his mobility. He also had an enlarged heart and laryngeal paralysis – though not as bad as Papa had when he arrived. The vet felt that Barnie should not have the operation on his larynx as it was not so urgent as to be life threatening.

He did have to take quite a lot of tablets, but he seemed to be stable and happy. Obviously we keep a close eye on all our oldies and there is someone with them 24 hours a day so any changes can be picked up immediately.

In February 2006 Barnie needed surgery to remove a number of adenomas around his anus. They had started to bleed and were not going to heal, so drastic action had to be taken. The procedure was successful and Barnie was soon back to normal.

Barnie had always suffered from intestinal problems. We have had all sorts of tests done and tried various drugs, diets etc but still his faeces remained liquid. Eventually I decided to try once more with a Sensitivity Control diet food. This is horribly expensive but I thought it worth a try so we started with a small bag. There was a big improvement and Barnie’s poo was then virtually normal for the majority of the time. It did mean being very strict with his diet, and so to give a bit of variation he had the canned as well as the dry diet food. He seemed to like it, so all was well. (It apparently contains tapioca and Capelin fish – whatever that might be.)

Barnie was content and seemed to be getting the most out of his life at Tailends. He was a very old boy who had suffered much in his past life but we hoped there would be many more good times ahead for our big chunky lad.

Barnie Rubble has recently become very frail. He was still going for his little walks and eating well but on Sunday night he seemed unable to sleep and I observed a change in him. He looked into my eyes and I knew what he was saying. He did not try to get up and was not interested in eating so I had no choice but to ring our vet and ask if we could have a home visit. Alison arrived shortly afterwards and agreed that Barnie had come to the end of his very long life. He would have been sixteen on August 3rd 2007 and had been at Tailends for over two years. He made no complaint as Alison gave him the injection which was to help him leave his worn-out old body. He just closed his eyes and left us forever.

Dear Barney you were the clown of Tailends. You were never aggressive to anyone and put up with Charlie moaning at you when you stretched a leg out and touched him in the night. (Charlie always chose to lie right next to Barney though there were plenty of beds in the room.) He was such a happy lad and we miss him so much. Charlie has stopped eating as he cannot understand where he has gone. Barnie died just a few days after our little Bluebell. These two lovely dogs were always sleeping side by side with their heads on a cushion between them. This gave me the idea for the Tailends logo and now Barney and Bluebell will live on forever representing Tailends to the world. I hope they are now together forever. They are both missed so very much.