A Day in the Life of Barley Bear Reese, our rescued treasure

Barley has been such a blessing to our family. I honestly didn't know if I was capable of loving another dog since we lost our sweet Bella but this goofy boy has shown me how...he has fit right into our family and I almost can't remember what our life was like before him.

Every day Barley wakes up with the sun and quietly, without a sound, heads downstairs to look out the dining room bay window. He watches the cars, people and especially the little family of chipmunks who live under the window. He waits for us to wake up but stays in the window and holds his vigil. Then he eats breakfast with us, walks to the kitchen window and waits for the chipmunks to run across the back yard, when they do he quietly sleeks over to the back door in a low stalking manner, although he is not stealthy, he believes he is, so we open the door, cheer him on, and tell him, "Go get em' Barley!" He walks slowly and quietly out the door then when he gets to the steps he, clumsily stumbles and makes a run for it and the chipmunks have plenty of time to get away!

Patiently waiting for a chipmunk!

Then we either go for a walk or take him to the lake for a swim. He LOVES to go for a ride, he waits by the garage door and in hopes to get to come with us wherever we go!

Heading to Lake Lanier with friends!

In the afternoon he lays in the garage and looks as though he would be a great guard dog, however he would never bark at anyone and if he decides you are worthy of even getting up you might just get licked to death! I check on him every few minutes but he never even leaves this spot until I bribe him inside with a treat!

His number 1 spot! Such a watch dog!

 He is AMAZING with Grant and Elle!! He loves sleeping with them, they are the only ones who let him on their beds. He usually falls asleep at night with Grant then splits the rest of the night with us and Elle.  The other morning I woke up and Barley was sleeping on the bottom bunk of Elle's bunk bed, she thought it was the greatest!

He's often a pillow...

A partner for dress-up...

This day he was working in the shoe store...please don't report us for dog abuse, Ha!!

Here the kids were introducing him to our Bella, so precious! This day, everywhere he laid they set the book up in front of him.

I probably have 30 pictures of just Elle and Barley, she always, says, "mom, don't we look cute? Please take our picture."

When we first got Barley back in early April, Barley came to us as a rescue from the great organization Labrador Friends of the South. Barley had so many issues and concerns, we adopted him knowing that it would take us some time to get him straightened out. He had a terrible case of mange, an eye infection, his hair was falling out, he had patchy bald spots. He was on Ivermectin for over almost 2 months and his hair was still falling out, he wasn't improving at all. Finally our vet had the idea to treat him with something called ProMeris (which we use in place of frontline), in combination with a supplement and a wild salmon and rice food that is full of omega 3's he is doing amazing! His coat finally looks so great! He is happy and very healthy and his coat looks amazing, something I wasn't ever sure I would be able to say. 

I had just gotten home from a bike ride and was trying to stretch, but Barley wasn't having that, he was so happy to see me he sat right on me!

Rescuing Barley has been such a wonderful experience, he fills our hearts every day with love, laughter, joy and companionship like no other. People always tell me he is such a lucky dog, but we think we are the lucky ones! If you are thinking about getting a dog I highly recommend rescuing, it has been such an amazing experience for us. Click on this link to check out the other dogs who need homes with Labrador Retrievers of the South