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Paws to Read

The mission of the PAWS TO READ Program is to improve the literacy skills of children with the assistance of registered canine reading companions in a fun and relaxed environment. Research with therapy animals indicates that children with low self-esteem are often more willing to interact with an animal than another person. Also in Canada at Therapeutic Paws to Read

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Puppy Shih-tzu 8 weeks

Dog Paw Print Icon for DogDoogle.com Dog Doogle Tails: New Dog on the Farm

New Dog on the Farm

by Lorine of The Dog Team

It's been over 5 years since my old dog Suki had to be put down. Suki was a Benji lookalike, very sweet but terrified of everything. We got her from a shelter when she was about one year old. In her past home she'd suffered physical abuse and any sudden movement or noise terrified her.

She was a great dog but after she died I wasn't ready for another one. Until now.

In May I started looking seriously for a dog that would fit our lifestyle. We live on a hobby farm and I wanted a dog that was good with our animals (donkey, sheep, birds) and that might help my husband with farm chores. I had a Suki clone in mind of course.

The shelter brought out a scruffy, terrified, skinny dog with wolf-eyes (nothing like my little Suki!) and that was it. I told my husband she was so ugly that no one would ever adopt her so we had to! Besides she had lived on a farm, was used to animals and best of all was a herding dog! I figured she could help hubby when the sheep got out.


We call her Barley. She is an Australian Shepperd (a blue merle) about 5 years old, and extemely timid and nervous. She slinks. She cowers, she stares vacantly at nothing when she's in the house, eyes wide and rather terrified looking. She's very curious and doesn't appear to have any house manners at all.
Barley, Australian Shepherd

In fact once we got her home, we quickly realized she probably spent very little time inside, as she paces frantically back and forth, like a prisoner in a cell - back and forth for hours, nails going clickety-clack on the wood floor. She drools. She pants. She pushes her nose against me constantly for attention. She shoves her butt at me for scratching. I refuse. She doesn't give up. My arm is slimy from her nose. My black pants are covered in dog hair (did I mention she sheds excessively?).

She does fit in beautifully with farm life however and is very quick to learn other routines. She lunges at the guinea fowl the first time she sees them. I say "Uh-uh" firmly and she stops. She never bothers them again. She ignores the donkey (phew!). She pretends the sheep don't exist. Okay so far so good, we only have to work on her anxieties and house manners. Should be a breeze, right? (Little did we know that we had adopted the most neurotic dog in the world!!)

..... enjoy the Tails of Barley The Psycho Dog & Webley (ongoing stories, please keep checking back to see what has been added)
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