Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

"Fragile, hazardous, liquid or perishable?", the lady at the post office asked me as I prepared to send the big brown box on the counter off to an undisclosed location. I shook my head no, but thought to myself, yes this is fragile: The box contains a lot of heart felt journal entries from tripawd owners writing their dogs stories, sometimes memoirs about the lives and struggles of their three-legged pets or battles with cancer, and how they rally for them as they learn to successfully cope with life on three legs. It is hazardous also, because it contains Barney, and everywhere Barney goes, trouble ensues, as he is always getting in some kind of mischief and even at times creating chaos. I was filled with mixed emotions as I left the box there at the post office. I was sad to see it leave. Cadence and Einstein had enjoyed Barney and definitely I felt overcome with gratefulness and was honored to have been chosen to host him, read all the journal entries, look through all of the items placed in the box, as well as to be able to add Cadence's. The love that tripawd owners have for their dogs is immeasurable and it was powerful to have that presence in my house. You see, Barney is not just a stuffed doll. He has the essence of all the tripawds and their strength and all over him. And now Cadence's and Einstein's essences are there as well. He has traveled all over the United States providing hope and comfort and entertainment to those homes that he visits.

.....Then he came to my home! You might remember where we last left Barney if you read the KillBarney Tour blog entry Barney and Cadence sitting in a tree... Barney was sitting in the hot tub with no water, pouting, because Cadence had found some treats in the package and was more interested in them than in him:

Well after his little temper tantrum was over, we broke the news to Barney, apologetically, that we were in the midst of a big deck building project and would not be going on any adventures away from home. We assured him though we would do our best to show him a good time while he was here. We felt it best to give him something constructive to do as we had caught wind that he often gets himself into mischief and can wreck havoc (after all, idle hands are the devil's play things). Cadence had the bright idea to put him to work helping us finish the deck. Cadence explained that he must first remove his dress so it didn't get dirty. Barney refused to do it, so Cadence helped him out, as this video shows. That's where I stepped in. If I hadn't Cadence would have ripped the dress right off of him. (We are not sure if she was trying to help, or just didn't care for him in drag. )

http://vimeo.com/48260178

Cadence Undresses Barney Video from HLNEAL on Vimeo.

After unrobing, his first task was to cut off the excess wood on the side of the deck. He did a good job, and Cadence was standing over him making sure he did everything the right way.

Next he swept up the sawdust from the cuts he had made.

Then he helped Cadence transport some scrap wood across the lawn to the garbage pile.

Everything was going along really well, but then temptation struck! Barney realized that he was surrounded by a large yard, with lots of interesting stuff. Stuff perfect for a mischievous purple dinosaur to investigate. He wondered why he was here working, when he could be....

Climbing the fence to get a closer look at the plastic owl sitting on a fence post:

Or, climbing into the garden. Annoyingly, he was not able to get back out, and Cadence had to come give him a hand.

Then, Barney thought it might be fun to launch an attack on the unsuspecting, sleeping cat.

Cadence foiled that plan as well.

After that little incident, Cadence decided that was the last straw and took Barney into the house where he surely could not get into trouble. She was wrong. After 20 minutes, and not a peep from Barney, she realized he might be up to no good. She was right! Barney was found scoping out the wine refrigerator.

Enough was enough for Cadence! She had Barney put his dress back on and get down on the floor and give her 50!

Sadly, it seems that even construction can't keep Barney from being up to no good and he will never be a handyman. Oh well, we tried!

On the last day, before Barney was off to his new destination, Cadence and Einstein both gave him a wet, slobbery kiss.

I knew they would miss him. I wanted one last photo with Cadence and Barney together, so I took the item we had chosen from the box, a santa hat, and put it on Cadence. Cadence was not amused about wearing a Christmas hat in August. Barney on the other hand would not stop laughing. I never could get him to close his mouth so I finally just took the photo. 

I smile as I think about Barney showing up at the next home hosting him, dressed, but covered with sawdust and dried slobber.

Cadence's Mom