For the love of Barney (the Bear)

We love happy beginnings here at Doodle Aid you all might remember Bear as we called him here at Doodle Aid but his real name was Barney.

Jacqueline and Adrian both adored Bailey but they decided he needed to be rehomed for various reasons,it was so hard for them all.

We supported them and guided them slowly with the rehome of their Barney and we believe we found the best home ever with Shakil and Charlotte.

Thank you all for working your magic together and we are so glad we here helped you all.

Thank you all for the wonderful donations this means the world to us as a small charity

Shakil and Charlotte would like us to share their experience and a update on Bailey,thanks so much and to your lovely dog training lady too.

“To Karen

I had wanted to write sooner but we have been quite wrapped up in getting Barney settled and also enjoying our time with him

We are getting close to two weeks of Barney being with us and I have to say he is such a wonderful little boy. In the words of the behaviourist we are working with he is "relaxed and responding beautifully". We are ever so proud of him for the way he has settled in when you consider he left his loving family to come and live with us.

Barney is extremely obedient and he loves nothing more than lots of cuddles and strokes. We are of course very conscious of his previous guarding issues and we did not expect him to be a different dog overnight but we have been doing our best to not present him with situations that may lead him to guard. We have had a few guarding issues since he arrived but leaving him to figure out that he gets no recognition or attention for this behaviour has led him to stop guarding the object/space in his own time. Rome was not built in a day and we knew what we signed up for and so I am sure we will get there in the end and if he remains a guarder then hopefully these will be isolated incidents. Besides, for his one little negative trait he makes up for it ten fold for his behaviour and love the other 99% of the time. Around his short walks and some play/training time Barney spends most of his day relaxing/sleeping on his mats and if he does not like where we have placed them he will move them to a preferred position which tends to be in the sun . He is also perfect at night, we give him a few biscuits before lights out and he sleeps through in the kitchen until around 7.30 or later sometimes!

We have been taking things very slowly with Barney and keeping his world small so as not to overwhelm him and to also give him time to realise that we are here to love and take care of him and also take away any stress/responsibility he felt he may have had within his previous pack. We have started some short walks with him and we are working to stop his pulling on the lead with mixed results. We will soon move on to his recall - which we are both looking forward to as we are sure Barney will benefit from a good run around and some time with his ball.

We are both fully aware that for the many great days we will have there will also be some that are not so great but we have totally fallen in love with him and it is this love that will see us through the odd rough day. We are truly excited about our future with Barney and making lots of happy memories with him.

I also want to take this opportunity to Thank Doodleaid for giving us the opportunity and trusting in us to adopt Barney. What you guys do at Doodleaid is truly amazing and I admire you for the time, effort and sacrifices you all make to help find these beautiful dogs a home. In today's world we have all become impatient and when we want something we want it straight away but you have put in place a strict process that whilst takes a little time to work through it ensures that the dogs (who are the most important factor in all of this!) get the best possible chance in life. Also, a very special Thank You to you Karen - you have been beyond amazing throughout - we both send you big hugs and Barney sends you lots of licks!

I have today made a small donation to Doodleaid on behalf of myself, Charlotte and Barney.

I have also attached a few pics

Wishing you all the very best

Shakil, Charlotte & Barney”