About Barney

How Old Is He?

We bought Barney from a breeder in Townsend, Montana.  His litter was born October 28, 2010 give or take a few days. 

Where Did We Get Him?

He stayed in Montana until he was old enough to be taken away from his mom and he became a cross country traveler.  At around eight weeks, he was driven from Townsend to the Billings Airport, flown to Salt Lake City, and then later flown to Albuquerque, New Mexico where he took a car drive down to Las Cruces! Phew. (This was all thanks to Mike’s sister who was coming to visit for Christmas!)  You can see more about his brothers and sisters on facebook under “Townsend Labradors”. Also you can email the breeders at Townsend Labradors .

Did You Crate Train Him? 

Yes.  And we still use it.  He was VERY active when he was a puppy and Mike and I both have full time jobs so we didn’t want to worry about our belongings.  He was really good about going to the bathroom on command so we would walk him outside, tell him to go pee, and he would.  He doesn’t fight going into the crate at all.  The only thing we noticed is that he has major anxiety being away from us, so we leave a TV on or a radio to help.  Also my mom bought us a Thundershirt for him and its helped a bunch.  For some reason it makes him feel secure.

Does Barney Do Any Tricks?

Training is still a challenge for Barney since we are so busy.  I took him to Petsmart for training and we went over the basics of using a leash, sitting, and laying down.  Mike has trained him on other things like “give me five” and shaking.  The best trick is frisbee throwing and catching.  He has his dog ADHD which plays against him a lot, so there is still a lot of work to do.  Let’s just say when food is involved…everything runs smoothly.

Barney’s Exercise Routine

I never knew how tiring it was to own a labrador since the lab I grew up with was taken care of by my mom, but Barney is a handful!  Every morning I try to run him around the neighborhood before work, but if we are unable to, I usually play frisbee with him.  During the day he has to get some good frisbee running time.  In the evening, I often take him to a local soccer field and run the field with him for a good 30 minutes.