Journey

Humble Beginnings

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Baby Journey

Once I signed on to help Finn with BarkingProse I thought I should ask him what he wanted me to do. Finn asked me to go back through all our old pictures and find early ones of me as a pup and write about my puppyhood.

At first I was kinda embarrassed to be writing about myself. But Finn said it would give me something to do while I recover from my torn ACL and it could be fun. So here goes.

I was a born in Newport, Washington in May 2015. It’s the same place my Uncle Asher was born. My common breed name is Miniature Australian Shepherd but the AKC classifies me as a Miniature American Shepherd.

I think this AKC stuff is a lot of bunk. We were better off when the AKC didn’t recognize Australian Shepherds and we were part of the herding dog registry. As far as I’m concerned, we’re all Aussies but in case you want more details about my breed here’s a link with lots of information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_American_Shepherd

Finn comes from the same place and is the same breed as me. We are both blue merles, but his coloration is more standard. He would be able to participate in breed conformation competition. Because I have so much white I would be disqualified. By the way – that’s fine with me. I can’t think of anything worse than standing around while a bunch of silly people argue over who has the prettiest dog.

Herding dogs like us Aussies frequently have a genetic mutation known as the MDR1 Mutation.

When a dog has this condition certain common drugs can be like poison and even kill a sensitive dog. Because of that Mom had both me and Finn tested. Finn was clear but I have the mutation. That means I have to be careful what drugs I take and have to avoid common veterinary drugs like Ivermectin.

 

The MDR1 Mutation

Whew, all this serious stuff. I’m gonna close for now with a couple more pictures of me as a little squirt. The next Bark won’t be so serious and I’ll write more about starting life on a farm in the far northeast corner of Washington State.

 

Journey

Help Is On The Way

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Finn

Did ya’ hear the news? I mean did you read Journey’s Bark from yesterday? She’s gonna help me with BarkingProse. It makes me so happy I can’t even find the words. If I had a tail I’d chase myself around in circles – circles of joy.

Not only will Journey help me so I can get a day off once in a while, but she promised to tell about when she was a pup and all the cool stuff she did like riding on a fire truck and hanging out in bars. Really! You don’t know the half of Journey’s life before I came to Asherpark.

I don’t want to spoil her fun so I’m gonna let her tell you herself, but I bet you learn some things about her and Mom you never knew. Okay, okay, I can’t resist. I have to post a teaser pic that I found in the archives. How cool is this??!!

 

Journey and Fireman

I’ll let Journey explain the rest of the story or how she happened to meet the nice fireman. And yes, that’s Mom’s arm holding Journey’s leash in the picture.

Me and Mom and Journey have been talking about what we want to do with BarkingProse going forward. I mean we could just keep doing what we’ve been doing, but BarkingProse has been around for a lot of years. Maybe it needs a new focus. Maybe Mom needs to stop being the editor and become one of us Barkers. And what would that look like? Would she tell stories about all us dogs? Would she tell about herself?

She’s been non-committal about making her own voice heard. I kinda think it would be a fun thing. She’s got some cool pictures you’ve never seen. How about this one? Only thing wrong with it was me and Journey weren’t along for the ride!

At the Ranch

 

Finn, Journey

In My Own Words

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Journey

You’ve heard from Finn about the trouble at Asherpark. He’s such a good reporter. He gives you the facts first and then he tells you how he feels about things.

After our Dad died I wasn’t much interested in helping with BarkingProse. Writing is hard. You have to sit still. It makes you think about things you don’t always want to think about.

It was selfish of me to tell Finn I wouldn’t do any more Barks. That put all the responsibility on him while I was out chasing varmints and having fun. Meanwhile Finn was learning how to do family research and edit pictures.

A lot of times his Barks are about me. That makes me feel kinda bad too. I know he looks up to me and he thinks I’m a better dog than he is because I’m brave. Well, bravery is a double edged sword. Maybe I’m brave because I’m reckless. Look what happened to me when I went chasing around after the deer, forgetting that I’m ten years old and just got over being really sick.

Sure I’m the first out the door to start some new adventure while Finn hangs back to scope things out. I’m comfortable meeting all kinds of people while Finn takes his time to size people up.

Finn is drawn to people who have a kind heart. He’s a good judge of character and he’s completely loyal to his friends.

Finn and Uncle Dan

There are lots of pictures of Finn sitting on someone’s lap. He’s like a comfort blanket. His goofy personality makes people laugh. His presence makes everybody feel happier.

Finn doesn’t understand this yet but being around him has made me a better dog. Watching him I’ve learned to be more aware of how people are feeling. I’m trying to be the dog that Finn can always count on and the best way I can do that now is to give him a hand with BarkingProse.

Stay tuned. I’m going to be contributing to BarkingProse so Finn can take some time off. I’ve got lots to tell and some really great pictures to share.