We are so incredibly grateful for the time we got to spend with Barley. The past two weeks without her have been some of the hardest days, as she brought so much life to our home.

Barley was, without a doubt, the most astute and human dog we’ve ever met (we’re obviously biased). She wanted to be where the people were and we were convinced it’s because she could understand us. My husband often joked she must have been a really good human in her past life and that she came back as a dog because of all the things she had done for humanity. Sometimes we’d look at her and say “Barleys working on her third PhD - she’s already solved world peace but she just can’t speak” because when you spoke to her, it truly felt like she was listening.

Over the last 14 years, Barley has amassed a following of people who adored her. From dog people, to cat people - she impacted everyone around her. In the days following her passing, condolences from people poured in (I think she got more comments than our wedding photos did) - she was the dog that made people want a dog. A true dog saleswoman.

Our home will never be the same without her and our pack feels like it’s missing something. Our other dog Maverick has been grieving just as much as us since she passed away and it breaks our heart to know he lost his best friend (he’s known her his entire life).

We truly believe it’s not goodbye, but a see you later and that Barley will be waiting for us once we get to heaven. It gives us solace knowing she’s watching over us and guiding us to our next puppy (and hopefully giving this puppy some words of advice on how to be a dog). We know that she will live on through Maverick as he takes on his role as the old dog in our pack.