Front Yard Entertainment

We’d also play fetch in the front yard with sticks. Being a retriever, Barney never seemed to tire of this game. After I got tired, I’d put the tailgate down on the truck and we would hang out. Sometimes I’d go inside and he’d stay on the tailgate, just chillin’. I remember a few times when I’d forget I left him out there and he’d still be on the tailgate, asleep.

Whenever we’d play in the front yard with him off-leash, I’d let him know where the boundaries were. If he’d get too close to the street, I’d make a noise, kind of like “Annk”, and he’d stop and look at me. Pretty soon he knew not to go past a certain point. This also worked at other locations too. He was one smart dog!

There were some apartments next to us, and sometimes some of the kids would come over and play with him. He got rather enthusiastic one time, and started to try to hump one of the kids. I called him off, but he had a little woody, which was rather noticeable against his black hair. One of the little kids pointed and said, “What’s that??”… uh…He’s happy to see you?? lol

I also tried to teach him to get me the newspaper, which was a hit and miss thing. Sometimes the paper would end up farther away, as he’d go get it, and then go check something out. And forget the Sunday paper, he looked at me like, “You want me to do what???”