NAME: Barley
BREED: Beagle
BIRTHDAY: 2012
WEIGHT: 25lbs
ADOPTION FEE: $200
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Barley is not your typical beagle, and it's easy to understand why. After spending the first several years of his life in some sort of hunting/breeding facility, living with almost 100 other beagles, Barley was rescued and was starting to be rehabilitated. He was undersocialized but friendly enough for adoption, and made some progress in learning to trust people. However, when his adopter could no longer keep him, he was bounced to another home and lived there for years receiving little help for his anxiety and no vetting at all. By the time he came to us, Barley was living in constant pain and discomfort thanks to a mouth of rotted and infected teeth. All the years of living this way have surely set him back as he's worked to be the happy-go-lucky beagle he was born to be.
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We got Barley to our vet and he immediately had oral surgery: sadly, his mouth was in such bad shape that he had to save a second surgery a few weeks later, to finish what could not be completed the first time. Our vet said it's the worst mouth she's ever seen, which is really saying a lot considering some of the messes we've brought to her over the years! Some of the holes in Barley's gums were so large from years of rot that they had to be re-closed during the second surgery. He may never fully recover from this neglect, and will need to be on a soft food or extra small kibble diet for the rest of his life: no more chewing for this poor beagle. Barley was also started on meds for Lyme disease and Ehrlichia, and was vaccinated and microchipped. Thankfully he was neutered prior to coming to us, and his blood work didn't show any other underlying issues.
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In foster care, Barley has been independent and rarely seeks affection or attention. When he does come over for pets he loves having his ears rubbed, his back scratched, and his head gently kissed. He greets new people when they come through the door, then goes back to his bed (perhaps to avoid all the other dogs swarming the exciting visitors). He rides well in the car and likes going for walks, and would absolutely benefit from more one-on-one attention. Barley is very safe with cats, and has done well with most of the dogs here. He seems to prefer females but that might be because we've got a couple jerky boys, so polite and non-confrontational dogs would likely be a good fit for him. Because of his history we are not recommending a home with small children, but older kids should be fine as long as they're not looking for a rough and rowdy playmate. Barley loves to lay in the sun, as you can see from his pictures (he's hard to photograph, so we apologize for the lack of pics showcasing his handsomeness), so a fenced yard would be ideal. Barley is house trained and is not very vocal for a beagle. He's actually a super easy foster here, but he would absolutely benefit from a real home and a family who can make up for all he's been missing out on all these years. Barley might technically be a "project" dog, but it will be easy to be a HERO for this easy boy!
