Barley's Job

Around this place pretty much everyone has a job. The ducks lay eggs, the cats act as pest control, the shelties work as herding dogs and do their best to guard the place as well. Barley? Well, the idea was that Barley would provide some of the muscle. He's a nice sized dog, a mix of breeds known for their pulling power, so we thought it would be a simple thing to have him help move things from time to time. Unfortunately, the first couple times he was hooked up to anything that moved, the dude was completely freaked out. I decided to take a few steps back and start with something simple.....

That's an empty box attached to a leash that is attached to his normal harness. It took a little while and a lot of tasty treats, but eventually he got comfortable with having something dragging behind him. By the end of the training session, he was dragging the box with a couple bricks and chunks of firewood inside with gusto!

So there is hope that the big goof will be useful after all!