Ode to the Working Dog ~ H. Barron

Hi All: I thought it might be fun to retrieve a few of our better blog posts from years past–this one was written a while back by my lovely life partner Harmony Barron 🙂

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By Harmony

I have forever been enamored with the working dog, as so many of us are. When I was a child, my two big dreams were to either become a dog musher in Alaska, or to run a border collie infested sheep ranch deep in the rolling hills of Ireland; some how, as I got a bit older, the dog musher seemed a more attainable goal. Shortly after high school, I bought a one-way ticket to Alaska, and threw myself at the mercy of the first Iditarod kennel I came upon… Since then, I have had the honor of sharing some wonderful adventures with a multitude of heroic sled dogs. It is during those long pre-dawn hours toward the end of a cold, grueling race, when you realize that it’s all up to that one special lead dog or two; the connection that you share with them, that will get you and the rest of the team back into civilization; the finish line. It’s that connection that working dogs all over the world share with their people, that I admire so greatly. It’s not just about love, in many cases it’s about survival. So many families still today, depend on their dogs to put food on the table.

Now, living on our little Montana ranch, with a growing family and changing careers, we have but a small handful of dogs, but they still seem to rule our lives in so many ways. I am working on a children’s book honoring the working dog. It is about a pup born into a pet home, who searches the globe for his true identity, and eventually finds his country of origin, and the job he was bred to do. Awwww, I love happy endings. On that note, I’ll leave you all with a few photos of some wonderful working dogs I have had the pleasure of knowing. Only a few are really working, the rest are playing!

Oh, and now my dream is to ‘retire’ on that Irish sheep ranch…

Classic & Grendel, both Alaskan Huskies.

Vlad the Karelian Bear Dog.

Attila the German Shepherd Dog.

Kanook the Newfoundland.

Thanks for stopping by folks, more from Jason tomorrow.