Who's That Dog?

Throughout the Mole Valley Farmers website, you might have noticed a very photogenic border collie. This is Barney, who belongs to Megan Price. Barney and Megan are extremely close and it's obvious that, while Megan is skilled with the camera, Barney loves to pose! They live in Malvern in Worcestershire and enjoy walking in the Malvern Hills.

Here's Megan to explain a little more about her beloved pet:

Meet Barney

Megan Price and Barney "Barney did not have the easiest start to life. He was born on Halloween in 2006 and his first owner used to be beat him. After a few months Barney was adopted by family with a house full of teenage boys. He wasn’t getting enough exercise, or training and he couldn’t cope. Barney was very hyper in the house and started herding and nipping the kids. Outside, on walks, Barney was extremely shy with strangers and had to be muzzled, he was also aggressive with strange dogs; basically he was a mess.

"Finally, his owners felt they couldn’t cope with a young, nervous aggressive, hyper border collie anymore. They tried to find a rescue shelter to take him, but no centre had room, so the owner decided to have Barney put to sleep. He wasn’t even 18 months old. My dad happened to meet the owner taking Barney out for his last walk up to the vets. After a long chat, my dad and step-mum agreed to look after Barney for a few weeks, in order to find a permanent home and prevent him being destroyed at such a young age. That was nearly 2 years ago, we never could give him up...

"A few days after my dad rescued him, I met Barney for the first time. He was very excitable, almost completely untrained and very nervy but you could see he really wanted to be a “good dog” and was basically just confused, and too intelligent and sensitive for his own good. I had always dreamed of having a border collie and fell in love with him straight away. He quickly picked me as “his person” and whenever I’m home follows me around continuously, watching my every move, ready for the next game, adventure or just a cuddle.

"I taught him to play fetch with toys and started training him, (he now knows 40 or 50 different voice commands and hand signals for tricks), he has long walks every day and our house is much quieter. We still have some difficult days, when he’s nervous of new situations, people or noises, but really, he is a different dog: happy, loyal, confident and playful. I love every minute we spend together and he is just the best dog you could wish for!!"

Find out more

Keep up to date with what Meg and Barney are up to by following their blog. Here's a selection of some of Barney's best shots, but more are available at their Flickr site.