There is no easy way to say this. Barley, The King, my heart dog, the dog who’s taught me everything I know about detection, has cancer. I found swollen lymph nodes on June 23 and he saw the vet June 24. Because we are on an island in Alaska, testing took 6 days instead of 36-72 hours. That week was excruciating. I cried, cuddled Barley, and tried to stay off of Google Scholar. I sent my field crew out on surveys while Barley and I worked alone in some of our favorite sites, enjoying the old growth forests and the hermit thrushes and the thrill of finding wolf scat after wolf scat. Hours after we wrapped up our very last day of surveys in Alaska (he found 15 scats!), I got the email. Barley has lymphoma.
There is some good news. Lymphoma typically responds very well to chemotherapy, and Barley is expected to have 7-14 good, happy months left; he may have as much as two years. He should have a good quality of life and continue feeling like himself — sassy, bright, vibrant, know-it-all, single-minded — for much of that time. Chemotherapy doses for dogs are smaller, so side effects tend to be minimized compared to people. I am grateful that he still wants to charge out the door and get to work; he has no idea he’s sick. I have to stay in Alaska for the time being but will fly to Oregon to support him as I can. Several friends have offered their back bedrooms in beautiful places, and between chemo treatments I hope to take advantage of the fact that he’ll still appreciate a lake hike and a game of sniff-in-the-woods. Barley has had a remarkably full, free, and wonderful life. My priority is ensuring that Barley has the happiest, funnest, most comfortable coming months as possible. I want to take him to the beach, to some alpine lakes, and for a nice ski.
Even after health insurance, chemo is going to be expensive and not everything is covered. We've been quoted at $15,000 for Barley's chemotherapy alone and have already spent $3,000 on testing. We expect a few thousand dollars more in unexpected costs. If we fundraise past what our post-insurance costs are, we will donate extra funds directly to the Search Dog Foundation's Canine Healthcare Fund. We are asking for direct donations, stories of how Barley has inspired or impacted you, and support with a few events.
We will be doing an adventure dog fundraiser and silent auction, likely in November. If you are able to contribute art, goods, services, etc. to the silent auction, please contact us at hello@k9conservationists.org.
Finally, one of my goals entering my doctoral program was to graduate in time for Barley to walk with me and be presented with his Dogtorate. We all know he deserves it as much as I do. That is not likely to happen in this timeline; I have at least two years left in my program and two years is optimistic for him. We will have a Dogtorate ceremony for him this fall to honor his contributions to conservation biology and present him with his diploma. We are hoping to collect a stuffy for each of Barley's study species for his Dogtorate Ceremony. We will have a separate website with that wishlist, please stay tuned.