St. Louis Blues Trade Pucks For Barks With Furry Rookie
In October, the St. Louis Blues hockey team adopted a yellow Labrador Retriever named Barclay. Barclay was adopted from the organization Duo. Duo trains service dogs and socializes them to prepare them for placement with the humans they’ll help in life.
Last week, the Blues brought Barclay out for some scrimmaging, and the 5-month-old puppy took to the ice like a fish in water. Sort of.
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Barclay is named after the late Blues star Barclay Plager, a legendary hockey player and certainly a special one to the Blues. And, while he may be a tad young to be the next star recruit, his hilarious puppy hijinx as he chased the puck on the ice make him the perfect little poster pup for the joy and freedom service dogs bring to humans.
For Barclay, seemed like having four paws over two legs may have been an advantage, as he was pretty speedy on the ice, and well-balanced considering puppies are still pretty lanky and awkward on regular surfaces at that age. But, his teammates may need to work on the rules of the game, as at one point, Barclay decided he was just going to go ahead and take the puck wherever he wanted.
Ruff practice 🏒 pic.twitter.com/5czhpopgrc
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 13, 2018
Two-minute penalty for picking up another’s stick be damned!
Save me a sPAWt on the bench! 🐾
A post shared by Barclay (@stlbluespup) on Nov 24, 2018 at 8:45am PST
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The Blues will continue to bring Barclay to their practices and games at home this season so they can help him become socialized and get ready for basic training. Then, he’ll move on to the big-boy, intensive training he receives with Duo. At 18-months-old, he’ll be fully trained and then placed with his human for a long life of loyal companionship and love.
Put me in, Coach! 🏒 Ready for my first game tonight!
A post shared by Barclay (@stlbluespup) on Nov 9, 2018 at 10:21am PST
In the meantime, though…he’s hitting the ice, and you can follow him on his Instagram page to see how he does it in the cutest way ever!
More by Lori Ennis