It was just what the duck-ter ordered…
Tori and her husband, Justin Cannarelli, who own a garden center, volunteered to adopt Louie the Duck after he hatched at a Long Island elementary school.
It was supposed to be temporary. And the Cannarellis, who live in the Long Island suburb Brookhaven, figured Louie might provide a little extra excitement at the family business.
“I never expected to own a duck,” Tori told Steve Hartman of CBS. “Never expected him to stay.”
As it turned out, Louie was a much better fit at the family’s home than at its store—and, Barley is 100% down with that decision.
About two years ago, the family’s 7-year-old golden retriever Barley began having seizures. Vets diagnosed her with epilepsy and prescribed medicine to stop the seizures, which fortunately worked.
But the medicine also had side effects that sapped Barley’s energy and darkened her sunny personality with clouds.
“We thought, ‘Oh man, this is medication we have to give her for the rest of her life… So this is how she’s going to be?”
“She lost her goldenness, her fun, her spunk,” Tori told the Washington Post. “She was always sleeping or mopey. It was heartbreaking.”
But all that changed once Louie waddled into their lives.
The duck and the dog formed an immediate bond. Barley started visiting Louie’s pen every morning, a clear enclosure that was protected from the wind and even had a swimming pool. They began wrestling playfully and occasionally stealing bites of each other’s food. The odd couple overcame their obvious animal barriers and found friendship on the other side. (WATCH the video below...)
“They fell in love with each other instantly,” said Tori, who jokes that Louie is Barley’s emotional support duck (and you can follow Louie and Barley’s escapades on Instagram).
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Louie’s arrival seemed to fix whatever was broken in Barley.
“She started smiling again,” Tori told Steve Hartman. She started wagging her tail. She started having personality again.”
The new duck had delivered an almost endless supply of silliness—and so much joy was filling up the Cannarelli house that Barley was destined to change, too.
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