Ollie the Collie 2002-2016

I always wanted a dog. 

In my family my Gran had Chihuahuas (yes, the small barkie variety one of which you couldn't get anywhere near) and her sister had Labradors (which were great). My uncle whilst working as a salesman bought a Bernese Mountain Dog, Dudley, which inevitably he couldn't look after (living in a small terrace house and being out all day really wasn't a good idea) but my Gran ended up having Dudley who was docile, over fed, under exercised but just great. That was the seed of my desire to have a dog. 

After starting my own business I soon realised that spending 12 hours straight sitting in front of a PC was doing me no good at all and the seed started to grow. I started the hunt for a dog by deciding on getting a Black Labrador puppy and visited a few litters but just didn't connect and commit. 

During this time my family knew that I was looking and it was my Gran, whilst on a visit to the vets, saw an advert for a 6 month old Border Collie which was looking for a home in a rescue centre.

Within about 2 seconds I knew I had found the dog for me and after a second visit with a friend (as a sanity check), jumping through some hoops with the charity that were re-homing him, Ollie (named by my good friend Ben) came home to live with me.

He was so good for me. I was so good for him. We went through an enormous amount during his life. I got married to my lovely Emily, had 3 children, moved home twice and became a contributor to society, and employer a better person. Ollie wasn't a stroke me all the time dog, yes he liked the occasional bit of attention, but he was a rescue with a few issues and a working dog at his core. He preferred to be told what to do, go for walks and fetch but not give back balls and sticks. For 14 years he really was my third leg.

He got old. And eventually I had to take that horrible decision, it is still difficult to think about. But tough decisions have to be taken as anyone who has made a similar one will know.

I miss him...