Saying goodbye forever is always the hardest day, but it’s even harder when the guilt of not being there feels like it could choke you.
We wanted so badly to be stationed overseas, but the timing just wasn’t great for our first “boys”. They were older and slightly neurotic with torn ACLs and skin issues and we didn’t think they could handle the trip (plane/cargo/etc). While I know it was better for them to not have had the stress of moving, I still question our decision to leave them behind. I’ve absolutely hated not having them here with me, but I’m eternally thankful for my sister, who is not a huge animal fan, who volunteered to run the Geriatric Canine Cobb Center (😂) for the last year, which included something like 763 vet appointments.
Moving without them was the hardest on me, by far. Even though they never respected me, they were still MY dogs, MY boys. Justin was in and out for years with TDYs and deployments, but they were always with me. They followed me for 11 years to 5 new houses and 3 states (Florida and Virginia twice!) and on two major cross-country moves. They sat with me when I was alone, when I was sick, when I was worried, when I had newborns, when it thundered, when I slept, when I showered, when we ate 😬. They were MY BOYS.
Poor Ike had mast cell tumors with 6 or 7 surgeries in his last year and we knew it was time. So last November, we said goodbye to our sweet brown boy. And I was there to give him a best last week with me.
But this time it was my Ollie and I was NOT there. I should’ve been there. My poor boy looked miserable. He just couldn’t wait for me. I should’ve gone sooner.
So we said goodbye via Skype 😰😰. It was not what I wanted, but it was what he needed. And he may not have had the best last week with me, but had great last months with his surrogate family with lots of rides in his new truck and plenty of time with the hose.
Sir Oliver Red – Awkward Ollie
Sir Oliver Red of Fargo – the “red” lab I just had to have – so much that I flew him from North Dakota to Florida in the dead of summer 2006. It was too hot for him to fly into Pensacola, Florida, so he flew into Jacksonville. We drove 5 hours each way to get him in the middle of the night and got home around 5 A.M., just in time for me to to go to work (a brand new pharmacist – by like 20 days! – definitely doesn’t need sleep 😂, not if you get a new puppy anyway 😍).
He was a funny little thing – awkward from the very beginning. Always wanted love, but not the kind we wanted to give (petting, kissing, hugging) – though I forced it. He wanted to be near us always, but on HIS terms. He would climb onto us but stay just out of petting reach. He would jump into my bed as soon as I got up. He would lay next to the shower and try to trip me on the way out. He would try to be in every picture I tried to take of the house (because he followed me everywhere). He would stand next to me and shake during thunderstorms but wouldn’t look at me because most importantly about Ollie, he never made eye contact because it made him nervous 😬.
This is way too much love for Ollie
Bad dog, Ollie
We always described him as the good one, but the more I think about it, the more I realize, not even close! He was the candle chewer/shredder, the hard plastic baby doll chewer, the pillow chewer, the eats-a-whole-pan-of-chicken-while-it’s-cooking-er, the whole Kong eater, the raw dough eater, the chewer of his metal kennel and any bedding (bedding banned for him at the dog daycare 😂), the chewer-of-a-cable-cord-until-he-gets-shocked-and-vomits-er, the digger, the master escaper, the door scratcher, and the neurotic ball player.
He was the escape artist. He knew how to open doors and some latch locks. And if he could get out, he would. My favorite time was shortly after I moved to Jacksonville. One of the children unlocked the gate and they were gone and for at least 3 hours. Justin was on the other side of the country and I’m driving around like a crazy woman crying in a brand new city and asking every one I see if they’ve seen them. Finally I see Ike sitting right past my next door neighbor’s house, near a weird drain thing (makes sense later). Still no Ollie. At least 30 min later I get a call from a local number (this is usually how I found them – they had my number embroidered in giant print on their collars). The person on the phone is right across the street from me at the park that overlooks the river. I get down there and he tells me that a homeless man jumped in the river (a few feet down and over a fence) to save him. What in the actual hell? Apparently he climbed down the storm drain to the river then was stuck. I was frantic and worried they’d want money (which I didn’t have) so I just thanked him and ran away. I left a wet homeless man in the park after saving my dog 😳. This 👇🏻was him cooling off in the garage for an entire day. His eyes were bloodshot for over a week 😳.
Then there is the neurotic ball player that played until heat stroke – walking into walls, falling over, shaking. And the ball player that kept trying to play even immediately following the torn ACL. Like sure, he can just hop on one hind leg and still get the ball! Or the escape artist with a repaired ACL ($$$) that ran away, to the water, then to someone’s house and was playing ball! When she called, I panicked because she said “he sure loves ball” and I said “oh no he just had surgery!” Her reply, “yeah I saw the stitches” 😳😳😳, but kept on playing.
Goodbye, red boy
Even with all his shenanigans and worry he caused me, he really was the sweetest dog. A super gentle, odd-loving lab.
To my Ollie ball – I will miss your weirdness, your Ollie smell, your hair everywhere. I will miss you laying on my piles of clean clothes or on every single pillow in the house. I will miss you protecting the kids in your own way. I will miss you being afraid of storms and elevators. I will miss playing ball with you. I will miss your awkwardness. I will miss you. Hope you and Ikey and now happily together again just like this 👇🏻.
Ollie’s outtakes – my favorite Ollie pictures
First, the Ollie that likes to be in pictures
Then Ollie, the baby lover
And finally, Ollie the pillow lover
Goodbye, sweet boy. Hope your legs are healed and the ball play is never-ending.
Cobbled 