Ollie

I have three dogs and I love them all. But not equally.

Yes, I am a dog owner admitting that I do have a favorite dog. I promise you that it does not show in the affection I give to them when I come home from a long work day, but it is apparent in the way I speak about them when I am asked about my furry friends.

I have a German Shorthaired Pointer, 14, named Cooper. He is an easy dog to own, he listens well, runs around our fenced yard all day, and now naps constantly due to his age and the cold weather in New England that he faces bravely without a coat (he’s stubborn).

My 3 year old golden-doodle named Benson was girl crazy, met my friend’s female golden-doodle at a soccer game, and then she was pregnant with 11 pups. 9 of whom survived. 1 of which was ours, my favorite, Ollie.

Ollie is now 1 years old but he almost didn’t make it that far and unfortunately one of my favorite stories about him turns out to be quite the morbid one. They say you have to go through bad to get the good right?

Ollie was 6 months old at the time and I was away at work, my girlfriend and my parents were outside on a summer day, watching the dogs run around the yard, making sure the older ones played nice with the new puppy. For the longest time we had an electric fence, a boundary my dogs followed strictly, allowing them 6 acres to roam. What I now despise about these fences is that it may keep my dogs safely in the comfort of the yard, but it does not keep other animals out.

My neighbors have a German Shepard, one I have only seen slink into our yard on occasion. He hadn’t bothered anyone before today and I have worked doggy day care jobs in the past and have grown to admire this frequently feared breed. This day was the exception.

My girlfriend tells the story as this:

She was sitting in my front yard with my oldest doodle, sunbathing. She began to hear my mom scream, something she’d never heard before, not like this. Her first thought was that my mom was severely hurt, she was screaming for my dad. My girlfriend rushed up to get my father, holding tightly to the collar of my dog, who was now whining earnestly towards the backyard. My dad instructed her to put Benson inside and follow him.

As they reached the backyard they saw that my mom was perfectly fine, but clearly in distress. Looking beyond her, they saw our puppy was being dragged into the woods by his hind leg by our neighbor’s dog, who was thrashing his head back and forth violently, making no noise whatsoever. Ollie, of course, was crying fiercely. To this day my girlfriend says it’s the worst sound she’s ever heard.

My dad charged the dog, in the backyard, my other two pups were barking in the house wildly. My dad made an effort to kick at the dog, who then turned his aggression on my dad, lunging at his legs, catching the skin of his shins with his large canines. My mom saw this opportunity to scoop Ollie up, now that the attention was off of him for a moment. He was bleeding severely, he felt heavy in her arms. His whines and cries were becoming whimpers.

They carried him into the bathroom and laid him in the tub, trying to find where his bleeding was coming from. When he rolled over on his back, they saw a laceration in his inner hind-leg, so deep they could see his muscle. He had cuts all over his face, a deep tooth puncture right under his eye, a close call. My dad called the cops, not knowing what else to do. My girlfriend called me and then hung up, insisting that they take him to an emergency vet.

I left early, a pit in my stomach, driving the 30 minutes to meet them at the ER vet in time to see him, in case anything were to happen. I had no idea how bad it was, I just knew he was in a lot of pain.

When I arrived, I saw my girlfriend and parents sitting on the lowered tailgate of the family truck, a bundle of dark brown fur wrapped in a bloody blanket. He couldn't bring himself to lift his head to greet me, nor wag his tail. He was scared, his heart was beating so fast you could see his tiny chest rise and fall through the heavy quilt.

The vets took him as quickly as they could, the surgery lasting less than an hour. The bill of course, was quite heavy. The police returned our phone call, there was nothing they could do. The neighbors had a history of owning aggressive animals, but there were no legal steps to be taken. I was outraged, but fearful, as I did not want another animal to be harmed simply because of negligent care from its owners. We did not want the dog euthanized for aggressive behaviors, but we did want to push our neighbors to put up a fence in their yard and to help up foot the vet bill.

They did neither.

To encapsulate why Ollie is my favorite dog, I'd like to describe how he is today.

Ollie is dependent on my family. He is too anxious to stay home alone, we have tried crating, thunder jackets, and CBD/hemp treats. He furiously tears apart the house when we are gone and becomes inconsolable when we get back to view the damage he has done to household items (some of which are a bit expensive to replace).

When consulting our vet, they said this may never change. Ollie is just anxious. This makes me laugh, we share a diagnosis, the only difference is that I don't gnaw on furniture when I'm left alone, but I do have my ticks. Since discovering this about our pup, we have made him a constant companion, he gets more car rides than the others because he cannot be left alone, he goes on all the outdoor adventures, and he has befriended other neighbors and family members who have become his surrogate baby sitters.

Ollie has attended nearly every Zoom class I've had, curled up at my feet or sprawled on my bed. He has sat in on numerous showers, laying against the tub as I get ready for work. On occasion, he has hopped into the warm shower stream with me. He sits with me while I have my morning coffee and stares anxiously out the window when I leave for work. He lays in the middle of every card game we play, sprawling on his back to get belly rubs.

He is, without a doubt, the neediest dog we've ever had.

He is the best dog we've ever had.

With as much love as Ollie demands be given to him, he gives it back tenfold.