Thursday, August 16, 2012

Thankful Thursday - the Ollie Edition

In November of 2011, I began counting my blessings in a weekly post.  It changed my life.

I am thankful for...

Having been able to take our dog, Oliver, on vacation with us.  As any animal lover will tell you, pets are part of your family.  They are like children.  Oliver is 14.5 and has been having some health problems.  We did not feel comfortable leaving him in a kennel or giving the responsibility of the care of a dog who had been having health issues to a friend or family member.  We felt he was best with us. 


As Jason said, Oliver was a good dog that gave US a great life.
Make no mistake, it was he who blessed us with his total unconditional love all the time.
He let our girls dress him up and carry him around like a baby.
He would kiss Jason on the lips if Jason puckered up.
He would cuddle with me at a moment's notice.

When Jason and I first got married, we lived in a tiny apartment that didn't allow pets, but the owners liked us and felt we took good care of our apartment and they let us get a dog.  That was our Sydney. 

When we bought our first house, we felt bad for poor Sydney Bean, because we were both working full-time and she was home alone a lot.  So we got her a friend.  Oliver Bellows.

My dad nicknamed him "Little Bastard" because he broke out of no less than three crates.  Bungee cords and all...we had to get this 16 pound cairn terrier an extra strong industrial crate, though he spent little time there.
Jason used to call him "tear ass Ollie" because he ran at breakneck speed around our farmhouse as a puppy.
I remember once when Sydney ran away (and got locked in a neighbor's garage) Ollie, tiny puppy that he was, stayed in our yard.
He knew how to open my parents sliding screen doors with his nose.
Most people that visited our house fell in love with Ollie because if they pet him, even a little, he would stick by their side until they left.
He was The Master of the Woodpile in our backyard for years and spent hours chasing vermin out of there.
He let the girls dress him up and carry him around like a baby.  
He would kiss Jason on the lips if Jason puckered up.
Jason would hold him like a baby and he would put his paw on Jason's chin as if to say, "I love you, I REALLY love you!"
In the last few months his health has deteriorated.  He was 14 1/2 years old.  He had a fatty lipoma on his rear leg that our vet watched and it never got bigger, but in recent months he didn't get around as well.
I spent Wednesday kicking myself for not having the surgery to remove the lipoma and for just watching it (I didn't want to put him under anesthesia).  I am thankful that when we brought him in yesterday, the vet said the lipoma had not changed, and was not the issue.  He had an issue with some discs in his back, probably due to his age.  Ollie was weakened by age and our vet assured us that we were doing the right thing and there was nothing else that could be done for him.
I am so THANKFUL for that.
I am thankful for reassurance that there was nothing I did wrong, nothing I could have done different.
I am thankful for how wonderful the vet and the vet techs were and how they handled the situation.

But mostly, I am thankful for sharing fourteen and a half years with a wonderful, loving, special, sweet, cuddly, patient, kind, goofy, silly, funny, amusing, kissyface little dog that was
Oliver Bellows Bond.