Olive's Story

Olive came to live with us on January 30, 2010. We weren't looking for a dog. Just two weeks before we lost our beloved Scully. My heart was still heavy with sadness at her passing. We decided that we would look for another dog in the Spring and that in the meantime we would start researching breeds, temperments and sizes as a base when we started looking.

Now, I know that I was probably setting myself up by even looking at websites devoted to rescued animals. But I looked at hundreds of dogs and lots of black labs/lab mixes and didn't even experience a twinge of interest.

Then there was Olive. There she was and her story of losing her front leg and her family all in her first year. I was drawn in and went home that night and asked Kevin if when we started looking at dogs we might consider a three-legged dog. His first reaction was no, but then I pulled up her profile and he felt it too. She was the dog for us!

Two days later she came to our house for a "meeting" and she lavished us in love and treated our other dog, Bisou, like a rockstar. The cats she simply sniffed and left alone.

She teaches me something everyday about loving with abandon, trusting without hesititation, and playing with gusto! We haven't found anything that she can't do yet ... she runs, plays, runs up and down the stairs without any problem. She is great with Bisou (they play all the time) and leaves the cats alone. She did eat a library book while we were at work today, but she is new and a puppy so we are just working with her to learn commands (which she takes to really well). Her most favorite thing to do is cuddle. She'd be laying across us all the time if we let her. Most of all I feel the sadness as losing Scully lessening with the love of this incredible dog.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Adventures with Olive


With Olive there is always a story . . . jumping out of a moving car, getting into the chicken coop at the farm on Easter and killing the family's 12-year old pet hen, figuring out how to open the gate to the fence, running head first into a wall wet with paint. A year in the life of Olive? No, those things happened just this past week. My mom, who has yet to meet Olive, looks at me with concern and asks if we are worried we have a "problem" dog. What I try to explain is that all of these stories are demonstrations of Olive's overflowing enthusiasm for living. Well, that and an unwieldy combination of cleverness and clumsiness that Olive has perfected. Yes, we have to be a bit more attentive given her spirited approach to everything, but she is also the world's mellowest dog preferring to sprawl out (and I mean sprawl - all three legs fully extended, head out, tail out - evidently a position preferred by tripods) on the couch, bed or floor than to chew anything. It is her capacity for adventure her innocent precociousness that are part of her very being and what make her such a remarkable dog.
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownApril 9, 2010 at 5:55 PM

    So well spoken. Jen, you just truly captured the essence of Olive.

    ReplyDelete

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