A Dogs life
Nothing can prepare you for the loss of a family member, especially one so young.
Sally was six when she lost her brave and challenging 18 month battle with cancer, we were as you can imagine devastated.
Nothing and no one could heal the wounds that we suffered.
But there was a "someone" who would comfort us without words, who would listen without prejudice nor opinions (something some "councillors" could learn from)
some one who would love us unconditionally and Someone who would simply help take our minds away from what had happened.
They say a dog is a man's and best friend, he was that and a whole lot more.
His name was Ozzy, and here is his story in brief and how I would like him to be remembered.
It was February 2002 when the subject of a dog came up, a companion for Mandy when she came home from work to an empty household, a friend for Nancy when she came out of school.
A trip to Sunnyside Kennels, part of the Birmingham Dogs Home group was in order.
Mandy saw a small black cross breed dog, a connection was made. We took him out into the walking area.
But the real test was from me, Nancy was five at the time, we didn't want to risk her being bitten.
Whilst the dog was chewing on a biscuit I reached down and took it from him. He simply looked up, no malice. We were good to go.
Ozzy settled into our life and we into his with ease, upon arrival he made himself instantly at home. Already house trained and as he had a fair chunk of Collie in him he was also an intelligent dog. He was also an inquisitive little fella and loved to disappear and "mooch" around the local woodland whilst on walks then after a while he would come lay by me and chomp down on a piece of wood.
Boy he could run, judging by his physique he was made for it, light weight, narrow build and deep chested. At the ripe old age of 12 I recorded him via the aid of a push bike and a Gps at 28mph!
Ozzy loved camping especially by the sea where he could run along the beach and go for a swim. When back at camp he enjoyed spending quality time with his family, this was obvious as he was never far away from us.
He was never to bothered about toys, balls and Frisbee's bored him after a few minutes, there is one exception however, at a particular place he loved, a small river just before it reached the sea; he would stand in the water and bark asking to go after a stick, he would play there for as long as you could stand it.
The years have whizzed by as ever far too fast, with Ozzy being a constant companion to us all.
It was with great sadness that we said our final goodbye to him December 2015.
We are now a dog family and the house seemed empty without Ozzy, a trip to Sunnyside Kennels was in order, with a smaller dog maybe a terrier of sorts in mind.
However fate played its hand and Kally came into our lives, a collie cross although more collie than cross. Not as a replacement for Ozzy, more of someone who will carry on Ozzy's legacy.
