On August 7, 2025
I drove up to Maine, had a seafood lunch with my friend Laurie, then drove up to Nanne’s wool farm to spend Friday with Selkie and drive back to Connecticut with her on Saturday. On the way I picked up some fresh salmon, asparagus, and a package of rice pilaf for supper on Friday night. Thursday night after walking Selkie I had supper with Nanne and Selkie at a local pub with outdoor seating.

Getting to know her new human.

On Friday Nanne had much to do around the farm and a few errands to run. That left the day for Selkie and I to go for a few walks, play a bit, and get to know each other. That night a friend of Nanne’s that I had previously met contra dancing came by for the night and joined us for supper. Fortunately, there was plenty of food for three people. I grilled the salmon and asparagus on Nanne’s gas grill, while Nanne made the rice pilaf on a stovetop with her own twist, adding some chopped onion.

On Saturday morning after coffee and eggs, I loaded Selkie into the back seat of my car and Nanne saw us off. Despite some traffic tie-ups and even a detour, Selkie was good as gold in the car all the way home.

Even though Selkie had never been to my house before, when I let her out of the car she went straight to my front door and walked right in when I opened it!

 

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Little by little Selkie is settling in to her new life. She has been making friends with other neighborhood dogs, particularly Apollo and Brady (see last April’s post about Olive’s friends). She seems to have gotten to know our eight walk per day schedule and seems to know the routes we take. There have been a few rough spots, however. Such as:

•          She whimpers and whines when I leave her alone to go out for errands. Even just going to my basement to do laundry sets her barking.
•          When I had to run out for a few errands I tried letting her have the run of the house as I used to do for Olive. When I got home, I found some curtains pulled down and a mess made of some Venetian blinds. I resolved to put her in her crate when I went out for the foreseeable future.
•          Once I sat at a table for lunch and got up to get something. When I got back Selkie had my sandwich. I took it away from her and scolded her, secretly chuckling over the incident.
•          We have to work on some simple commands like “stay” and “come”. I plan to take her to a nearby dog training school as I did with Olive.
•           I have been brushing her every day. Even though Selkie has a thinner coat than Olive, I seem to be getting quite a bit of fur in the brush. Perhaps it is just shedding season? Anyway, while she doesn’t give me any resistance to being brushed, she is so affectionate that she smothers me with kisses while I am trying to brush her. Makes things a bit difficult.
•       Even though Olive’s old bed is still in an alcove under a window outside my bedroom, Selkie insists on sleeping in my bed with me. I don’t really mind, though I wish she would understand that she can’t have the whole queen-size bed.

um...Selkie...that's my bed, not yours exclusively.

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Selkie inspects the new carpet.

During her last few months, Olive had trouble controlling her peeing and had a number of accidents. I decided that it would take more than a shampooing to get the smell out, so I arranged for a new carpet with a local carpet company. The installation crew came about a week after Selkie got here, but she was well behaved while the crew worked and seemed to approve of the new carpet after the work was done.

My friends Julie and Laurie came by to meet Selkie. They were delighted with her, as she was with them.

When I sit in my chair and read, Selkie has decided that she can occupy the couch.

Unquestionably this is working out as well as I could have expected. Selkie is a very sweet and affectionate dog; we are getting along splendidly. She is transitioning from farm dog to urban dog amazingly well. We have had one trip to the local dog park, and I plan to take her there frequently while the weather is good. Stay tuned for more of our adventures.

Hmmm...I think I just might get used to this.

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Border collie comics corner:

Final Olive Posting: RIP Olive 2011--2025

In the last posting I detailed how Olive was not doing well and having trouble getting around. I had hoped that she would be able to get around the house and stay with us for some time, but I am very sad to report that my beloved border collie only got worse. She could barely even stand up and would not eat. Finally on May 19, I could not let her suffer and made an appointment with the vet. My friend Joan Sara came with me for support, even bringing a breakfast sandwich and coffee for me. 

 I held Olive while a very sympathetic veterinarian ended my girl’s life. I pet her and said goodbye as she left us peacefully. Olive’s ashes were delivered to me a week later and kept in her crate until July 3 when I drove up to the farm in Maine where Olive was born. Most of the ashes were scattered there where Nanne usually walks her dogs. Olive’s brother Gilley and a few of her nieces and nephews, as well as her “sister-in-law” Selkie were with us. A small portion was given to my friend Laurie who said that she had something special she wanted to do with them. I also brought a small portion back home to bury under the apple tree that Olive and I planted and Olive seemed to like.

Goodbye to my sweet border collie

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There is a positive ending to this story. This is not the end of the story or this blog. 

Olive’s “sister-in-law” Selkie has been the breeding dog up at Nanne’s farm for a while. After a number of litters by Gilley, Selkie has come to the end of her breeding days and is due a well-earned retirement. Nanne asked if I would consider adopting Selkie. After some consideration I felt that Olive would want me to take Selkie on. Selkie spent the two nights I was at the farm cuddled up next to me on a futon in a small cabin that Nanne maintains on her farm, so I think that Selkie and I will be just fine together. 

 Selkie will be spayed and will probably come to live with me in late August. I believe that this will be a good fit for both of us.

Selkie will be coming to live with me soon.

A short video of Selkie narrated by my friend Laurie.

This blog will continue with the title "Life With Olive" as I don't know how to change the name. It will have the subtitle "the Selkie Chronicles". Stay tuned.

 

It has been a while since my last posting. The real reason is that Olive has gotten much older and less active so that there is not as much to write about her.

I hosted Easter Sunday foe my family; this time we had a total of ten guests plus Olive and myself. That was the biggest Easter gathering at my house since my parents and uncle died. It was good to have my cousin Donna’s daughter Lisa here on a visit from England where she is now living with her husband Chris. My sister’s daughter Katie and her husband Andy were also here with their daughter Juniper. It was a good day.                                                      

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Shortly after Easter Olive seemed to have trouble walking. A visit to the vet and she was diagnosed as having a case of vertigo! The vet told me it’s fairly common in older dogs. The vet prescribed an over-the-counter product for seasickness in humans called by the generic name meclizine, sold under the brand name Bonine. The vet also saw some signs of a urinary infection, took a urine test which confirmed that Olive had it, and prescribed some antibiotics.

After a week the vertigo cleared up, but Olive still seemed to have trouble walking, walking in an awkward manner often crossing her hind legs. Another visit to the vet, and we were referred to a veterinary neurologist. I managed to get an appointment for Olive at a full-service veterinary hospital about a half hour away, the same hospital where Olive had her back surgery a few years ago. In fact the neurologist was the same one who performed Olive’s surgery last time.

The neurologist recommended an MRI, which required me to leave Olive overnight. The hospital called me the next morning to tell me that Olive had gone through the MRI just fine. The neurologist herself called me later in the afternoon.

While the MRI showed a few minor issues, including a couple of slightly swollen disks (not the one that was corrected last time), there was nothing seriously amiss. There were no issues with her brain, so at least I know that she didn’t have a stroke. The staff did not think that Olive was in any pain other than her arthritis.

It is possible that the combination of vertigo and the urinary infection set off her sudden difficulty with walking. Some muscle atrophy was present that has been developing for some time. The recommended treatment was rest and lots of TLC.

I took Olive home and the poor thing was thoroughly exhausted. We barely got through the front door and she dropped on the rug and stayed there for several hours. As recommended by the hospital staff I gave her some canned dog food instead of the dry kibbles I normally gave her; to my surprise she gobbled half of it, fell asleep, then woke up a half hour later and finished almost all of it. Clearly, she had just gone through a brutal 28 hours.

Although her crate (with a comfortable pad to sleep on) is in my living room, I got her bed from upstairs and brought it down to her favorite corner of my dining room for her to sleep on. When she finally got up the strength to move, she plopped onto her bed and stayed there the night. Not wanting to let her think I was abandoning her; I slept on my living room couch that night so that she would know I was nearby.

Today she did as well as I would have expected despite some terrible weather. She ate about half of her breakfast and seemed to be getting around the house ok. She was able to get out back to do her business and come back in, though she clearly gets exhausted easily. Twice she had to plop down and rest before going back into the house.

It’s a matter of waiting and seeing now. My hope is that Olive will be able to move around the house (even if she cannot negotiate the stairs up to the bedroom level), be able to get out back to do her business, and not be in pain, then I am good with it. I don’t want her to suffer.

Olive resting in her favorite corner of the dining room.

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On a more positive note, I have long wanted to create a page in this blog of Olive’s canine friends around my townhouse complex. I don’t know whether I am spelling all of the names correctly (people tell me their dog’s names but rarely spell them).

Here are a few of Olive’s friends.

Apollo

Apollo is a very friendly dog, younger than Olive but has known Olive since he was the new puppy on the block. The two seem genuinely fond of each other

Beauty

Beauty is a very shy dog. His people tell me that Olive is one of the few dogs that she Beauty seems ok to socialize with. I guess Olive just knew how to not come on too strong.

Brady

Brady is much smaller than Olive but the two seem very fond of each other. 

Donner

Donner lives in the building next door with frequent visits from his energetic cousin Mocha. Mocha is an escape artist and frequently gets loose, sometimes showing up on my back deck looking for Olive to play with. Olive likes both dogs, but Mocha can be a bit much at times.

Mocha

Lexi

Lexi was initially full of the puppy energy that sometimes gets annoying to Olive. As she has grown she has calmed down considerably and both look forward to seeing each other during morning walks.

Remy

Remy also lives in the next building, next door to Donner and Mocha. At first I was told that Remi did not get along with Donner though he did with Mocha. It seems, however, that the two have resolved their differences and now get along well.

Olive and I frequently encounter Winter and her human during walks. The two will usually sniff each other in a friendly way, then immediately move on.

Winter

Although Lenny has passed over the rainbow bridge, I had to include a photo of him courtesy of his people. Lenny is a cattle dog mix and was the first dog in this complex that Olive got to know. The two were immediately friends, so much so that Lenny's humans and I used to joke about He and Olive being boyfriend and girlfriend. After Lenny died, Olive would often look to the unit Lenny lived in as we passed it by on walks, wondering where Lenny went to. I regarded Lenny as the nicest dog in the complex. No doubt that the two will someday be playing together again on the other side of the rainbow bridge.

Lenny