Bonjour!

Today I’m sad.. and I’m hoping I can share my sadness with you all…

Vale Oliver James!

This morning when I woke up and checked my emails the first one on my viewing list was from my husband (well, I guess I need to say “estranged husband” as we are now separated… actually I don’t even know what estranged means! tom pee…) telling my son Marc and me that he had to make a difficult decision to put our beloved Oliver James (miniature Dachshund) down due to bowel and back complications. ☹
 

Oliver James was 14yrs old.. but he had a very good and charmed life with us.

 
We got him as a puppy, only 6 or 8 weeks old.. he was so precious, so loved. But when he started getting out of his puppy stage he took on a whole new personality and became a little aggressive so my husband decided that we all should go for counselling with him to see what the problem was. It turned out that in his mind (according to our dog psychologist) that Oliver James thought he was actually on the 3rd rung of the ladder in our family (Rob, Marc, Oliver James and me!) which meant he thought I was on the bottom rung!! .. that in itself is quite funny don’t you think? Because in MY mind I thought I was actually on the top rung!! ☺
 
So after our very expensive counselling session, Oliver James got the message that he wasn’t on the 3rd rung but the bottom rung and so things started to settle down. We had to be strong in our resolve not to cater to his every need and be firm when he would demand our attention but after a few months it worked and I was actually able to sit on the couch and give my husband and son a hug without Oliver James challenging me!
 
From then on he became my number one baby. I know he loved me as he loved my husband and my son but in my mind I think he knew I was his Mom and I would love our time together when he would come snuggle with me and let me rub his tummy.. my favourite saying with him was ‘hey Ollie, Mommy rub your tum tum’ and he would just roll over and let me rub his tummy and look me directly in the eye while I was doing it. I will miss those moments with him.
 
Our other baby Otto Jacques will miss him terribly… Otto looked out for Oliver and would always lick him which I think was a sign of caring… they were inseparable. I’m sad that Otto Jacques will be by himself now.. I’m not sure how long he will last. Otto Jacques is 15yrs. My tears are still falling…
 

Donc… it has just been a sad day for me, my son and my husband…so thanks for listening.

A bientot!

Bisous

Murielle!