OXLEY
Lucy Carr
The River Glyme, Water Meadows
30 x 45 cm
I grew up with dogs so to me a home is not a home without one! When we lost Amigo there was no ‘if we would have another dog’, just more of a ‘when’.
But Oxley is so very different to Amigo – they are like ying and yang! Amigo was a bonkers, bouncy labradoodle who was still able to leap the garden fence two weeks before he died, whilst Oxley is more like Eeyore or a grumpy old man with occasional sparks of puppy madness.
He is as strong and a heavy as an ox, protective and loyal, and obsessive about playing fetch! As a rehomed dog he came with one or two issues – he hates travelling in the car and used to cry like a baby whenever I left him, even to go to the loo! He soon realised however that car travel meant an exciting adventure such as a swim in the lake and that I will always come back. He has taught us to be patient and to never leave food on the surfaces!
Oxley came to us in September 2020 after our much-loved family dog Amigo passed at the grand old age of 14 and a half. He left a huge gap in our lives and whilst we always knew that we would have another dog one day, we were in no rush. Fate chose a different path for us however when, just three weeks later, I received a call from a friend of my mum who had heard of our loss. Her husband works with the Kennel club and they had become aware of a five-year-old black Labrador who needed a home due to his family splitting up. I went to meet him, and he came home with me that day! It took a while to get used the big black silent giant who joined the family when we were so used to our fuzzy blonde talkative labradoodle. But he worked his way under our skin and was soon working on mending our broken hearts. Oxley is an Eeyore and Amigo was a Tigger, but we love them both.
Oxley is a first-class life saver but when he first came to live with us, he had never been near the water; we are a family of water babies and were desperate to have him join us either on or in the water. The first time he saw Jon on his surfboard he dove straight into the water, swam out and grabbed his leash and dragged Jon back to shore. However, his life saving tendencies got out of hand on our recent holiday when Oxley saw three boogie boarders who he was determined needed rescuing – they had spent a lot of energy and time getting out beyond the break only to be rounded up by a burly black Labrador.
Lucy Carr