Introducing Ollie!
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you probably noticed a new addition to my family this week.
Meet Ollie, the Australian Cattle Dog mix (and soon to be runner)!
I’ve talked a lot over the past month about how Ryan and I wanted to adopt a second dog. We love Charlie and wanted to provide him with a companion. Charlie does well running short distances and I wanted a dog who could run with me on longer runs.
We originally began this search back when we lived in Valparaiso, Indiana – almost 18 months ago. We paused our search when we decided to move to Seattle. Once we passed the one year mark of living in the Pacific Northwest, we both started casually glancing at Petfinder or local shelter’s pages at night.
Ryan and I binge-watched Dogs 101 videos on YouTube and read numerous articles to determine the breed we wanted. Of course, since we planned on rescuing, we knew we would likely adopt a mix, but we wanted to have an idea of what to look for.
While Charlie is adorable, we knew we sort of struck the jackpot on the puggle genetic library. Charlie is likely a second generation puggle, which means his parents were probably a beagle and a puggle. His long legs, perceptive nose, stubbornness, and athleticism are traits more commonly found in beagles than pugs. Plus, I just don’t think I could handle the sassiness of two puggles! (Because when Charlie and my parents’ puggle were together over Christmas, it was chaos).
Ryan and I wanted a dog that could keep up with us while running and hiking but would also be suitable for apartment living (i.e. not huge and not one of the restricted breeds). We narrowed our search down to Australian Shepherds, Border Collies, Australian Cattle Dogs (Heelers), or hunting sized labs or retrievers.
We filled out applications at shelters and local rescues, inquired about numerous dogs via PetFinder and PetTango, and met a few dogs even.
Saturday we went to a nearby shelter, PAWS, to meet a Border Collie mix. Within the first few minutes of meeting him, we realized he was too energetic and in need for our situation. We were briefly smitten with a lab mix, only to realize that our apartment would not allow him since we was half pit bull.
But before we left, we inquired about one dog we had seen on their website, who was currently in foster. This dog was on his was back to the shelter for adoption. So on Sunday, we took Charlie to go meet this dog, whose foster name was Ernie. He won me over in his shelter profile photos because he was holding an apple in his mouth and wagging his tail.
Then, on Monday afternoon, after some deliberation, Ryan and I adopted Ernie and renamed him Ollie (short for Oliver – a name we decided on long before adopting him, just as we did with Charlie).
Ollie is a one-year-old male Australian Cattle Dog mix. He’s intelligent, quick to learn, and playful. We’re going to start running and hiking him this week! He’s already sleeping well through the night, learning the rules of the house, and playing well with us and his toys.
Ollie is still a puppy, so he’s a bit uncoordinated and lacks some spatial awareness, but he makes up for it in cuddliness and playfulness. He’s already sleeping well through the night, learning the rules of the house, and playing well with us and his toys.
Charlie is still adjusting to Ollie, which is understandable since Charlie spent three years as an only dog. Ollie desperately wants to play with Charlie, but Charlie’s stubborn beagle tendencies are taking over right now. Charlie is so friendly that we know he will warm up! He’s just having a grumpy pug moment, which he usually has at least once a day.
Also, please ignore the clutter in the photos! Those of you with new dogs (or let’s be honest, any dog) know how that goes. I’m in a constant (losing) battle against dog hair and toy fluff.
Do you have pets? Share about them in the comments!
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26 Responses
Congrats on the new addition to your family! It will be great for you to have a dog that can run long distances.
Thank you! I am excited to train him up to running – some heelers can handle double digit runs!
Congratulations!!! This is so great! I know you have been wanting a dog to run with so I cannot wait to see how it goes.
We’ve been talking about getting a dog in the spring but it needs to be able to run with me AND be hypoallergenic so we’ll see how that goes!
Welcome Ollie 🙂
Thank you! So far it’s going well – Ollie loved his first run and hike! That’s so exciting how you may be getting a dog in the spring! Have you looked at goldendoodler/labrodoodles? They’re hypoallergenic and athletic – we’ve seen lots of them out running and hiking here. Plus they’re super smart and trainable with both the retriever and poodle.
aw, so exciting! I am sure Charlie will warm up to him soon and then they will be best of friends.
Thank you! Charlie is warming up – we caught them snuggling a few times!
Can Ollie come over and wear Ridley out? THAT WOULD BE GREAT!
HI OLLIE!
That would be so great! Although the mess would also be incredible. Ollie makes a mess when he plays!
Congrats on your new addition. 🙂 Very cute!! I grew up with a Cocker Spaniel…my BF is very much a dog lover. Once we are living together, I could definitely see us adopting a medium to large size dog. I would love to have a running companion. 🙂
Thank you! Dogs are great running companions – especially for when running alone! 🙂
Awwwwww so cute! Congrats on your newest family member!
Thank you! We are so excited to have him!
Welcome, Ollie! You guys need to watch The Secret Life of Pets. 🙂
Thank you! Kids at our apartment complex tell us that Charlie looks like a dog from that movie. 🙂
Oh what a cutie! I love that you went the adoption route since there are so many dogs out there that need a good home. We’ve got a rescue mix now too, and she’s seriously a great dog. I do remember the introduction phase being a little awkward though 😆
Thank you! We adopted Charlie as well and I grew up with adopted dogs – they are the sweetest and it makes me so happy to give them a good home.
Congrats on the new playmate. We adopted ours in April and are still in awe of how it all came together! Hope Charlie warms up soon!
Thank you! Charlie is warming up. Congrats on your new pet! It is amazing how it just all works out so well.
What an adorable name and dog! Hope you are having a great first few days with him.
Thank you! We are – he settled in so well to our family!
Congratulations!! Ollie is adorable! We have two cats, both adopted so I know a thing or two about introducing pets and how amusing it is to watch their different personalities play out. I hope he is adapting well and loving his new furr-ever home!
Thank you! It is amusing to watch their different personalities and breed traits emerge. We realized Ollie is part lab as well – he is fasciated by water!
Congrats! Love the name Ollie! Enjoy your runs with him and Charlie!
Thank you! We already had a great first run together with both of the pups!
Ollie is so cute! In addition to our dog Kara who shows up on my instagram occasionally, we also have 2 cats who are less excited about having their pictures taken. The cats were here first and it took them forever to warm up to Kara, but once they finally got used to her they made up for lost time letting her know who’s boss.
Thank you! We’re not sure yet which dog is boss. We thought Charlie would be until he literally rolled over and submitted. Now Ollie tries to herd him! 🙂