“Would you mind looking after a dog?” my friend texted, and I could barely temper my excitement, especially after learning that it would be a young Border Collie who would visit me.

I absolutely love having dog guests, only my dogs (especially Oona) don’t match with just any dog. But I had a solution this time: I welcomed Olli at my art studio and after we settled, we met Joeri with Mogwai and Lizzie in the forest. I regretted the idea for a second as Mogwai was eyeing him and Lizzie started screaming with excitement (it’s terrible; she sounds like we’re skinning her alive), but soon enough Mogwai was absolutely smitten with this boy and they played super nice together. Excited but gentle. Lovely to watch.

It’s curious how well Mogwai connects with fellow Border Collies, especially males. Unlike with other ‘strange’ dogs, she’s remarkably tolerant and joyful. Olli could lick her face and sniff her- something even Lizzie gets the evil eye for.

Mr. Olli showed some great herding instinct, especially for naughty sheep that want to run off in the forest. The only thing… that sheep was Lizzie who got a bit frustrated by this Border Collie blocking her way every time she wanted to escape haha!

After our sunny evening walk, Joeri took our dogs home while I went back to the studio with Olli to wait for his owners to return after their moose safari. And Oh my heart! Olli was charming me even more with gentle snuggles and sleeping next to me. He was such a pleasure to watch so I’m grateful for the trust their owners had in me :-). It’s certainly not easy to leave your pup with a stranger. But I think he did make some fun memories with us 🙂

Olli is a very different type of Border Collie than Mogwai, but at the same time very alike. They felt it too and I’m happy for Mogwai to have this experience. (especially after that loose dog incident we had in Belgium in spring)