Billie Holiday - a Dog's Life

The Early Days

Billie was born at Wauchope veterinary clinic, near Laurieton, in Northern New South Wales, on 5 January 2003. Her parent's Kennel Names were:

Staffiro Sir Whingealot (Jed), and
Bilibalina Blue Spirit (Bundy)

Her full name was Heronstaff Billie Blue, but we called her Billie Holiday.

When she was two weeks old we drove to meet her and her parents in Laurieton, which is not far from Port Macquarie. Christine took one look at Jed and jumped back in the car.

Jed

He was a big boy but a real softy, and once we went inside kept bringing his rubber Kong for Chris to throw across the living room. Here he is with his wife Bundy (as in Bundaberg Rum):

Jed and Bundy

 

The Litter

Bundy had eight live pups but one was still born and had to be removed by Caesarean which knocked Bundy around a bit. Her owners were quite stressed and not sure if they would breed her again.

Siblings

Billie was number seven and identified by her "Two White Feet". We were supposed to choose a pup but Billie chose us instead.

Billie 2 Weeks

After eight weeks I flew back to Port Macquarie to pick her up. I almost took one of her tan brothers too - he was so cute.

Billie and Brother

Billie 8 Weeks

I flew back with Billie in a porta-kennel which gave her a life long aversion to boxes. When I got to Sydney I had to pick her up from the "Special Cargo" area, where I waited until ages after all the other passengers from the Dash-8 had left. I could hear giggling from behind the door, and eventually a group of baggage handlers came out holding the kennel and saying "Beautiful puppy mate!".

Such a great little dog she was 90 percent house trained already when she got home.

She was so tiny she would hide under our coffee table.

The Terrible Teens

Actually that's a misnomer as far as Billie's concerned. Apart from eating a chunk out of a couple of rugs she was always a very well behaved dog. She took to Yarranabbe Park pretty quickly.

 

She also came out on our yacht Capella from an early age.

 

 

 She grew up pretty fast.

The day this photo was taken she nearly drowned in Sugarloaf Bay. We stayed the night and we were both down below leaving Billie in the cockpit. There was a Zodiac tied to the stern and she wanted to go ashore to wee, so tried to climb in the dinghy and fell in the water.

When I ran up to pull her out she tried to climb on to the back of the boat and sank like a brick. I dived in full clothed and had to swim several strokes before I caught her about 3 metres down (the limit of my diving ability). All was well but she had to wear a life jacket after that.

Happy Days

Billie loved to play tug o' war and usually won.

 

She usually went for two walks a day in Yarranabbe Park.

She liked to sun-bake in the yard.

She fell in with some dubious characters.

But they were OK really.











We took her on holiday - she loved to go to the beach.

Nobby's Beach

 This is in Newcastle - we kept hiding the stick and going back for it the next day.

These are at Culburra near Jervis Bay in Southern NSW.

 

The book I'm reading is called "The Power of the Dog" by Don Winslow.

Sea Dog

City to Surf

Sculptures by the Sea

Billie had a magic tongue.

Mark Billie and Christine

Billie loved to party.

 She won her share of prizes - this one for "Most Embarrassed Dog In Show".

Some people really go too far...

 But there is always a price to pay for excessive behaviour.

Slowing Down

Alas age catches up with us eventually, in body if not in spirit.

 

Breitling 8 weeks with Billie 10 years.

In February 2012 Billie had a cancer removed from her left hind leg. You can see where she was shaved above - it never grew fully back.

Lord Dudley Hotel Dog Show

In November while we were on holiday in China she had what appeared to be a stroke that gave her a palsy and paralysed the right side of her face. Her tear duct dried up and she went blind in the right eye. The problem was most likely a brain tumor but we couldn't find out and in any case it was inoperable.

The Lord Dudley Hotel had a dog show and people felt so sorry for her and loved her so much she won a prize as "the Peoples' Choice".

She soldiered on but it was all becoming an effort with her illness and age.

Eventually she was obviously sad most of the time, couldn't hold food down and had trouble breathing at night. It was time for her to sleep forever, which has broken our hearts. She was quite simply the Best Dog Ever.