Ogle (Still) Lives Here

So what’s with the name?

Ogle, pronounced (more or less) OH-gleh means charcoal in Latvian.

We (my husband and I), are Latvian. So in that context it makes a bit more sense, right?

She’s got this coat that sometimes looks blackish-gray and sometimes looks more brownish but with some white spots – like charcoal. So, Ogle.

Of course, Ogle is not her only name. A doggy daycare we used to use when she was a little misspelled her name on her first visit there, and so she occasionally became Ogie. And then, because it sort of rhymes, Ogie The Doh-gie. And also Oglebogle. Or Ogiebogs. Or Ogs. And so on. You get the idea.

Our Story

Some days are just ordinary days, and some days are the kinds of days on which, without warning, everything tilts.

Friday, January 6, 2023 was one of those kinds of days.

I was working from home. My husband Aini took our two-year old dog Ogle to the dog park. It’s their thing. She gets a bunch of exercise and he gets to chit chat with his dog peeps.

They were gone for a long time. And when he got home, he came into my office. Pale. Shaky. He sat down. And proceeded to tell me that Ogle had chased down and brutally attacked another dog. There were multiple deep bites; the other dog was taken to the emergency vet. Ogle didn’t have a scratch.

The next few days were a blur of tears and severe anxiety and text message exchanges with the other owner. The other dog recovered. We drained our savings and borrowed money to pay the vet bills.

We looked at our dog with new eyes. We looked at ourselves with new eyes. What the hell had just happened? And what the hell do we do now?

True confession. After much soul-searching and research, we did try to rehome her. We had visions of her living with more competent owners, on a couple of acres of land, with fewer stressors. A place where she could be who she is. But…an adult dog with a bite history. Who would want to take her? Turns out, nobody.

So here she still is. And here we still are. And this blog is a reflection on our continued journey with this intense, wonderful, complicated, smart, anxious, beautiful and incredibly challenging dog.