By Nicola Depuis
Meet LOKI from Rochestown. This five-year-old miniature cockapoo was a gift to Louise Collins from her boyfriend Shane for her thirtieth birthday in September 2014. ‘After years of me begging for our own dog, my boyfriend got him for me from Knock, Mayo. I honestly can’t remember life without him, Loki that is…not my boyfriend,’ adds Louise with a laugh. After getting to know his mischievous ways, Louise and Shane named him Loki, ‘after the Norse God of mischief and mayhem, but mainly after the character in The Avengers. He goes by many names… Loki, Loki Boo, Loki Bear, Loks, LoLo, Lokers. It took my Dad about three weeks to stop calling him Lucky.’ Loki lost his sight when he was two but this hasn’t stopped him from getting the most from life. ‘He truly is the happiest dog. He’s still the same Loki playing fetch in the garden with Shane,’ says Louise. ‘
It takes him a bit longer to find the ball but he’ll always find it with a bit of sniffing. He has his little mishaps like missing a step on the stairs or bumping into a wall when he gets too excited, but nothing stops him.’ Louise says that, like many dogs, he loves his bed and he brings his blanky and his monkey Digby to bed with him every night. ‘He has three beds to choose from throughout the house but you’d still find him up on our bed snuggled between the two of us watching QI.’ Loki also loves going for walks in the woods in Rochestown and sniffing out clean socks from the washing basket. ‘I once found a stash of socks beside the hedge in the garden,’ says Louise, ‘he’s like a little hoarder.’
In 2012 Louise was diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS), and she says Loki knows when she’s having a bad day. ‘He’ll just sit by my feet or curl up with me on the couch. I’d be lost without him. And it’s not just our life that has changed. My family adore him and he loves them. He loses his mind when he gets around my Dad. My Mum even calls him her grand-dog. Every morning we’re greeted with excitement and love, and in the evening when we come in from a hard day’s work, he’s there waiting, still with the same excitement and love.’
Pet of the Week is proudly sponsored by Pet Essentials, Carrigaline. If you would like to put your pet forward for Pet of the Week, please send your details to: nicola@carrigdhoun.com
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