A Tribute to Oz

 

The Wizard of Oz, Ozziewold, Oznot, Water Baby, The Reds, Not Not, Ozzie, Hooked tail, The Dolphin, Spesiale Hond, Geel-oog or just plain Oz, where some of the many names that he carried with him when he lived at Rookwood.

Oz the little brown bear

9 years ago in January, Oz became a new member in the Border Collie family at Rookwood.  Totally unaware that we were about to acquire a new Border Collie, I returned home from a visit to the Cape to meet this little brown bear, called Oz.  Jaco de Beer, who was then a manager for a neighbouring farm brought Oz.  His birthplace was Adendorp near Graaff Reinet.  So Oz began his life at Rookwood. 

 

Little Oz

 

Oz at Duncraggen

   

Oz the traveller!!!!

 As he was a puppy and we were kraaling our ewes and lambs every night, Oz started his early days by riding in a bakkie………..this explains why whenever he heard the sound of vehicle keys, he was always ready to join you.  His favourite spot in the vehicle, became the foot well of the passenger side.  He was a very good traveller, never got car sick and preferred inside a vehicle to on the back of the bakkie at all times.

from little Oz loved to walk

 

Oz also thoroughly enjoyed water and from little this played a very big role in his life.  I spent many happy hours and kilometres walking the Tuli river with Oz from when he was a puppy. 

 

This love for water even brought him some fame with his picture featuring as the cover page of the Landbouweekblad which was reprinted in the 100 year edition again last year.  He was named Water Baby (one of the many nicknames he carried) by Leon at the local agricultural co op.  Whenever he went to town with you, his first port of call at the co op was to look for Leon behind the counter and he would be overjoyed to see Leon once he had found him, despite everybody else being rather wary of him.

Oz the 'famous' Water Baby!

chasing the water at the reservoir

cooling off in a water trough

catching bubbles in the Tuli River

trying to prevent the water from running away in the river

as a young dog looking at the snow outside

waiting for the next snow ball to be thrown

the fish are tickling my toes!!!

   

Oz the wolf in the snow

There was another side of Oz too, he was very protective of me and his home.  However, he would never stray far from you when growling or barking.  Most people were very wary of his yellow eyes (Geel-oog) as they stood out against his liver-coloured coat.  Even when walking in the veldt and he would see some animal like a baboon or buck, his immediate response was this deep dark growl from deep down in his throat to warn you of this potential ‘danger’.  He developed the reputation of all strangers to be wary of the ‘red’ dog although once he got to know who you were he would be super enthusiastic and wriggle his whole body (like a dolphin) and smile when he greeted you.  Gideon, Wayne and Kevin can testify to this.

Oz looking out for dangerous animals!

'Family portrait' with 'couisins'!

All the other dogs in the pack looked up to him…….he was obviously seen as the ‘leader’ of the collie pack at Rookwood. 

He was not particularly taken in by Bruce and then later Jack became his focus of attention, although he physically never fought with any of them.   

the 'cousins' with Oz

He would be told that the ‘cousins’ were spending the weekend when Kevin would bring his group of 3 Border Collies and he was never really fond of the ‘cousins’ as they he felt they were always hounding him (excuse the pun!)

Strangely though whenever a ball or stick were thrown for him to fetch/catch, if any of the other dogs challenged him, he would immediately drop it and leave it for the other dogs to take.

Flynn (a much later addition to the collie family) was the one dog he could play with and they bonded quite well.

Oz and Flynn

 

Oz with a flock of sheep

Oz did not mind working sheep/cattle or goats but did like to collect the WHOLE camp instead of focusing on the animals closer by.  He was however, excellent with ewes and lambs and would patiently drive a ewe with a lamb very slowly with the typical collie stance of dropped shoulders and step by step approach with the ‘yellow eye’ stare at the ewe.

 

muddy Oz

“Digging for Australia”, well Oz loved to dig holes and whenever he did so, we encouraged him by asking if he was digging for Australia (he obviously was not called Oz for nothing!!!). Mud was one of his other favourites and he often looked like he had been for a mud bath when he had finished. 

He would not take food from any stranger and never grabbed food from your hand.  He avoided the Beeno dog biscuit, he just did not like them although ‘Eat Some Mores’ biscuits were always great!  His other favourite was the ‘bacon juice’ that came from the bacon pan on a Sunday morning which was put onto the dog cubes.

  

Oz keeping an eye on the cricket game!

Oz was clearly a dominant personality in this house and the void left behind is so so very prominent with all the other dogs missing him too.  Odd little things and there were numerous that I can recall, were just part of who he was.  Stirring the sugar in the coffee cup and jumping up and down on the spot irritated him, playing with elementary toys like plastic pipes, tubes or even old ball valve balls, fetching food for vultures from Anton (he loved Anton too), catching windscreen wipers when he was inside the vehicle, watching cricket on the TV and of course his favourite lying upside down fast asleep.   He was just different and special.

resting position in the shade (and hole)

When he was diagnosed with his cancer, we realized that he had little time left at Rookwood, as his weight loss was very evident and the cancerous growth very aggressive.  It was extremely sad to see how quickly his whole body deteriorated and how his muscle strength and physique disappeared over night.   

Oz the jumper

Oz could clear fences easily

His ability to clear fences was amazing and he could jump to great heights but in the end even jumping into a vehicle became very difficult.  His barking from inside the vehicle because he had been ‘locked up’ to prevent him from joining you while working the stock in his last days on earth, will remain a very strong memory in my mind.  It broke your heart to know, he just wanted to be part of working the stock to the end or for going for long walks as he used to and he was trying to tell you this.

 

the above are all pictures taken of his last swim in the dam

Post script:

 

 

 

Oz it has been more than a week now that you have left us.  I want to thank you for bravely hanging in there until Meagan could come and say goodbye to you as well.  I was glad we could take you for that one last swim in the dam.  I will miss you ………your dog pad next to my bed is empty now and I cannot put my hand out to comfort you any more, however, I just want to tell you that the rains finally came and we walked down the river passed your donga where you first fell in love with water and I knew your soul would be happy once more.  

May you fly on the wings of all the vultures that I have lost and may they carry your spirit with them.  Thank you for being such a wonderful companion...........forever in my heart my boy.

                                                                                                         

 

Rest in Peace my boytjie