Pets are for life for the Snowdens

The Snowdens got Ollie when he was six weeks old and he goes everywhere with them.

When he was aged seven, Ollie was running along the beach when he snapped the ligaments in one back leg.

The vet asked if they wanted to put him down, but the Snowdens are big believers in pets being for life and they thought their dog had plenty of life left in him.

Ollie ended up getting a plate in his leg and a bionic leg, and after six weeks living in a pen to keep him off his leg, he was good to go.

“After the six weeks, he ran up and down the yard like a mad thing,” Shannon said.

The operation on his leg alone cost $7000 but the Snowdens think he is worth it.

“He’s an expensive guy, but we love him,” Shannon said.

In more recent times, Ollie was been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma — one of the most aggressive and fatal tumours in dogs — and given a life expectancy of one to three months.

The diagnosis came soon after the Snowdens lost their dog Charlie, aged 16.

Shannon, a nurse, did some of her own research and discovered Chinese herbs such as turkey tail could help Ollie.

He has defied all odds so far, and 15 months later is still alive and surrounded by his loving family — although Shannon does admit there is a stinky side effect to the turkey tail.

“When he farts he can clear the room,” she said, with a laugh.

Shannon said Ollie now spent all his time with them.

“We take him everywhere since he was diagnosed,” she said.

Ollie loves to sit with his humans and watch television, and generally just be around them.

“He loves everyone, He’s a good people dog,” she said.

“He’s got a great personality.”

Shannon also said Ollie loved feathers, and was quite happy carrying any he found around in his mouth.

Five-year-old Bodhi has been a member of the Snowden family since she was six weeks old.

The blue heeler came to the Snowdens from a breeder in Sydney.

He was classified as an “imperfect heeler” as the blaze on her right eye wasn’t complete.

Left with the breeder, Bodhi was destined for an early death because of her imperfections.

Instead, she found the perfect home with the Snowdens.

Bodhi — who is named after Patrick Swayze’s character in the movie Point Break — loves being with her family, especially Colin, with whom she really bonded.

“She doesn’t love me like she loves him,” Shannon said of the close bond shared by Colin and Bodhi.

Bodhi used to go to work with Colin on construction sites and he said if you had lunch and did not give her any, Bodhi would sulk.

“She thinks she’s still a pup. I will sit in the office and she will jump on my lap,” Colin said.

Like most working dog breeds she is also ball-mad and will happily spend hours chasing a ball around the backyard.

Bodhi is so focused the Snowdens actually have to hide balls when their grandchildren visit because she could easily bowl them over in the race to the ball.

Bodhi also loves water.

She has her own kid’s wading pool, and on the day The News visited, she alternated between chasing her ball and having a quick splash to cool off.

If she could, she would jump in the Snowdens’ swimming pool too, but that is off limits.

It hasn’t stopped the cheeky dog sneaking in at times though.

“She’s a character,” Colin said.

Bodhi sleeps on a couch in the shed — something else that was also previously set as out-of-bounds but which she has managed to claim as her own.

She has even made the odd appearance on Zoom meetings Colin has had from his office in the shed during the pandemic, much to the amusement of everyone looking on.

For Shannon and Colin, both Ollie and Bodhi are their “fur babies”.

“People should love their animal. Pets are for life,” Shannon said.