Islay - May 1997 to Nov 2011

Everyone thinks their dog is special.
There are touching eulogies all over the internet for people's beloved pets.
Islay was my special dog.

We first met on New Year's Eve, 1997. Scotch Annie, who dealt in antiques and lived over the launderette, had been persuaded by a friend that what she really, really needed was a little dog to sit in the van with her when she was out on the road. She came back from Brecon rescue kennels with an anxious little thing about eight months old, who stuck to her like glue all through the Hogmanay party. We were drinking Laphroig, but everyone agreed that it was a silly name for a girl - so Islay it was.
That first night, though, Islay ended up sharing my sleeping bag.
Annie had cats. Fergus the ginger tom was very laid back, and didn't care, but Heather the little Korat objected violently. She started a rooftop protest, living in one of the warm air vents of the launderette.
The dog had to go.
We couldn't let her go back to rescue.
So she came to Crickadarn, where we were living at the time, and learned to chase quad bikes - and not chase sheep, and to leap into our arms from a standing start.
She's been a bookshop dog at the Children's Bookshop, where she had a collar tag marked "Member of Staff", and archaeologist's dog ("bone specialist" - which was funny until she picked a medieval bone out of the tray where it was drying and ran round the yard with it), and re-enactment dog, visiting castles and fields all over the country. We took her round Norfolk in the van, which she loved - a new walk every morning as soon as we opened the van door.
She's been called "Imp of Satan", and "Little Friend of All the World".
She's had a social life all of her own, when friends took her out while I was at work, and as she slowed down and needed the trolley more and more, she still enjoyed being pushed round town, meeting her public.
Until this week, when she lost interest in everything.
For the past few days, I've been taking her round to all her friends that I could find, to say goodbye. Everyone has been very kind.