For this publication’s regular feature of the Critter Corner, senior Christina Si talks about her special bond with her dog, Olly.

What’s your pet’s name?

His name is Olly, but the vet has his name as Ollie. We didn’t really formalize his name until he was two years old.

How old is Olly?

Olly is four years old. He was a pandemic puppy. We don’t know his exact birthday. His “birthday” which was July 14th landed on a day that I was at work this year so we ended up changing it to July 13th. 

How long have you had Olly?

We have had Olly for four years, we got him two or three months after he was born.

How did you feel when you got him?

I was really, really excited. I had been begging my parents for a dog for a super long time, and then finally during the pandemic, my parents agreed. I remember taking my middle school science class as I was getting him. I told my teachers I wasn’t feeling well so I couldn’t turn on my camera on Zoom but in reality, I was in the middle of Pennsylvania picking up my dog. 

How would you describe your bond with your dog?

Olly is like my best friend. I love him so much. He’s super in tune to my emotions. He can tell how people are feeling so he knows when I’m happy, mad, or sad. If I’m not feeling well, he’ll jump up, come up to me, and sit with me.

What’s your favorite thing to do with Olly?

I love going on runs with him. He’s tiny and he has a ton of energy. He gets bursts of energy where he runs like 15 miles, so I love running and hiking with him.

What do you love about your dog?

Olly just loves people. He loves dogs, he loves people. He loves to love. He gets really excited and he jumps at people. It’s something we trained out of him but when he’s meeting a lot of new people at once he still gets super excited. It’s never an aggressive thing, he only wants to play and meet people. He doesn’t have a single aggressive or mean bone in his body.

Want to feature your pet in the next edition of Critter Corner? Stretch your paw out to [email protected]!