It’s that time of year where we give a big round of a-paws to our Dog Cover contest winner—meet Oliver, the one-year-old Afghan hound! Oliver has a remarkable story, but to truly understand Oliver, it’s important you meet Lily as well.
Lily is 12 years old, and the daughter of Derek and Jessica Tye, owners/proprietors of Branch Hill Estate & Ranch, a local fave for farm tours and vacation home rentals. It’s from Jessica that we learned about the truly unique relationship Lily and Oliver share. “We adopted Lily from China almost 10 years ago—she has a lot of challenges medically; she spent a lot of time in the ICU. She’s non-verbal, and on top of a few different medical conditions and syndromes, is epileptic,” Jessica explains of their daughter. Initially, the family noticed how well Lily got along with their standard poodle, Tuscan. “He’s been her therapy dog since she came home. Tuscan was such a good dog, he slept with her every night … it was amazing.”
“But with Tuscan getting older, we needed to bring in another dog,” reasons Jessica, on why the family decided getting Lily a dog of her own was imperative. “A puppy wasn’t going to be much help to Lily at first—we wanted to get them acclimated, to grow together.”
Tuscan had been such a vital part of Lily’s life as an emotional support dog, this plan would give them the ability to integrate a new dog—allowing Lily and a puppy to form a bond on their own timeline. Thus the search began.
“We knew we needed a hypoallergenic dog, one that doesn’t shed—initially, we thought we’d go with another standard poodle. But as we were doing research and talking to other people in the doggy world, someone mentioned an Afghan hound, which is a dog I’ve loved my whole life.”
The breed matched their hypoallergenic-needs, but better than that, Afghan hounds are known for being very calm and aloof. Stoic, even. Jessica describes them a little differently, “They’re emotionally in tune with people.” Perfect for a little girl with big emotions.
Oliver came along not too long after that. “When we found him, Oliver was five months old,” Jessica recalls. “He’s awesome at our house, absolutely loves our family, and is completely comfortable. He’s a whole different dog here.” But when out of his comfort zone, Oliver gets a little anxious. As a pup he was never socialized, so he tended to be terrified of, well, everything outside of the house, something he’s currently working on with a trainer. Jessica acknowledges the work. “It might be a challenge, but at the same time, we’ve got this dog who is very much going to understand Lily. They’ve both faced challenges,” she adds. “Instead of being some outgoing dog who doesn’t need Lily, they rely on each other.”
And it’s worked out beautifully. “Lily comes home every day from school exhausted, and the first thing she does is take a nap with Oliver,” Jessica shares fondly of their daughter’s bond with the Afghan hound—he’s a companion for her, a shoulder to lean on. “Having a dog for her is really more of an emotional and therapeutic thing. Lily can express her emotions to her dogs,” Jessica explains. “She can’t run, she can’t jump, she can’t do a lot of physical activity. But Oliver loves to chase balls, so she does her best to throw a ball for him, and he’s super patient. Lily is with Oliver all the time. He follows her around.”
Because of his hard work, patience and kindness, Oliver is truly a “star-worthy” dog. Jessica sums it up perfectly, “Oliver’s not just a pretty face, he’s a kind dog, he’s a working dog, he’s got a job. He’s more than just a companion.”
Good Dog Perks
Along with being featured on this month’s cover, Oliver has also won a basket of goodies that any dog would slobber over! Thank you to Pet Wants, Luna Bella, Zoomin Groomin and Dale Robertson Jewelry for providing “top dog” gifts to our prized pooch.
“He’s the type of dog that is just so low-key and so gentle.”