Hello! Long time no see, guys. That is, of course, my own doing. I needed a break and time and space to grieve.
I’m still grieving and I still have days that are even harder than others, but I feel I’m ready to start blogging again.

With Christmas fast approaching I find myself missing Lassie and Ella even more. With that I started missing my blog for the first time in months. Suddenly I wanted to make a Christmas layout and post Christmasy posts and share the ridiculously cute Christmas pictures I took of Petal with all of you. I wanted you all to be here when I start new adventures and I missed following your adventures. I miss talking to you all, reading your comments and your blogs. I missed it all.
But I did not want to post on Two Collies and a Mutt. I didn’t want to even look at it. I couldn’t.

Which is why you’re here instead of there.

Last week I started thinking more about starting a new blog. I already knew exactly what to call it and where it should be, I just had to convince myself to take the plunge.

A few weeks after Lassie’s passing, as I was thinking I would never blog on Two Collies and a Mutt again, my mind wandered back to a thought I had before Lassie’s passing. The thought of moving my blog to WordPress. As I sat in my car, parked in the Walmart parking lot, myself clad in pajamas, untamed hair, and trying to take control of my uncontrolled crying, I grabbed ahold of any thought that might distract me from my thoughts of guilt and what ifs. I thought maybe if I not only moved the blog, but changed the name of the blog with that move… Maybe if I just started over, I could one day blog again. I would bring all of my archives with me, of course, those are precious memories that I don’t want to let go of, but I would start a new chapter.

I started brainstorming new blog names. I wanted something that would pay tribute to Lassie without using his name (I don’t want to get into trouble with copyright laws). I wanted something that would make sense even without my explaining it. I came up with a few ideas and then abandoned the thought for a few months. I didn’t want to blog, no matter where it was, or what the blog was called.

Until the Christmas season began.
You see, December 8th, today in fact, is mine and Lassie’s 9th anniversary. I wanted to do something for him. So I thought, “what about that blog that would pay tribute to him?” Lassie loved it when I was happy, so why not try a little harder to be a little happy?
Blogging made me happy once, it could do that again. I could share more of my memories of him with you all. I could share more memories of my Ella and record and share memories as I make them with Petal.

I could start anew with a blog tilted, “Because I Was Loved By a Collie” one of the titles I thought of in my car a few months ago. It was fitting and would pay tribute to Lassie in many ways. Because I was loved by that incredible collie I learned so much. From the obvious lessons people learn from dogs, like loving unconditionally, to the not so obvious lessons, like budgeting money. However the name was longer than I wanted it to be. So I shortened it to Loved By A Collie. This would make sense even without much explanation. Some may likely assume that the Collie is Petal and it works that way too because it’s true, I am loved by that goofy collie girl.

But when you look closer you’ll see it’s Lassie. It’s Lassie up there, in our banner. It’s Lassie’s silhouette that will be our logo. Because Lassie started this all by being the first dog I owned of my very own, by being the first collie in my life. If not for him there wouldn’t have been an Ella in my life and there wouldn’t be Petal in my life today. If not for those girls and my boy, Lassie, I wouldn’t have all the incredible memories that I have and I wouldn’t have Petal to comfort me through this difficult time. If not for all three of them I wouldn’t have started Two Collies and a Mutt and if not for that blog I wouldn’t have met so many great people who are as dog crazy as I am.

When you look closely you’ll see it was Lassie who changed me. It was Lassie who started it all.
So this blog is for him. It’s for Ella and for Petal and any future dog I may own and it’s for me.

I hope you’ll enjoy this blog as much as I already am. I want to thank you all for following us and our adventures when we were Two Collies and a Mutt. Thank you for every sweet comment you left, the comments I brought with me here, to Loved By A Collie. I hope you guys will enjoy this blog as much as you did Two Collies and a Mutt.

Thank you for reading, for being so kind and understanding.
Thank you for everything.
You guys are the best.

P.S. I will be changing the names of my Facebook page and Twitter handle soon, just a heads up.
Our email address has also changed. If you need to contact me or Petal you can email us at: lovedbyacollie AT lifeseven DOT com