It was Christmas Day, our first in Italy, and I found myself frantically trying to communicate with the only open vet using my limited Italian. I had learned many useful phrases for our trip, but "My senior dog has a UTI and is peeing blood" was not among them. Jess, now 14, had been with me for just four weeks since leaving Scotland, and this was our first sign of how much life with her had changed.
A Bond Forged in Youth
I still remember the sound of my dad giving in all those years ago. When he returned from visiting my great uncle and mentioned a 1-year-old border collie needing a new home, I don't think he realized how eagerly 16-year-old me would seize the opportunity. It had been seven years since our family dog, Glen, passed at 16. Since about a year after Glen left a void, my mother and I had been pleading for another dog. So when I learned about the young sheepdog free to a good home, I applied pressure. With help from willing family members, I laid it on thick, using guilt. It worked.
My relationship with Jess has been nothing short of Hallmark-movie wholesome. The dog-obsessed teenage girl with so much love to give, and the intelligent, excitable animal who just wanted to be loved. From day one, we were inseparable, and what followed for the next decade was the greatest love story of my life.
Life's Milestones Together
Jess moved with me to university and attended my graduation. She sat beside my husband as he proposed and ran down the aisle on our wedding day as the cutest flower girl. She has been present for the biggest moments of my life. She has spent her whole life following me everywhere. So when my husband and I decided to leave Scotland to travel indefinitely in her 14th year, there was no question she would come.
We had always had vague plans to travel, hoping to embark before Jess turned 10, before life and a global pandemic intervened. But at 14, Jess is doing remarkably well. Fellow dog walkers are often shocked to hear her age after seeing her sprint around with her annoying little sister, our 4-year-old border collie, Mara. After a clean bill of health from her vet, we packed our bags. First stop: Paris, then Turin for three months, and after that, who knew?
Adventures Across Europe
Jess has always been an excited, adventurous dog, and she took in all the new scents and experiences I could never have given her in Scotland. In six months, she has visited five countries, traveled by tram, cable car, and more, and been photographed at iconic sites. She has been fed cheese at a food market in Rome, floated through Venice in a gondola, and made countless friends who speak languages she doesn't understand.
But I think back to that Christmas Day in Italy often. We were lucky to find an English-speaking vet who could help where my language skills failed. After a few visits and rounds of antibiotics, she recovered. At every turn, people have been willing to help. Italy is truly the most dog-friendly country I have ever visited. But it was the first time I realized how quickly plans can shift around her now.
The Realities of Traveling with a Senior Dog
I thought I had prepared everything before we left. I ordered months of medications and supplements, filling half my suitcase with her needs. I organized paperwork and packed two favorite toys. I had even mentally prepared for the possibility that she might not see Scotland again if we stayed away. But this was the first indicator that it wouldn't always be easy. Traveling with a pet is hard enough, especially when carrying your life on your back and moving constantly by public transport. While Instagram stories show waggy tails at the Colosseum, they don't show the days when plans changed because the previous day was too busy and Jess needed to recover, or because it was too hot, or she had just had enough.
She has changed how I travel. I no longer plan full days every day or try to see everything just because we are somewhere new. We rush through places less and enjoy actually living in them for a bit, alongside her. Because of this, I now have fond memories of sitting with both Jess and Mara at my favorite aperitivo spot in Italy, opting for short walks and Aperols after they spent the day running in the Alps. Or having her inquisitive nose turn pages in my book as we sat by the Neretva River in Bosnia and Herzegovina on a day too hot for strenuous exercise.
Cherishing Every Moment
Yes, maybe if we didn't have Jess, or if she were younger, we would spend every day on the go. Maybe we would summit more mountains or take her to steeper viewpoints. Maybe we would hop on planes instead of long train rides. But as we approach her 15th birthday, I am sharply aware that time is precious. I have started to realize that those slower days are not interruptions to the trip; they are the trip.
As I approach 30, I am no longer the teenage girl begging my dad for a dog. I am not the young university student taking my dog to adviser meetings, and I am not the bride choosing flowers to sit on my best friend's harness. And as much as it hurts to accept, she is not the young pup jumping onto the couch or running up hills faster than I can. She is not the dog with years of life ahead. We are both moving through different stages, and if this is the last chapter we share, I am grateful she has been there for all of it. I am nowhere near ready for life without her, but while I would love for her to live forever, my number one goal is to ensure she is always happy. So, what a joy it is to spend a day with her sitting by the river with a book or winding down in a coffee shop watching the world go by. Days that once felt uneventful now feel like the most important ones, because these are the moments I will remember long after she is gone.
Lois Mackenzie is a freelance journalist from Scotland. She is currently traveling around Europe with her husband and two dogs, Jess and Mara.
