When I was a kid, my parents promised us a puppy and a puppy we got. Hippie was a beautiful Collie, son to a former national champion and a true doppelgänger for Lassie, the most famous canine in the country. As a baby, Hippie was all legs and long nose, with a super skinny frame: think Olive Oyl (Popeye’s girlfriend) with gorgeous blond fur all over. I’d cradle him for hours and endlessly brush his majestic coat. Man, I loved that dog. A couple of years later, Hippie developed a heart condition and one day he simply didn’t return from…
