When Jess Gatt was in the market for a pet she was sold on a particular puppy in a litter of border collies – until another one caught her eye.
Link was 16 weeks old when he stole Jess’ heart and has had complete run of the pair’s Tanjil South home ever since.
“I got him through Facebook funnily enough,” Jess said.
“I’d actually picked a different dog but he was just so chilled out and not at all your typical border collie.”
Laidback Link was named after the main protagonist of popular game series The Legend of Zelda.
More like a “Labrador in disguise”, the three-year-old purebred lives for weekend adventures and meandering walks through the bushland, just like his namesake.
But one hobby he doesn’t approve of is Jess’ new-found love of dirt biking.
“He really doesn’t like motorbikes,” Jess said.
“He goes absolutely nuts when he sees one and I recently got my dirt bike licence, which he hates.”
Aside from his disdain for motorsport, Link is like many other border collies and has smarts in spades.
He can lay, roll over, speak and “sit pretty” (or handsome) on his hind legs.
“He is pretty smart but half of the time he doesn’t listen and just makes me look bad,” Jess said.
“He’s also toilet trained on command and if I tell him to go, he’ll do it right on the spot.”
Jess had plans to tackle agility training with Link but he didn’t take kindly to the idea of socialising with other canines.
“The only problem I have with him is that he’s not great with other dogs but he has mellowed a little bit,” she said.
“It’s actually really funny because he really likes other border collies, so he likes his own kind.”
Link is also on Instagram. Follow his adventures at @the.legends.of.link.
The Express is looking for passionate Latrobe Valley pet owners who would like to tell the story behind their pets and why they matter in their lives.
If you would like your pet to feature in a future edition of this weekly column, email news@lvexpress.com.au with ‘You and Your Pet’ in the subject line.
