Lazy Dog: A True Story

(also known as Camillo or Meatloaf)

  (Please read with a Robin Leach accent from “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”)

The Lazy Dog was born Sir Ruyoak Vain Ambassador in Kalamunda, Western Australia, on November 7, 1990, from pure and noble Border Collie stock. After a short and happy time with his litter mates in the land of Koalas and Kangaroos, he moved to Singapore, in South East Asia, and into the lap of luxury. A large mansion was to be his new home, complete with maids, cooks and groundskeepers. Here he was given the name Camillo, and here he met the first love of his life, Lucretia (also a Border Collie of noble lineage).

  After a blissful youth spent in the tropics, Camillo and Lucretia moved to Paris, France. Though forced to live in a small apartment, they loved the city, it’s historic elegance and their daily strolls along the Seine. In early winter 1992, after an unexpected family inheritance, Camillo and Lucretia moved to the wine region of Bordeaux and into a Chateau surrounded by vineyards and lush countryside.

  It was here, on a spring-like winters evening, in a vineyard under a full moon that the young couple finally consummated their relationship. In the spring six beautiful puppies were brought into the world. As spring turned into summer, and the young pups left the den to find homes around the French countryside, Camillo and Lucretia were preparing for yet another move, this time to Italy.

  Upon the young couples arrival at their Italian villa in the hills of Tuscany, surrounded by olive groves and more vineyards, they were greeted by a handsome but jealous Saint Bernard. And so Camillo’s first love, mother of his offspring and object of his devotion, left him for a Saint Bernard in Florence, Italy.

  When a month vacation in the South of France failed to mend his broken heart, Camillo moved to America. He traveled the East Coast never staying more than a month or two in one place, until he finally reached Key West.

  When he discovered this island at the end of the road, he realized he had stumbled upon someplace special. Stores, bars and even restaurants welcomed dogs. He could swim at Dog Beach and walk unleashed through the streets with his friends. Townspeople greeted him warmly wherever he went, and the local cats seemed too lazy to budge from their favorite sunning spots as he walked past. The local Community College even came to know him as a regular art student.

  Camillo made Key West his home, and though he would never quite forget his first love, the list of ladies whose hearts he won grew ever longer. Sylva, Delilah, Gypsy, Maggie, Griffin, Amber, Luna, Indigo, Summer, Rio, Jojo, Havana, Matty, and of course Molly.

 In 1999, when Camillo was 9 years old, he walked the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. The Trail covers a distance of approximately 2200 miles and crosses 14 States. The trip took 5 1/2 months. While hiking he was given the trail-name “Meatloaf,” and was immortalized in cartoons left in registers and log books all along the trail.

  Remembered affectionately as the Lazy Dog by those who were closest to him, Camillo has been the inspiration for a logo design and garment company, a charter boat, two softball teams, a running club, a kayak tour and rental business, several parade floats, the Lazy Dog Adventure Club and the Lazy Dog Island Outfitters & Outdoor Adventure Company.

  In the early afternoon of January 29, 2004, Camillo passed away naturally and peacefully with his head in his father’s lap. Those who knew him loved him. Those who loved him miss him. He lives on in spirit through all his canine friends and members of the Lazy Dog Mob.

The Legacy
(The Lazy Dog Adventure Club Story)