She'd always come running when I called.

But not today. The kids called me at work and said they couldn't find her, and that after she lapped a bit of water in the morning they hadn't seen her all day.

When I got home we all searched the area. I knew she couldn't have gone far - her walk was slowing and she was getting weak. She still loved the kids, and played when she could, but she was 12, after all, and most Border Collies reached the end by that age.

I found her after about 5 minutes of looking. The large bush at the corner of the house, the one she crawled under to escape the hot summer sun, was her final resting place. She looked up when I got there, her tail weakly beating at the bush. I called my wife and the kids over and she looked up, the familiar dog smile on her face, then she shuddered twice and died, happy to see us, her time finished.

We only had her four of those 12 years, but I'm sure she enjoyed them as much as we did.

RIP Mynx, We'll miss you.