Paul described Olga as being 'hard as nails'
Paul O’Grady has paid a warm tribute to his beloved dog Olga, who died earlier this month after her kidney failure.
The hugely popular star described the Cairn terrier cross, who was his constant companion on TV shows over the last decade, as a “sweetheart” as he talked about Olga during his Radio 2 show on Sunday night.
“She was 13 years of age and she was tough as old boots that one, she was hard as nails, she was like a gangster’s moll in a dog,” he told listeners. “She was a sweetheart.”
He added: “On the Saturday [21st April] we had to let her go. If you are going to be a responsible dog owner you’ve got to do that. You can’t keep them on, not when they are in pain.”
The star went on to say he really appreciated all the messages of support he’d had from fans and how he struggled to contain his emotions as he returned to work filming at a children’s hospital.
“I go in the next day and they are giving me sweets and saying, ‘We’re sorry about your dog’, and it’s torture trying to hold it together for the cameras, especially when you are dealing with a really ill child.
“They are so resilient, they are not thinking about themselves.”
Paul had previously told the Sunday Mirror that he carried Olga into his garden to say goodbye.
Meanwhile, Paul fronts the second part of his ITV series, Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs – India on Thursday. The second episode again sees him in Delhi, where this time he meets a pup whose ears are infected and attempts to train a boisterous labrador.
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