I lost my best friend today. We found her six years ago in a place called Hay. We weren't sure at first we'd driven over seven hours to see her. She was a bundle of energy and it really was love at first sight.

We had convinced ourselves we would only come to have a look and we could walk away empty handed. No ... that wouldn't happen. We'd even stayed overnight in the town talking to each other about the pro's and con's of taking another dog as we already had two others at home.

We went for one last look and that is all it took. Money exchanged hands and we were on our way back home. The journey home was interesting we spent most of it trying to calm down this bundle of energy and the rest of the time throwing around names.

We went through all the typical names and then my wife hit on it. The connection she made was a flash of brilliance. The Murrumbidgee River flows through many states in Australia and it connected our home in Canberra to Hay in New South Wales. The name Bidgee was decided on in an instant.

The reception at home wasn't as welcoming. Having two older dogs they were set in their ways and suddenly this cheeky puppy was on their turf. She did everything in her power to annoy them. She wrestled them, stole their toys, dug holes and constantly followed them around.

She was like that annoying little sister but she eventually grew on them. Bidgee was a typical Border Collie she loved tennis balls, loved to run, loved to swim; she loved to destroy everything in sight. Washing would mysteriously be found on the ground dirty and torn. We knew the culprit but all was forgiven with the wag of a tail.

Bidgee got involved in obedience training, herding, agility and flyball. She took to all those sports like a duck to water. At 12 months old we suddenly knew something was wrong, she became lethargic and grumpy.

After a series of vet appointments, trips to Sydney, x-rays, ultrasounds, blood, urine and stool tests it was finally discovered that she had an auto immune disease called pemphigus. She had made history in Australia, as there was no reported case of a Border Collie ever having this disease. Our vet wrote to one of his mentors in England. Bidgee became part of a study, as apparently in England they never had a reported case of a Border Collie having this disease either.

We always knew she was special ... we just wished it wasn't for having this freak disease. The daily chore for the rest of her life became giving her tablets day and night. She became crafty and found ways of regurgitating them ... it was a battle. The vet told us that eventually she would die of cancer but we tried not to focus on that.

She became a popular fixture at the All Creatures Vet Clinic. She was a rogue and because of her disease the most talked about animal in the surgery. She would harass other dogs on sight but always had a smile for anything human.

In the meantime, Bidgee became focused on flyball. She loved it and was good at it. She won all kinds of titles and was doing the sport to the very end. Having a sick dog is like having a sick child and Bidgee would hug us every morning. We never really knew when she was having a bad day because she hid it so well.

Bidgee went everywhere with us. We loved our walks and the three different personalities in our dogs but Bidgee's shone. The other dogs grew a bit resentful of her but loved her all the same.

There were so many special moments over the six years we had her. They are too numerous to name. She cost us a fortune in vet bills but it was worth every cent. She will be an impossible dog to forget and she affected everyone she met. We only realise that now with the number of incoming calls and emails from people. The tears have flowed from us and she even had the vet crying at the very end.

Bidgee was a fighter and the end came suddenly. We had no idea she was so sick. She was fine on the Sunday and suddenly sick on the Monday. After some invasive surgery, we found out her body was riddled with cancer and there was no hope. We did the responsible thing. How she ever won her last flyball competition a few weeks prior I'll never know.

I was always told that if you could leave a positive mark in the world that was good thing. Well this little dog left one in ours and in many more people's lives.

Even though we have two dogs left the backyard seems empty.

I will miss you Bidgee and I love you.