Embracing Her Life And Her Pets
Olivia Newton-John adores animals. She has owned pets for most of her life, and she currently shares her home with two cats, Tigger and Flea, and a dog, Jack.
The cats, both about 12 years of age, have personalities that don’t quite seem to fit with their respective backgrounds. Olivia explains, “Tigger was a tough cat who came from the streets, but he likes to live in luxury. He enjoys just lying around all day in the sun. He does not like to do a lot outside. He’s kind of a homebody, although he has the run of the place.”
Flea, on the other hand, was brought up in a home with people but is a bit shyer when interacting with humans. Olivia says, “Flea is a sweet, sweet, sweet animal and is very loving and friendly when he knows you, but he weighs everything before he comes to talk to you.”
Flea is a tabby with long, white hair and what Olivia describes as "huge, saucer eyes."
She found Flea when her daughter, Chloe (who is now 21 years old) was in school. Flea was part of a litter born at the house of one of Chloe’s friends. Tigger, a ginger tom-cat, arrived in a slightly different fashion: Her gardener gave him to her. “One day, he showed up with Tigger, who just fit in the palm of my hand,” she remembers.
Then there is her dog. Eight-year-old Jack is Olivia’s fifth Irish setter. As you can probably guess, she’s rather fond of the breed. “They’re my favorite dogs,” she acknowledges.
“You know how people say you look like your dog? I don’t look like my dog, but we have the same energy. I like to be moving. I think that’s what I love about the breed. They’re full of life and full of energy, and they’re such beautiful dogs. They are very loyal, as well. I also like long-haired dachshunds because they kind of look like miniature setters.”
When she was young, next door to where her family lived in Cambridge, England, was a dog that she thinks was an Irish setter. “His name was Polly-Olly, and he was this huge dog. What I remember of being four or five years old is that I wouldn’t play with the kids down the street, but I’d play with this dog. He was beautiful. He was either an Irish setter or a very red Golden retriever. I always wanted a dog like that.”
Pets and animals have always played an integral role in Olivia's life.
When her family lived at a university in Melbourne, pets were not permitted. That didn’t stop Olivia from bringing home stray animals.
“People used to do terrible, terrible things. They used to dump greyhounds on the grounds of the university and kittens in sacks over the fence. I would find homes for them. I was always rescuing animals when I was a kid.”
Olivia lived in England for a while before she came to the United States. When she was preparing to move, she had two Irish setters she didn’t want to part with, but she decided it would be far easier for them if she found them a nice English home.
She remembers the laws at the time being quite strict, and she didn’t want to put them through the legal manoeuvrings that would have been required to bring them with her. She says, “I gave my dogs to a lady who had a farm, and they lived a lovely life.”
She wasn’t without an Irish setter for long. Shortly after she arrived in America and began a concert tour, she found an Irish setter puppy. She and the dog, whom she named Jackson, were meant for each other. That first night, she took him back to her hotel, and he followed her up to her room. He was only about seven weeks old. “He just lay across my feet and went to sleep, and we were bonded from then on.”
The only trouble was that Olivia had six more weeks of touring. She felt it wasn’t fair to the puppy to drag him along with her, so she asked a friend to keep Jackson until she was finished traveling. When Olivia finished her tour, she picked up the puppy. “He was so much bigger. He had already learned how to sit and how to stay. He was an amazing dog - so smart. Jackson lived until he was 17 - the longest of all my dogs.”
Olivia named her current dog Jack because he looked so similar to Jackson. Unlike with Jackson, however, Olivia does take Jack on the road. “He’s fantastically adaptable,” she says. “For a dog who loves to run free and needs a lot of exercise, he just loves being with me on the bus. He loves going to new hotels.”
At home or away, Olivia makes sure Jack gets enough exercise. She walks him at least twice a day.
Like most dogs, Jack has a weakness. As Olivia explains, “You know how they have pigs that find truffles? Well, he’s a dog who finds truffles, but they’re chocolate truffles. He’s a chocoholic.”
She knows that chocolate can harm pets and takes all kinds of measures to prevent Jack from finding it, but she can’t seem to keep him away from the confection.
“He can find chocolate anywhere. The first time I realized this was when Jack was quite young and a friend had stayed in my guest room. When she returned home, she called me and said, ‘I don’t know what happened to the chocolate in the bottom of my suitcase, but all I found was the paper.’ Jack would bury his nose to find the chocolate, pull it out, eat it, and leave the wrapping undisturbed. He will jump up and open cupboards to get at chocolate; he will go into my handbag. I don’t want him to have it, but if you’ve forgotten or someone’s left something sitting out…”
Jack’s veterinarian knows all about his chocolate addiction. “Jack has a wonderful veterinarian,” says Olivia. “Her name’s Lisa. I always call her Dr. Lisa. In fact, she took care of Jackson as well. She was the assistant to the veterinarian then, and now she’s the veterinarian.”
Olivia takes Jack and her cats to see Dr. Lisa for regular examinations and vaccinations. The veterinarian has also been a big help in keeping Jack’s ears healthy. Olivia explains that Irish setters are prone to ear problems, and Jack loves to go to the beach and splash in the water, so Dr. Lisa has prescribed medication to prevent infections.
When Olivia was recording "If Not for You," her first Irish setter, Jordy, knocked into the microphone stand and groaned. The sound made it into the final cut.
Olivia trained Jack herself, but even though he seems well behaved now, he wasn’t always that way.
“He was crazy as a puppy. The first time I saw him, he was going nuts. I said, ‘I have to have that dog. When I adopted him, he was still hyper, but I knew he was my dog. For the first four years of his life, he was pretty uncontrollable. He wouldn’t listen. I’d run him and run him, and he’d just keep running. He couldn’t stop. He finally matured and calmed down.”
In the last year, Jack has become much more protective of Olivia than he used to be. “If someone he does not recognize advances, he will bark and jump up. He wouldn’t hurt anyone, but he looks menacing. I feel protected by him.”
Olivia's Childhood Dream
Olivia once lived on a ranch with five horses, nine dogs, and four cats. To say that she was happy would be an understatement. She reminisces, “My dream when I was growing up was that I wanted to be a veterinarian, I would have been a veterinarian, but I was hopeless at math. Thank God I could sing”
What A Voice!
As amazing as it might seem - considering her successful singing career - Olivia wasn’t professionally trained. She attributes her talent to good genes. Early on, her mother sent her to a singing coach.
“I told her, I don’t want to go back, he wants to change the way I sing” Olivia says. “The coach had actually told me I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but I was concerned and didn’t want him to change my style, so I didn’t go back”
Olivia’s new CD, Grace and Gratitude, is a bit of a departure from some of her earlier work. It borders on the elegiac, embracing spiritual, almost haunting, emotions. As Olivia describes it, “This CD was born out of a need for healing, It goes to those places that I know other people need to visit as well”
The collection is the beginning of her journey into producing healing music. “I felt very connected to the songs,” she says. “It is a very personal album.” In the future, she plans to develop a TV show based on her healing music.
Never one to stay idle for long, Olivia has also recently appeared on television as a guest judge on American Idol and Grease: You’re the One That I Want. Contestants in the latter show competed for a role in the Broadway version of the movie that brought Olivia fame for her portrayal of Sandy, opposite John Travolta.
Olivia's Many Favorites
What is your favorite book?
I recently enjoyed The Da Vinci Code. I couldn’t put down. Years ago, it was the same with The Thorn Birds. I like Deepak Chopra’s work, and I read a lot of spiritual and healing books. I’ve got about 20 books next to my bed.
Favorite movie?
A Man and a Woman [a 1966 French movie directed by Claude Lelouch] really made an impression on me.
Favorite musician?
I can’t pick one person. I think Jennifer Hudson’s voice is incredible. She and Christina Aguilera are both wonderful singers.
If you were on a desert island, what would you take with you?
How many things am I allowed? My dog, my moisturizer, and probably lots of paper and pencils so I could write and draw what I saw. I like to doodie. My doodles are incorporated into the artwork on my new CD. One time, a boyfriend of mine took my doodles from all over the house and made me a book out of them as a surprise.
What actor or singer would you like to work with?
There are so many, Hmm. Robert Redford. He was always my crush when I was younger, so that would be great. And I like what he stands for.
What is your idea of a perfect morning?
I had a perfect morning this morning. When I got up, it was beautiful outside. I made a cup of tea, and I did my meditation. I sat out in the sun for a bit. That would be my perfect morning enjoying a little peace and solitude, taking Jack for a walk, and then maybe having breakfast or lunch with friends and playing tennis.