A Nairn woman hopes she can help dog owners make happy memories with her tennis ball library in memory of her late Labrador.
Avril and Andy Webster, both from Nairn, adopted Otis in 2012 when he was only a puppy.
Known to locals by his distinctive lime green collar, the black Labrador sat outside the couple’s chip shop Friar Tuck’s while they were working.
He always sat in his corner, which was called “Otis’s Corner”, and Avril said he was known as their “street monitor”.
Otis’s Tennis Ball Library was formed in 2023 due to the Labrador’s love for tennis balls.
It gave locals and visitors the chance to borrow a tennis ball to create ‘happy memories’ with their dogs.
However, the same year, Otis sadly passed away though the gesture still continued in memory of the dog.
When Otis was five years old, he started to sit on the corner of the chip shop.
Andy taught him to never cross the road, and the dog would just sit there and “watch the world go by”.
Nairn’s famous ‘chip shop dog’ loved tennis balls
He loved to play with tennis balls, and also enjoyed the passers-by who would give him a treat.
In particular, the local bin men would always get out of the truck and give him a cuddle as well as a biscuit. If, on the odd occasion Otis wasn’t on the street, they would leave the treat on the shop’s front door mat.
Avril said she thinks Otis may have been the “most photographed dog in the Highlands”.
She added: “He was that famous that he was even on the old Google Maps.
“He was a wee legend.
“Tourists used to stop and take his photo.”
After Avril saw a beach borrow box for children in Nairn, the idea came up to make a borrow box for dogs.
In April 2023, Otis’s Tennis Ball Library was created.
“The idea was that he would be in charge of the library and he’d monitor it,” Avril added.
“Folk love it. We’ve had visitors coming and saying it’s such a lovely idea.
“It gives people the chance to create happy memories with their dogs with the tennis balls.”
However, Otis suddenly became ill on the night of September 10, 2023.
After an emergency scan the following day, it was found the 10-year-old dog had numerous tumours pressing on his lungs.
The couple were told the devastating news that there was little that could be done, and they sadly said goodbye to Otis as he was put to sleep on September 11, 2023.
Tributes pour in for popular Labrador Otis
Avril and Andy closed their shop for five days to allow them to come to terms with Otis’s passing.
When people learned of Otis’s passing, the couple went out to find his corner filled with flowers, cards, drawings by children and other tributes.
The following year, after some “humming and hawing”, Avril said the library went back out as a memorial to Otis.
The Otis’s Corner plaque remains outside the chip shop along with a new memorial frame.
Locals and visitors are welcome to take a tennis ball from the library to make “happy memories” with their dogs.
Conversation