“I’ve cried every day”: Amanda Keller faces a goodbye she wasn’t ready for
For years, Mini has been more than just a family pet for Amanda Keller.
The 14-year-old border collie has been the “sunshine and the glue” in Amanda’s home — a constant source of comfort as she and husband Harley Oliver have navigated the difficult reality of his Parkinson’s disease.
Now, Amanda is facing the possibility of saying goodbye.
And as she opened up about what is happening to Mini, the usually upbeat radio star struggled to hold back her tears.
“I wasn’t going to cry, but I’ve cried every day for the last two weeks,” Amanda admitted during the September 2 edition of Jonesy & Amanda on the GOLD network.
“The sunshine and the glue” in their home
Amanda, 64, lives in Coogee, Sydney, with Harley and their two sons, as well as their much-loved border collie.
Speaking to co-host Brendan ‘Jonesy’ Jones, Amanda explained that although Harley “isn’t well” and the couple now has carers helping at home, theirs remains a “happy, loving house”.
But Mini has always brought something particularly special into that home.
“The dog is absolutely the burst of sunshine,” Amanda said.
At 14, she knew Mini was getting older. She had tried to prepare herself for the day every dog owner eventually dreads.
But, as Amanda admitted, knowing it will happen one day is very different from actually facing it.
“We all, with our older dogs, we all think that it won’t happen,” she said.
The moment everything changed
The devastating news came shortly after this year’s TV Week Logie Awards.
The morning after the ceremony, Amanda was having coffee with her son Liam when she noticed something unusual while spending time with Mini.
She felt “a couple of lumps” beneath the dog’s neck.
Amanda took her beloved companion to the vet, where the family received the diagnosis they had been hoping not to hear.
Mini had lymphoma.
The prognosis was heartbreaking.
“They said, ‘Look, we’ve got maybe between four and eight weeks with her’,” Amanda recalled.
Even that timeframe, she admitted, may not be guaranteed.
“So I’m just, I’m just loving every minute,” she said.
A goodbye that has already begun
Amanda’s words became particularly emotional as she described walking Mini and encountering other people with older dogs.
There is an unspoken understanding between them.
They know their pets are ageing. They know their time together is becoming more precious.
And now Amanda finds herself among them, cherishing each walk and every ordinary moment with Mini in a completely different way.
“That’s just so hard,” she said.
Yet beneath the heartbreak, Amanda also understands the reality she is facing.
“This is how it goes. This is the circle of life,” she reflected.
“When you buy a dog or a cat or any of those, 14 years is a good innings for a dog.”
She knows Mini has had a wonderful life.
“We’ve loved her so much, and she’s loved us.”
But that knowledge does not make the goodbye easier.
“When you enter that contract, you know you will outlive your pet, but somehow you forget that.”
An outpouring of love for Amanda and Mini
Amanda’s emotional admission quickly touched those who have followed her family’s journey.
Among those offering support was veterinarian Dr Chris Brown, who reminded Amanda that Mini is experiencing the love surrounding her rather than understanding the diagnosis itself.
“Sweet Mini knows and feels your love,” he wrote.
Former Gogglebox star Yvie Jones also sent a deeply personal message to Amanda, Harley and their sons, while former Channel Seven presenter Melissa Doyle admitted she was crying alongside Amanda.
“Oh Amanda, I’m crying with you. Their love is like nothing else,” Melissa wrote.
For Amanda, that love is now at the centre of every moment she has left with Mini.
While Harley’s health battle continues
The pain comes at an already difficult time for the Keller family.
Amanda has spent years adapting to the realities of Harley’s Parkinson’s disease, after he was diagnosed in 2017. She publicly revealed his diagnosis in 2023, explaining that the condition had already been part of their lives for several years.
Since then, Amanda has been remarkably candid about how profoundly the progressive neurological condition has changed their marriage and everyday life.
In March 2026, she spoke about reaching an emotional breaking point on her 64th birthday.
Harley had been having a difficult day, and Amanda admitted that part of her was angry because, on a day she had hoped would be about celebrating her, the focus had once again turned to his health.
She later acknowledged the complexity of those emotions — the guilt, frustration and sadness that can exist alongside enormous love.
“In sickness and in health”
Amanda has previously described how Parkinson’s has changed even the moments she once took for granted.
On their 35th wedding anniversary in May 2025, she revealed that they could no longer simply go out for dinner as they once would have because Harley was not well enough.
“In sickness and in health,” she reflected.
“You have no concept of what that means until you’re living it.”
She spoke of feeling proud of the strength it takes for them to continue facing each day together, while also admitting plainly:
“It’s hard.”
In May 2026, Amanda marked their 36th wedding anniversary with a touching tribute to Harley, looking back at a card she had given him before they married.
Their relationship has changed. Their lives have changed.
But they are still moving through it together.
For now, there is only today
Amanda has previously said she tries not to become consumed by the “what ifs”, believing that dwelling on them can become destructive.
Instead, she has learned to meet life as it comes.
And perhaps that is what makes her words about Mini so heartbreaking.
There is no grand farewell yet.
There is simply a 14-year-old dog still at home, still bringing light into the family, still walking beside Amanda — while everyone knows that their time together is running short.
For now, Amanda is choosing not to look too far ahead.
She is simply loving every minute.