Saturday, February 14, 2009

My Valentine

A couple of years ago I went on a casual search for a possible second dog. I wanted a young - but not a puppy - male dog that would be a little larger than Elsie and not as crafty. My wish was granted. He was listed on Petfinder as a year-old St. Bernard / Border Collie mix, which is technically what Elsie is, so I wanted to see what he looked like. Just like Elsie. And he was adorably named Oliver. It all just fit too well.

It turns out that he's actually some sort of hound with a beautiful collie coat (ergo his nickname - The Pimped-Out Hound), but the rest is exactly what I asked for. He has grown to be several pounds larger than Elsie and to say that he is not as crafty is, well, a bit of an understatement. His other nicknames are Bubbles (after the character on Absolutely Fabulous) or Five Second Delay. Here he is on vacation in the mountains lying with his head off the dog bed.


But he is very pretty.

He doesn't so much lap water from the bowl like most dogs, but instead plunges his whole snout in and chomps at the water often resulting terrible sputtering after he's inhaled half the bowl. He is afraid of the stopwatch on 60 Minutes and has what I refer to as "boundary issues." For example:

If you allow him to sleep at the FOOT of the bed, you are guaranteed to wake up at some point to this on the next pillow:

"Oh. Hello there. Were you trying to sleep?"


If you allow him on the END of the couch, you are guaranteed this:
"Oh. Hello there. Were you trying to read? Watch television? Not inhale dog breath?"


If you try to get him to move over to said end of couch, you get this:

"What did you say? For me to lay my head on your shoulder and drool? No? Why not?"

Have I mentioned that he's pretty?

But while Elsie's first reaction to a new toy is to try to dismantle it and then stash the evidence in a hole in the yard, Oliver's is one of complete amazement and joy:



And while Elsie's mantra is likely "I'm surrounded by morons." Or, "Do I have to do everything around here?" Oliver's is most certainly and simply "I love, love." He would spend his day asleep in your lap - all 45 pounds of him - rather than eat. He will try to kiss you square in the mouth if you're not quick enough to block him. Here he is on the same vacation in the mountains enjoying the lap and love of my friend Amanda.


And that is why even though we only know he was born in February, I'm pretty sure his actual birthday is Valentine's Day.

So Oliver, while my cynical self has always considered this holiday to be insipid at best, for you, I make an exception. Happy Birthday.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh happy happy birthday! He looks like a huge bundle o' love!