Tag: Oliver

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Room to Roam

Christine
I’ve expanded Oliver’s daytime area. He normally has access the long, narrow room at the back of the house that used to be a porch, and the adjoining bathroom.

Last night, I moved his gate so that he now can roam around the kitchen, dining room, Oliver’s room, and the bathroom. He was a bit confused this morning, even though I showed him what we were doing last night, and he watched with curiosity as I cleaned and moved things around. (Actually, he mostly barked and chased the vacuum through the cleaning part.)

Mostly, I’ve done this because the only air conditioner that is installed is in the dining room, and we are having a bit of a heat wave right now. I don’t want my little boy to be too hot while I’m not home.

So, cross your fingers, and let’s hope he didn’t find anything naughty to get into today.
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World’s Largest Dandelion

Christine

Some weeding of the flower beds occured on Monday.

That is when we found this: the biggest dandelion I’ve ever seen. Compare to the size of my gardening glove.Oli was interested in it as well.Too bad I didn’t know then about the market for organic dandelions.
After he tore the dandelion to shreds, he became more interested in my glove. He refused to return my gardening glove until I gave into the ransom he demanded: one doggie biscuit.

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Sheared! and Doggie self-esteem

Christine

We finally got around to mowing the whole yard. This has been quite a task because we let it go for far too long, just mowing the areas that were visible to the street, and because the grass seed that I planted last fall just exploded and is going like gangbusters this spring. Now I really should get out there and rake up all those grass clippings before the next mow…

You may not have noticed in other pictures from Wednesday, but Oliver is sporting his summer haircut. His hair is a little shorter than I expected, but it grows fast, so he’ll be back to normal in no time. However, he was a little embarrassed about it. He seems to be over it now, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen him act like this after a trip to the groomer. We took every opportunity to make over him and to tell him how handsome he looks. Not spoiled at all.

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Keeping warm this winter

Christine

For those days when the weather acts like it is supposed to in the winter, and it is bitter cold out, Oli wears his sweater. It is complete coincidence that it just so happens to match my coat. I swear! Mom bought that sweater for our black lab Arthur after he had surgery. They had shaved his whole underside, and we were bringing him home on one of the coldest nights I can ever remember. It was windy and the temperature was around 3 degrees- that is cold, even for Pennsylvania. Well, he never really liked wearing the sweater, so it was tossed in a box with other doggie things and forgotten until Oliver came on the scene several years later. Mom dug through the boxes of Arthur’s old things the night that Oliver arrived, just seven weeks old. Of course, it didn’t fit him then, and it was August, but somehow the doggie sweater ended up in a box of Oliver stuff in my basement.

Flash forward two years, to this winter. Aside from freakishly warm weather, we have had several days of downright bitter cold. Oli didn’t even want to go outside to do his business, and when we told him he had to, he would give us dirty looks, dash out, do what he needed to do, and run right back to the door. The neighbors probably think we neglect this poor dog, the way he looks when he is huddled up against the door, waiting to be let in.

So one day, after observing this behaviour, Lewis says, “that dog needs a sweater or something.” And I remembered this thing being in that box in the basement. So I dashed down the stairs, calling Oli to follow me. He stiffly, but patiently, waited for me to put this contraption on him, first backwards, then misaligning the buttons, and fixing them. He gave me reproachful looks, but I sent him back upstairs to show his daddy.

We made a big fuss over him every time we put the sweater on him for the next couple of days, and pretty soon he accepted it. He realized it keeps him warmer when he is outside, so he can stay out and sniff his yard and bark at things like he usually does. Plus everyone makes over him, telling him how cute or handsome he is, and he just lapps up the attention.