Funny Boy

The other day I was organizing this big drawer of Oliver's stuff
(toys, grooming stuff, flea stuff, shampoo, etc). I came across his
faceless baby. That's what I call it, but it's just a peanut shaped
stuffed thing with rope arms, legs and hair. And no face. It's
mangled. Wondering what it's still doing there, I toss it in the
trash. At present, Oliver has out for his enjoyment, a shark, a
raccoon, a fish and a rope bone.

Apparently that wasn't enough. Later in the evening I found him
sitting among his fish, raccoon, shark and rope, tearing at his
faceless baby, which he'd apparently pulled from the trash when I
turned my back. I can hear in his head, "Hey! Hi, Faceless baby! I've
been looking all over for you! My other toys suck. Come with me and
I'll tear you apart even more! Not even you're faceless mommy will be
able to recognize you when I'm done! Not that your faceless mommy has
any idea what you look like anyway. C'mon it'll be fun".

Yesterday afternoon was cloudy. Perfect weather for a outdoor concert
(no excessive sun to deal with). I took Oliver to Sunday at The Meyer.
We wandered for a bit, pooped inappropriately close to where people
were sitting (WTF?! You JUST went two blocks ago, Pooper.), and found
a spot on a hill. I kept a close eye on him. There were lots of kids
around and while he's always been good with them, it still made me
nervous.

One little girl with a great shock of curly blonde hair approached.
"Hi, doggie!" she said, close to his face. Oliver bounced towards her,
unable to decide whether he wanted to kiss her or eat her, he kind-of
kissed her with his mouth wide open, bumping her face with his teeth
slightly. I cringed on the inside, my heart stopping for a split
second until the little girl giggled, not realizing how close she may
have come to being eaten. Oliver realized the minute he hit her with a
teeth bumping kiss that no, he didn't want to eat her, he really just
wanted to kiss her. So, he made this clear by nailing her in the face
with another one. No teeth this time though.

Another little kid came up from behind us and wrapped her arms around
his neck, resting her cheek against the back of his head. I wondered
what Oliver would do about this, but the girl left before Oliver could
wonder, "What the woof was that?"

A few days ago I bought the dog the wrong canned food. We tried it and
he started itching around his face. Oops. I went and bought the right
stuff and I'm hoping the itchy face thing will subside. At the
concert, however, he was still itchy. He discovered he got maximum
itch relief by using the hill we were perched on. He would lie on one
side of his body and scootch down the hill, head first, jamming his
face into the grass as he slid.

Super. Good thing he's allergic to grass.