Merry Christmas from Olive

 

When Olive had her surgery in October of 2021, the surgeon instructed me to keep her in a crate and see that she got plenty of bed rest. I immediately went out and bought a large wire crate, or kennel, from a pet supply shop and set it up in my living room in a spot that I knew she liked to nap in. I was apprehensive that she would not take to being confined; she surprised me by going right into the crate onto a dog bed I placed there and laying right down. I made sure to give her lots of TLC and kept her until she was well enough to roam the house.

Now, more than a year later, she still likes to nap there and occasionally will even eschew her usual bed upstairs near me to sleep downstairs in the crate. If Olive likes having the crate, as she seems to, then I do not want to take it apart and store it in my garage as I had originally planned. The drawback is that the location of the crate blocks access to my liquor cabinet and my stereo set. If I want to access either item, I must pull the crate out of the way then put it back.

The things I do for that dog. She is, however, more than worth it.

 

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At fiddle camp last summer an impressive film was shown that, I am told, was animated entirely by one artist. Call “Crack” (the sound a tree made when cut down at the beginning of the film) The story is seen from the point of view of a homemade wooden chair traversing Quebec history from the 1800s until contemporary times through many changes. Although not strictly speaking a Christmas story, it does depict some holiday celebrations including Christmas and Easter.

One feature that may need to be clarified: the seemingly non sequitur appearance of indigenous Americans at various points through the story. It was explained to the audience that in Quebecoise culture indigenous Americans signify the arrival of a child, as storks do in American culture.

 

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Despite having the dog crate in a place that is inconvenient for me (though not for Olive) I was able to get my Holiday tree up and decorated. It has never been easy to get her to pose in front of the tree, but here is what I was able to photograph.

 

Okay, George, I posed. Now can I have that treat you promised?

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Some dog humor I have collected over the past few months.

I may have been fortunate that Olive was older than 24 months when i got her.

That is something Olive would do.

Good advice to stay clear of any potential partner who doesn't like dogs.

If a border collie can't keep the sheep together, nothing can!

Happy Birthday Olive!

 

Short posting this time.

Olive was born on a wool farm in Maine on August 1, 2011. To celebrate her birthday, we went for dinner at “Lucky Lou’s” restaurant in the nearby town of Wethersfield, CT. As I mentioned in the last post, the restaurant welcomes dogs in their outdoor dining area and even has a special menu for dogs. My sister and cousin Donna joined us.

It was a hot afternoon, with temperatures in the 90s, but we found a table in the shade. We humans all had light salad-based suppers, while I ordered Olive grilled chicken with a side of carrots and celery. Olive enjoyed the chicken, but when I tried to get her to eat some of the vegetables, she actually spit out the carrot and celery. I could almost hear her thinking “the heck with this—I want some more of that delicious chicken!” She barked up a storm, which must have annoyed some of the other patrons, but was otherwise well behaved. I took her for very short walks from our table to try to get her to stop barking, to no avail.

We were also visited by a number of yellowjackets. I had to wonder if we were somewhere near a nest, though Olive didn’t seem to be bothered. Because of the heat, we decided to skip dessert and get back into our air-conditioned cars

I think that Olive did enjoy the outing, but I will not be taking her to Lucky Lou’s again at least for another year.

My cousin and sister help celebrate Olive's birthday. Olive is more interested in her chicken dinner.

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Here are a few bits of dog humor that I have collected since the last posting:

No surprise here!

That last one is definitely Olive.

Any dog person knows this.

No explanation needed.

Why, go to work with her, of course!

Getting Back to Normal

 

It has been a few months since I reported on Olive’s surgery last October.

I am happy to say that Olive is doing quite well since her surgery. There was a spot where the fur wasn’t growing back, but even that seems to have grown in. There are a few signs that Olive is starting to get older; she seems a bit more reluctant to go up and down stairs, but otherwise she is acting like she is still a puppy.

I have even started letting her play just a bit with the foam rubber Frisbee, giving her very gentle easy tosses to catch out on the grassy field behind my unit. She seems ok without the challenging tosses I used to give her before the problems began last fall. She seems more interested in the other two games she would play: the “chase me” game (which seems more like a “follow me” game as she is not going as fast as she used to) and the “ha-ha you can’t have it” game in which she will put the Frisbee down as if she wants me to toss it, then grabs it and moves off when I try to pick it up. The whole series doesn’t last as long as it once did; she is ready to go inside after just a few gentle tosses and goes in when I tell her to.

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I had lunch with a friend recently at a restaurant in the historic section of a nearby town called “Lucky Lou’s”. Yes, that sounds like the name of a cheap bar, but the place is upscale, has a very nice outdoor dining patio, and though the food is very good and the prices are reasonable it is not particularly cheap. While having lunch I noticed some people who brought their dog onto the patio with them. Then the dog ate out of a bowl the waiter brought. When I inquired, I was told that the restaurant offers a special menu for dogs!

Olive’s eleventh birthday comes on August 1. I just may take her there for a birthday dinner. She seems to like salmon and chicken; when I grill chicken, I usually put a piece aside without seasoning then cut it up so she can have some. When I grill salmon, I save the skin for her after cutting it up, checking for bones, and letting it cool.

I think I will have to draw the line at ordering a glass of chardonnay, rose, or cabernet for my dog, however.😉

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Some neighbors have recently acquired a golden retriever puppy they named “Apollo”. Olive seems to have taken a liking to Apollo, which I am pleased about. While Olive is not a quarrelsome dog by any means, she has in the past shown some annoyance with puppies. A few times I thought I saw an “oh, no, not that puppy again” look to Olive, but Olive seems to understand that I want her and Apollo to be friends. She has been polite to Apollo, for which I have been praising her.

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On a sad note, Olive’s friend Lenny, a cattle dog mix, has passed away. Olive and Lenny got along very well, so well that her people and I used to joke about them being boyfriend and girlfriend. I think Olive misses Lenny in that she still looks toward the unit Lenny lived in as we walk past. I regret that I don’t have any photos of Lenny.

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Here are a few bits of border collie humor I have collected recently:

Border collies ARE creative!

If that answer isn't a definition of heaven, I don't know what is.

I hope that this doesn't give Olive any ideas for when I take her to "Lucky Lou's".