Awesome Olive

Someone around here is way too cute, and that someone is Olive! This sprightly little girl is a whole lot of awesome personality packed into one tiny dog. On our walk today she actually had me giggling out loud at her little antics. This probably made me look like a bit of a lunatic to passerby, but she was just so cute and amusing that at times I had to chuckle. But let's start at the beginning.... The very first thing I noticed about Olive was how friendly she is. When I walked into her kennel for the very first time, she trotted right up to me wagging her comically long, curly piggie tail and seemed extremely delighted to see me, just like we were old friends. When I knelt down, she put her two front paws up on my knee, licked my hand, and looked up at me with a cheerful expression on her sweet little face. Too cute!

On our walk to Aquatic Park, she continued to make a great impression on me because she is so cheerful and sprightly and yet COMPLETELY lacks any manic, hyper energy! (How nice!) She has a calm, confident vibe which is downright delightful. She is happy and self-possessed, and she has a very charming way of trotting along with her head held high surveying the world. She does have a small dose of sass (probably the dachshund in her) and once gave a few barks at a group of people that apparently displeased her. But after she had said her piece, she just went back to trotting along happy as could be. What a cute, funny girl, I thought to myself.

The next adorable thing she did was this...We'd just been walking maybe 5 minutes. While trotting down the sidewalk, she stopped to scratch an itch and then she gradually stopped scratching and kind of melted to the sidewalk, ending in a nice lounging pose. She had decided it was a good time for a little lie-down break. She was quite at her leisure, relaxing very regally in the middle of the sidewalk as if that were the most natural thing in the world. That definitely got a chuckle out of me. With a little coaxing, she hopped back up and we continued on our merry way.

I won't relate every adorable, funny little thing that Olive did to totally steal my heart on this walk, because this post is already getting pretty long. But here are the highlights: lots of quiet cuddle time, lots of sitting on my lap staring at the lake, a few happy bursts of energy that were expressed by her hopping through the grass like a little rabbit, and one tremendous leap clear over the back of a bench (which I think surprised her as much as it surprised me!). In summary (trying to wrap this up quickly before it gets insanely too long), Olive = wonderfully sweet, quirky, fun, not hyper lap dog who also could accompany her owner on mellow walks about town that might be peppered with random moments of charming silliness.

Text and photography by Alicia D., devoted volunteer