My Ollie boy will be 2 years old in January. It has gone by fast. I remember thinking the first month I brought him home, will things ever be normal again?
I wondered if I’d be able to watch a complete show on TV or concentrate on my puzzle books, because back then he was so busy and into everything. Well, this boy finally settled down.! Does he still get into trouble? Absolutely.
For those who don’t know Ollie boy, he’s a pug Boston terrier and French bulldog mix. He is shaped just like a pug, his body is stocky, his face is more like a Boston Terrier. He’s very cute, if I do say so myself! Ollie has settled in nicely and is a big part of our little family.
I previously wrote about his first encounter with a skunk. Bathing him took most of the smell away, but when he got wet, you got that whiff again. I knew that probably this would happen again, because Ollie is a dog that doesn’t back down when encountering another animal, big or small. I was right.
One August morning I had gotten up early to drive down to my sister’s in the Bangor area. It was 5:30 a.m. and I was relaxing and having a coffee before leaving. My husband had taken the dogs out, then came in and said, “Ollie got sprayed by a skunk.”
I said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
So, before I left for Bangor, I bathed the little bugger.
And before fall was over the boy did it again. One night just after dark, he was sprayed for the third time. He smells those nasty critters and finds them. I bought a big bottle of de-skunking agent — best stuff I have ever bought for skunk smell. I will always have some on hand.
Ollie also had an episode with a groundhog one day this summer. I was sitting on my patio reading. I heard him barking nonstop down by the tree line in a swampy area. I could not coax him to come to me, so I went to him. He kept lunging and snarling, and I was afraid he was going to get bitten. Then I saw something, just two big brown teeth, and I knew it was a pesky groundhog.
Ollie wouldn’t back down, so with my husband’s help, we got the little rascal back to the house. He looked quite smug. He had protected his family and was asleep in minutes.
Ollie has treed racoons and squirrels. He saw his first bear by our garage and barked at it to run it off. He wants no animals in his yard.
It’s not only outside that Ollie gets in trouble. If I have a tissue in my pocket, he will try to get it and shred it on the floor. If my coat is hanging on a chair or laying on the bed and the pockets are unzipped, my gloves will be gone. At night, just when you think it’s quiet, Ollie takes a big cow hoof and bats it around the floor like a hockey puck.
All in all, this pup keeps us going and keeps us laughing.
Stop by the Central Aroostook Humane Society and check out our beautiful new shelter at 210 Cross St, Presque Isle, just down the road from our old building. We are closed Sunday and Mondays, but open Tuesday from 12 to 4 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. We close for lunch from 12 to 12:30.
Remember to be responsible pet owners: spay and neuter.
Gail Wieder is on the Central Aroostook Humane Society board of directors.
