Oliver
Lorleen’s Truly Oliver, aka Oliver, was my first dog that I got immediately after I left seminary. He was a Blenheim English Toy Spaniel who was 10 months old. He had a hang tongue which when I got him was about an inch out the left side of his mouth. By the time he died the tongue was a solid 3–4 inches out of his mouth. He was my baby. He died a month short of his 14th birthday. I had to have him put to sleep because he had had multiple strokes, was incontinent in his sleep and not waking up over it, and was unaware of his surroundings. I knew it was time to let him go when I picked him up to take one last photo with him and he did not respond. This was the same dog who would sit in my window waiting for me to come home from work and race me to the door. That is how I knew that even though his body was still alive, his mind was gone.
In spite of his very long tongue, Oliver consumed large quantities of food in his life. Chicken, pizza and ice cream were his favorite people foods. He loved to chew on pig ears and even bit his tongue once while arguing with one of my other dogs over a pig ear. One time while I was cleaning strawberries he was begging for a strawberry incessantly. I refused to give him one, and the barking did not stop. The last strawberry that I was cleaning I fumbled, it fell off the cutting board, and before I could catch it Oliver had scooped it out of the air. Man 0- Dog 1. Oliver weighed 12 lbs when he was 10 months old and I got him. Before the last stroke that sent him down hill he weighed 21 lbs. Yes, he lived a good life.
Oliver was my best dog friend. It took having 4 puppies to deal with to help me through the loss of him in Oct 2010. May his memory be eternal!
