Dog tags

Not the kind of dog tags that you wear around your neck.

The kind of dog tags that you blog about.

Marla's dogs over at Dog Park Days have tagged Riley and Boscoe to come up with six unimportant things about themselves.

The boys were deeply offended at first. They think everything about them is important.

But after I talked them down and gave them each a small piece of liver biscotti, they relaxed and warmed to the idea.

So here goes.

SIX UNIMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT BOSCOE

1. He herds all the puffy toys in the house and then sits on them so Riley can't get at them.

2. He grew one perfectly round white spot on his leg several months after we brought Riley home from the pound. We think he grew it in solidarity, since Riley has speckled legs.

3. He likes to rummage around in the wastebaskets, looking for used kleenex to eat. Not his finest attribute.

4. He once ran off in fear of his leash, which I had accidentally dropped. It bounced down the street after him--because, of course, it was attached to him. We laughed until we fell over.

5. He once chewed through one of Doug's shirt pockets, trying to get at a chicken bone. Why Doug had a chicken bone in his pocket is another story.

6. He is afraid of water in both liquid and solid state. Unless it's in his water bowl.

SIX UNIMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT RILEY

1. He was terrified by a squeaky toy when he was a puppy. Granted, it was a very ugly and scary-looking toy, but still. (It was green, with a bulbous rubber head, covered in yellow spots. A gift from friends who apparently delight in terrorizing puppies.)

2. When he was just a few months old, he devoured most of a huge garbage bag full of stale old dog food that we had in the garage. He staggered out of the garage, curled up behind the lilac bush, and puked his little guts out. And then he cuddled like mad. Nobody cuddles better than an ailing Riley.

3. While he does not play the cello himself, he does enjoy cello music.

4. Riley once got stuck in a tree.

5. When he is afraid, he tucks his tail so far between his legs it sticks out by his belly. When he was very small, the tip came out under his chin, like a small white goatee.  We called that "doing a Col. Sanders."  Now that he's bigger, the tip ends up more in the middle of his stomach. When we were at the vet last weekend, he did this, and the vet's son said, "Hey! It looks like he has two penises!"

6. Riley is the ultimate mixed-breed. His speckled front end is springer, and his muscular back end is all bluetick coonhound. Just watch him jump.


Also... as long as you're here... I think I now have every single blog award ever created. Just look!

From Alison:



From -Ann, if you can believe it:


From the amazing and talented Jo Beaufoix!



From La Vie en Rose...

babaloo has sent me a big kiss across the ocean:



And from the best-named blog in the world, my dogs keep me sane, the cutest blog award in the world.