Living With Oreo

Although I suspect all dogs misbehave somewhat (especially those that are only a year old), I'm beginning to realize that Oreo is really not such a bad dog. Of course he manages to occasionally unwind the toilet roll and pilfer food left too close to the edge of the table and not come when called. But overall, he's pretty good.

Oreo is even-tempered, mild-mannered and reasonably well-behaved. He doesn't bark when people come to the door. He doesn't knock visitors over. And he's great with kids. That's pretty much the canine trifecta as far as I can see.

I got to observe Oreo in a social setting last night. We went to my in-laws for Easter dinner and Oreo came along. Although there were twelve people present, he didn't get overly excited or make a nuisance of himself.

At one point, he tried to snatch a game piece or two from a board game. But after several warnings, he seemed to get the idea that swallowing a Trivial Pursuit wedge wasn't a good idea for us or him. One other faux pas ('faux paw?') occurred when someone left their piece of cake unattended on the dining room table. Oreo managed to get in a couple of good licks before the cake was rescued.

Oh yes, there was one more minor violation of the social code. Generally hosts expect their guests not to lick the silverware. But when a dishwasher door is opened and no one is looking, it's hard to blame a doggie for wanting to help with the cutlery cleaning. Oh well, at least I won't be eating there tonight.