Oliver update!

We’re about a week and half into cruising life, so what better time for an Oliver update?

Oliver is becoming one helluva boat dog. “Boat-poodle” to be exact.

And he’s made quite the impression on many friendly faces here at the Harbor. He’s even found himself a girlfriend! ;)) More on that later.

But in all honesty, we think Oliver is adjusting to his newfound life aboard quite well. Minus his initial 25-hour long not-going-to-the-bathroom stent, overall, he’s doing great!

Oliver does a LOT of lounging and napping. Both below and above deck. Pretty typical dog behavior.

When he’s not sleeping, he’s on dolphin and dinghy watch…just waiting for the next unsuspecting passerby-er that he can bark hello to.

He experienced a super duper up close and personal >>dolphin encounter (check out the iPhone video on our Facebook page)<< the other day as two dolphin played right around the boat and Oliver whined miserably at them. I am a little surprised he didn’t jump in the water because they were taunting him like crazy (they also kept bopping Jereme from under the dinghy).

Speaking of dinghies, Oliver LOVES dinghy rides! And has become quite comfortable entering and exiting the dinghy on his own (when it’s at his level — aka at the dinghy docks. We pick him up and pass him into the dinghy when we’re getting in from the boat). He clearly understands that dinghy = land … which = potty break. Smart poodle.

Oliver also gets to go on long walks with us whenever we leave the harbor. So far, he’s been to West Marine, a canvas shop, the Cuban Cafe, the Keys Fisheries, and the Stuffed Pig restaurant (which btw was super dog friendly)! When we leave the harbor on foot, we always bring our handy dandy Gulpy Water Dispenser.

Food, however, has been a little bit of an issue. Surprisingly. After we left Naples, Oliver decided he wasn’t going to eat his regular dry dog food and did not touch his bowl of food or even let us hand feed him for 8 long days. He refused to eat his food, which in turn, caused me to feed him more treats than ever. And, on a few occasions, we even turned to the dreaded “people food” because we were starting to get pretty worried about his lack of appetite. I even tried mixing in a few hot dog pieces with his food in hopes that he would eat the dog food alongside the hot dog pieces. But he of course just picked out the hot dogs. It looks like Oliver has basically trained us (or me really) over the past few days. And I fell for it. :((

The other day, we brought his bowl of regular old dog food to shore and Jereme hand-fed Oliver handfuls of food while I knocked out a blog post. And he ate an entire bowl!!! Phew! Hopefully, he’s turning a corner and this no-eating behavior will stop.

*TMI…If you’re worried about his lack of appetite for regular dry dog food, you should know that he is still peeing and pooping without any issues at all and does both pretty much every time we go to shore (typically 4 times per day).

Back to Oliver’s life aboard…

We’ve even bathed Oliver on the boat! …Using one of our fancy new solar showers!

It was almost easier than bathing him in a laundry sink (like we did back home). We simply fill up the solar shower, let it heat up during the day, and then hang it up on the deck while I wet him down and lather him up. Easy peasy. Once bath time has ended, Oliver runs around like a crazed, rabid poodle. Do all dogs do that or just Oliver?

And if life wasn’t good enough, Oliver met a girlfriend!!! Or bestie, if you will. The lucky lady is Bella, a bichon-poodle mix.

 

They both get SO excited when they spot each other by the dinghy docks or in the main administrative building. It’s really really really so stinking cute!

Boat dog life is pretty darn good for ^^this crazy little guy^^.

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