Bulldish the Dog

Charlie has a new pet. His name is Bulldish the Dog. Charlie likes to take him for walks, give him treats, and play games with him. You are probably thinking, big deal, so the kid has a dog. Well, this dog didn't come from a breeder, or the pound, I birthed this puppy myself. Charlie's dog happens to be his brother, Gregory.

That's Gregory aka Bulldish in the picture here, giving me his paw.

Bulldish came into being last summer, interestingly right around the time school ended and summer began. My guess is Charlie was bored. We had a couple of weeks to kill before camp started. Most of his friends were on vacation until then. He missed them and the challenge of school so he created his own playmate to occupy his time.

I thought it would be a passing phase, lasting perhaps until camp started. Or that Gregory would simply hate it, cry about being called a dog, and Charlie would endlessly taunt him with it. I was wrong on all fronts. Turns out Gregory loves being Bulldish the Dog and Charlie loves ordering him around, 'Bulldish, give me your paw. Paw. Paw. PAW, Bulldish, PAW!'

Gregory is so into it that he has created several alter egos for Bulldish and Charlie enjoys the challenge of trying to figure out which dog he is at that moment. Frankly, I cannot keep track, but here's what I have so far.

There's Ski Rider, who's more of an off leash hound. He likes to jump on the couches and beds and slam doors. Sho Sho is a bit fancier. He is always on a leash (usually made out of yarn) and prances about like he's at a dog show. Baseball the Ghost Dog crawls around on his knees chasing people, though you're supposed to pretend that you can't see him, because, well, he's a ghost.

This morning we actually had a birthday party for the latest 4 legged addition to our family, Ski Milk. Charlie made him a birthday cake, which consisted of Goldfish in a bowl. Ski Milk flipped the cake, along with his water dish, while trying to blow out his candles. As I stared at the huge mess on my kitchen floor, Charlie said, "Mommy, you can't get too mad, Ski Milk is just a puppy after all." Then he got down on his knees to rub Gregory, I mean Ski Milk, behind the ears, saying in a consoling voice, "Isn't that right Ski Milk, you're just a puppy. Good puppy."

Gregory is reveling in all of this positive attention - there's no eye poking, teasing, yelling, pinching, or name calling. He's probably created these different canine personas to keep the game fresh so that his brother won't lose interest in being nice to him. The saddest and most ironic thing is that Charlie treats Bulldish, and all the other dogs, far better than he's ever treated his brother. I wonder if he knows that they are the same person/dog?