Spring 2017  Saber Tails 35    

Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America

“Tails” from the

Clown Hound Files

Submitted by Diane Shupe

Starring (then 1 year old - now 10 1/2 year old)

Oliver

We brought our precious Oliver home at 8 weeks old.  He was a chubby, 

happy, gleeful PBGV. We were very apprehensive about introducing 

him to our cranky 8 year old affenpincher, Rufus.  But we were pleas-

antly surprised to find that Oliver seemed to recognize he was dealing 

with a senior citizen and was very respectful of our older and curmud-

geonly.  Oliver could get Rufus to play on occasion and would lay next 

to him when Rufus wanted quiet time.  They grew to be great friends 

which continued until Ruffie passed away at 13.  We continued to be 

amazed at Oliver's insightfulness and great understanding of how he 

fit in Rufus’ world.  

Oliver was our first PBGV and so incredibly smart.  We’d always had 

large dogs that seemed to act more on brawn than brains.  Oliver was 

completely house broken by 3 months and went on to finish his cham-

pionship before he was a year old.  In general, he was an intelligent, 

lovely little fellow who we delighted being with.  A tremendous ad-

dition to the family.  However...there was this one thing...Oliver was a 

shameless THIEF.  He loved to steal.   He was quite accomplished at the 

PBGV version of ‘smash and grab’ which we called ‘snatch and run!’   He 

would steal anything and then take it under the bed to have his way 

with his prize.  It didn't matter what the item was, if he wanted it and he 

he could carry it, it became his “precious.”  

Shoes were Oliver’s speciality.  You might not think this was such a big 

deal but when Oliver was under the bed with his treasure, he became “Oliver the Terror.”  If you reached under 

to retrieve the item, our Dr. Jekyl would become Mr. Hyde.  Under the bed lived a dog who thought he was 

a Rottweiler not our loving PBGV puppy.  Any attempt to retrieve your stolen goods would elicit growls and 

teeth snapping to the point we were actually afraid for our fingers.  His Bluff Was In!!  We tried everything to 

entice him out from under the bed so we could to reclaim our property, but no such luck.  Oliver could not 

be coaxed or bribed out of his cave with even the tastiest treats as an offering.  Our solution was to leave him 

alone until he tired of the game and came out, minus his prize.  Then we could safely grab it with him dis-

tracted by a trip outside or a walk.  By the time we would go to collect the items under the bed, he would have 

Rufus and Oliver (3 mos old)

Rufus and Oliver (9 mos old)

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