In honor of Otis turning 9 this week I wanted to share my favorite pictures and adventures of life with this tiny non-dog creature.
Maybe you’re thinking Lyv this is weird… a blog post dedicated to your dog?! I know, I get it, it’s a little weird but you know what…I don’t give a shit how weird it is, it’s my website and I do what I want.
Chris and I have been traveling NONSTOP since before Christmas and often at airports in between flights I look at pictures of Otis to pass the time. I’m sure some of you do this with your children so it’s the same thing, because Otis doesn’t know he’s a dog.
Dogs make people happy!
There is a reason dogs are brought into hospitals to visit sick patients, because they CHEER people up!
So I wanted to created a post of all my favorite Otis moments for the next time I’m stuck at an airport I can just come straight here to see all my favorite TINGS!
(we say “tings” in our family not “things”, it’s not an error)
And maybe… if you have a day where you don’t feel as great, a little sad and need a pick me up, I hope this post can shine a little light into your heart as well.
And if you don’t like dogs, well then you probably don’t like Deshaun Watson either and we have nothing in common and zero future of being friends.
Also, this is not an Otis specific obsession, nor am I alone in my love for dogs!
Tara, J Beck, Angie, Joy, Jenn Crumpler…whoever is around, we all love dogs ESPECIALLY stranger’s dogs! LOOK at how much this guy was smiling when Tara and I asked if we could take a picture with him!!
This was in New Orleans for Tara’s bachelorette. The items on agenda were…get jello shots from a drive thru bar, check! Find a dog, check!!
J Beck pose, double check!!
So in conclusion we are all weird.
Even Chris!
I posted the picture on the left once and Joy responded by posting the picture on the right under it. Safe to say I spit my lunch out.
BUT it’s true there aren’t a lot of subjects in life that Chris is tender towards and even though he wasn’t always close to Otis when we first met…they’re super close now.
Otis has always been well behaved in public places and even has a tendency to act like he’s better than other people.
I think he and Chris kind of bond on that level of feeling superior and alpha. Look I’m not telling you my dog is better than you, I’m just saying he thinks he is so take that up with him and Chris.
It’s almost like when we take Otis in public now Chris enjoys embarrassing him like a teenager. He likes to hold him a certain way and if Otis tries to squirm out of his grip Chris executes what is known as the “heavy hand”. (Demonstrated in the first picture below.) Here is a series of photos I like to call…
STOP DAD
Before we moved to the lake we just thought Otis was an extremely well behaved little guy. I don’t have to leash him he always stays within a foot or two of me when we walk. Obviously in public I either carry him or leash him then but only because I don’t trust other people. However, when we moved to the lake the “dog” in Otis clicked and that sealed the deal for he and Chris being lifelong buddies. I present…
COLD BLOODED FISHING FOOL
Otis is addicted to being on the water.
Don’t worry he has a doggy life vest he wears when we go out. I was trying to teach him a lesson in this picture that he couldn’t stand on the front of the kayak or he would fall in the water. I was prepared to easily grab him out of the water but he kept his damn balance! He never fell! Crazy ass.
He has his life vest on here and I keep a whistle hooked to my top in case a boat gets too close or doesn’t see us.
I try not to go out when it’s busy and stay close to the shore.
The minute I slide the kayak off the dock and into the water Otis is already jumping in it.
He is ALWAYS ready.
If it’s a day where Chris and I just can’t get on the same page or we aren’t seeing eye to eye I THROW that kayak in the water and go. It’s the perfect break for us all. We ALL need them from time to time.
Even if you’re just casting off the dock.
He is right next to you being a complete psycho.
Sidenote: If my parents are around I DO NOT exist to Otis! I am dead to him.
Also, when Chris goes out of town I make my parents come stay with me because I get scared.
All that I’m gonna move out and you’re never going to see me talk really showed them huh?!
Just because Otis likes to be “ON” the water doesn’t necessarily mean he loves being “IN” the water!
Otis likes to be held in the pool. He's not really into swimming, although he’s a great swimmer.
He gets super hot with his fur being black so Chris will grab him and tell him it’s time for “swim lessons”. Chris just carries him around in the pool for like half an hour and Otis lightly taps the water his paws. I SWEAR TO GOD I am not making any of this up!!!
Otis loves it. He just walks up to the side of the pool when he’s too hot and ready for swim lessons.
Chris is visibly yelling at someone during this “swim lesson” but Otis looks extremely interested and INVOLVED in whatever is being discussed.
This KILLS me!!!
I was fishing off our dock once and was throwing a fish back I caught and Otis jumped in trying to retrieve it!
So he’s not afraid of the water what so ever, BUT it has to be on his terms.
When I still lived in Charleston or would commute into the office for my job at Telogical I would take Otis with me. He was the office mascot. When we walked in he would take a lap around the office and greet each person at their desk and say good morning. Then he’d sleep the rest of the day next to me and throughout the day people would stop by, pet him, pick him up or just visit. Sometimes he even snuck into meetings with me and once I looked over during the meeting and realized that he looked like he belonged there more than me.
One of my FAVORITE PICS ever.
OFFICE OTIS
I’m pretty sure Otis was thinking, “I agree Grey, this promotions report is shit and nobody looks at it”.
That’s the thing about Otis, is even when you aren’t paying him attention he’s still being awesome.
I was setting towels out by the pool once and I turned around this VERY moment, which leads me to my next series…
OTIS IS A DOG MODEL
Otis stands with his feet turned out, we call it “first position”. He has successfully photobombed every shoot I’ve ever done for my website. He figures out a way to sneak into the pics!
YEARS ago I did a campaign for a local bikini company in Charleston and Otis even managed to make it into that shoot!!
*HONESTY DISCLAIMER* My body does NOT look like that right now!! Airport food and pina coladas don’t make fit bodies it turns out!
Otis definitely lives a hard life which leaves him very sleepy. He LOVES to sleep and yawn BIG. But we don’t pronounce it “sleepy” we leave the “L” out and just say “seepy”, he has a hard time saying “Ls”. So he is always so damn “seepy seepy”…and I can tell at this point when he is about to big yawn for us so I’ve caught a few right on time.
SEEPY SEEPY
Without fail every morning when we walk into the kitchen Otis climbs into what is usually Chris’s chair at the table and sits like he’s waiting on breakfast. I have NEVER given him food at the table when he sits in the chair. (Chris has!) I certainly have made him a scrambled egg and put in his dog bowl in the laundry room. But each day he hopes today is the day I’m going to eat at the table like Dad…
I’M HUNGRY PEEASE
And obviously…our favorite time of year is Halloween and Otis has just as many costumes as we do. Please notice below TWO involved wigs!!!! BOTH of those Chris picked out!
HEWLP ME PEEASE
I got Otis a turkey head for our “Friendsgiving” this year. Chris had to run into the gas station to grab something and I had Otis positioned like this when he walked out.
The BEST costume to date was when Angie purchased the dogs “tuxedos” for New Years BUT they ended up looking like a pack of Amish dogs.
The first time I took Otis to the Keys, Angie and I made a list of a bunch of ridiculous scenarios we wanted to take pictures of Otis doing.
This was Otis at the drive thru liquor store and when I was finishing the purchase I said, “Hey, I’m doing a scavenger hunt of pictures of my dog would you mind holding him to take a picture?” And he goes, “Is he gonna wear them googles?” I said, “Sure if you want…” He goes, “YOU BET YOUR ASS I WILL!!!”.
I also wrecked leaving this place I was laughing SO HARD.
I literally could go on forever.
We’ll bring it to a close for today.
Thanks for giving me a moment of your time to put our weirdness on full display.
It’s insanely easy to get lost down a rabbit hole on social media comparing yourself to people/strangers that leave you empty or feeling less than. I never want this website to be that way and I never want anyone to feel that way after anything I have written or posted. I hope you always close out my website knowing how important you are and how much value you contribute to those around you. It is so easy to convince ourselves otherwise, but it’s also up to you to believe the good too.
So it may be 2019, a new year and new hopes, but we’re screaming the same message as always here at LyvRoxStyle!!!
Push your shoulders back, keep your chin up and silently demand the attention of a room…because being YOU ROX.
I’ll be back to talk about the clothes next week my loves!
-Lyv
This post is dedicated to our sweet angels Phoebe and Miss Prissy, both recently went on to a better place after their Moms gave them incredible loving lives. Thank you for being so sweet to Otis and understanding his polygamy lifestyle. Behind every strong dog is a pack of bad betches. We love yew fo always.
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