Etch Knievel.

We were thinking that the JV dog, Nipper, who does nip, was not named properly after all. Evel Knievel seems to have been a better choice as it turns out. Or maybe Crash. Or just Bonk.

All dogs will skid on hard floors, ram their heads into things, and have similar accidents. Nipper, however, appears to be completely impervious to harm, at least as far as his noggin is concerned. Pull out one of his hairs and he'll yip to shatter glass. But the head? He's taken blows to the melon that would have me rolling on the ground whimpering, and he doesn't shake them off---he doesn't even know that they happened.

No skull could be that thick. There'd be no room left for anything else.

Now, let me say right here that Nipper is not a dumb dog. In fact, he's learned a whole lot in the months we've had him. He came here a blank slate, a tabula rasa, a brand-new Etch-a-Sketch, but we (meaning: my wife) have worked very hard to teach him things every young pup needs to know.

And yet sometimes he seems to be a complete ding-dong, having forgotten the simplest commands and tricks.

It took a while, but I think I put it together. He is a dog version of the Etch-a-Sketch.

Poor li'l guy. Maybe I should get him a helmet or something.