Our blog acquaintance Mahmood recently fell victim to the dreaded "cute dog" disease:

I woke up this morning thinking I was in an inquisition! Being questioned by her who should be obeyed as to why we can't keep it. I spent more than 30 minutes convincing her of the various reasons. She seemed to take that ok, as my points of view were logical. But logic is the farthest away from that woman's mind if she's determined, so she used another weapon: tell the kids!

Olivia's favorite word now is "dog-EE! dog-EE!" Doesn't matter if they're on the street, on the TV, on magazines, on socks, whatever. If it has a tail, ears, and walks on all fours, it is "dog-EE!" and it must be petted if at all possible. Even cats tend to get called "dog-EE!", albeit with less enthusiasm. She even tried to correct Ellen:

Olivia, pointing at Ajax, brightly: "Dog-EE!"

Ellen: "No, kitty."

Olivia, looking at mommy, in a very declarative tone: "Dog-EE!"

Ellen: "No, kitty!"

Olivia, now crossing her arms in a very recognizable "mommy needs help understanding" expression: "Dog-EE!" [thump-thump-thump on the cat, who doesn't seem to care as long as he gets petted.]

Dammit Mahmood, you were supposed to tell me how to avoid this sort of thing! :)