We have lately been dog-sitting my sister’s dog Melvin for a few days. He’s a Boston Terrier, and he has two states, and two only.
One is a lethargic, cuddly, blinky, heat seeking loafer who is constantly on the lookout for a lap to curl up in and sleep.  The house is at least 5 degrees too cold for Melvin’s preference and so in this state he fastens himself to any other living thing like a leech.  He draws off heat as easily as breathing, and is all the more delighted when he is completely covered by a blanket.  When that happens he can finally relax since his internal temperature quickly rises above 100 degrees Celsius.  You can tell it’s past 100 degrees because he usually starts to snore or grunt around that time, which must just be the steam outgassing from his baked innards.  That’s a happy Melvin.

His other state makes him happy also, but he’s probably the only one who is happy at that time.  It’s best described as a furry, sniffing, tongued, tornado.  He achieves some kind of critical mass of energy saved while under the blanket and decides to expend it in one shot.  I guess he has achieved an internal steam boiler pressure so high it’s becoming dangerous to not let it out.  Usually it’s Harvey that bears the brunt of this attack, but sometimes if anyone is unlucky enough to be lying down, or reclining anywhere in the “Melvin strike zone” of around 15-24 inches from the ground or a bed or couch, they will receive “The Full Melvin”.  This is a full service cleansing of every orifice that can be reached by a canine tongue, and so you had better duck and cover – and I do mean cover – everything you don’t want serviced.  You will be left freshly cleansed, and glistening and feeling quite foolish.

Fortunately for the victims, Steam Powered Melvins come and go quickly.  They have a snorting ferocity that is fearsome to behold, but quickly fade and must retire under a blanket somewhere to reheat the boiler for another attack.