“Thank you, my loyal delegates of the toy-box district of Pug-Slope-ia, for gathering today around the King’s palace.  Some of you may not have been graced with my presence before, and to you I apologize.  But here I lie before you today, your prince, Siddhartha Lamont, Duke of Lamont, and one-day ruler of all territories within Pug-Slope-ia…

“As you may have heard, something strange is afoot in the kingdom.  A rumor has spread that my parents, the very strict and very treat-withholding King and Queen of Pug-Slope-ia, are embarking on a journey “Upstate” for approximately two days and two nights.   The rumor goes on to state that while they are gone, a woman named “Fun Aunt Liv” will be entering the King’s palace as a sort of surrogate authority, overseeing all walks, meal-times, treats and slumbers.  They’ve given ultimate power to this “Fun Aunt Liv” rather than entrusting their only son – me – to rule as he sees fit…

“As the rightful heir to the throne, I say ENOUGH with their dismissive attitude towards my ability to manage this kingdom and the out-dated and way-too-strict limitations they place on the amount and types of food I am allowed to eat.  I will not stand for this betrayal of the royal hierarchy, and I command that you, my loyal subjects, follow suit.  The uprising should be quick and painless, for, you see, I have met this “Fun Aunt Liv.” She once entered the kingdom while the King and Queen were away, immediately fed me a delicious meal, and promptly left the premises – all with nary a coercion to “go for a dreaded walk” or “sit in my throne while my food is prepared.”  Usurping her authority will not be difficult.”

“What will you ask of us, my lord?”

“Aye, good froggie, I am asking you, my dear, loyal subjects, to help me make this the weekend the oppression ends.  This will be the weekend we win the freedom to ingest everything we ever dreamed of ingesting – earphones, tea-light candles, paper towels, chapstick – tubes and tubes of chapstick!  Entire packages of flour tortillas.  Ear plugs.  Giant loaves of garlic bread.  Newman-O’s.  Twelve-gallon bins of kibble!  I see before me an entire army of my toys here in defiance of tyranny.  You have come to fight as free toys, and free toys you are.  What would you do without freedom?  Will you fight?”

“We are toys.  We can’t even eat food.  Why fight?  We will run and we will live.”

“Aye, good fish-sandwich toy, that is true.  Fight and you may die. Run and you’ll live — at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but THEY WILL NEVER TAKE OUR FREEDOM!!!”

(…crickets…)

“Seriously?”

“Eh…”

“Well, then, I banish thee!  I banish thee ALL back to the toy box!!  Good day to all of you!”

“But-“

“I said GOOD DAY!”

*****

Everybody please wish our incredibly brave friend Olivia the best of luck as she takes on the task of watching our beloved-yet-headstrong pug for the weekend.  She’s quite good with dogs and very familiar with Sid’s…hunger…for life, so hopefully the weekend will be relaxed, enjoyable, and free of canine mutiny!

One year ago today, we took Sid with us on a trip to Cohasset, MA to visit my cousin, her family, and my parents who were also visiting. While we were there, we stopped into a pet boutique and Sid’s grandma bought Sid got a toy that is hand’s down his FAVORITE. It’s his plush mini frog that we refer to as “Froggie”.

Despite the tiny-ness and delicate-ness of Froggie, Sid has managed to make this prized possession last. Even though he chews on it for hours a day, he has not broken the squeaker or de-fluffed it. It is also his toy of choice for playing catch. After seeing how much he loved the toy, we ordered some more from Amazon just in case the first one ever became destroyed or lost. Even though the second frog looks exactly the same, he still gravitates to the original one.

What is your  favorite toy? (or your pet’s for those humans that read our blog)

—

P.S. The voting is closed for the Curly Tail Pug Rescue Calendar contest. For some reason the “Chip In” links still show that it is open until October 21st, but that isn’t the case according to their website. Thank you all for your votes – it looks like Sid’s photo may have gotten beat at the last second, but we’ll wait for the official results from Curly Tail.

Sid and I have this game we play called Froggie Catch. It basically consists of me tossing his mini plush frog (one of his favorite toys) to him from varying distances. He’s actually gotten quite good at catching the frog.

Here’s a little “highlight reel” from our last game. Sorry it’s on the dark side – it has been overcast quite a bit in NYC lately. Hope you all have a great weekend!

After Sid’s Christmas 2010 “Blizzard of Toys” (parts 1 and 2), you’d think we would take a break from spoiling the little dude and let our bank account recover. We’ll, you’d be wrong.

Whenever we order stuff from Amazon, we always wind up tacking a dog toy or seven onto the order. So when Jenn ordered her 2011 desk calendar on December 22nd, we added on a few items for the Sid-man. Whether it was the blizzard, the free super-saver shipping, or the general holiday craziness, we’ll never know, but our package wound up getting severely delayed.

It finally showed up today.

Remember the baby frog that Sid got from Grandma Demski back in October? Well, he had practically worn the thing out from chewing and licking and other forms of man-handling, so he was practically floored when a brand spanking new one showed up today in the package from Amazon.

After a swipe with his deft hand, Sid knocked Frog 2.0™ to the floor and began the process of attacking it via a method referred to as “death by saliva”.

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The second day of our visit to Massachusetts started with a trip to downtown Hingham, which is a neighboring town of Cohasset. There were many cute little shops, including a pet store called Maggie’s Dog House where Sid was immediately and thoroughly spoiled by his grandma, Mary. But, really, how could anyone resist Sid when he puts on what we refer to as his “teddy bear” face?

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