How much trouble can a pug get into in ten minutes?

Ohhhh, you’d be surprised.

Does this look like the face of guilt? Well, it should.

Let me back up a bit. I was feeling a little thirsty yesterday evening, so I ran out to the corner store to grab a soda. Jenn was out of the house, so I left Sid home alone. I was gone for about ten minutes and this is what I came home to.

The destroyed package wasn’t neatly displayed on our counter, though. It was on the floor of the bedroom, and our little rug was dappled with slightly-chewed morsels of cookie and gobs of cream filling mashed into the fibers.

This was not good on many levels.

First – I don’t know how many Newman’s Ginger-O’s a pug is supposed to eat in one sitting, but this definitely seemed larger than the recommended portion size. Second – Jenn specifically bought these cookies for herself because I, Brian, have this problem where I end up eating all the cookies before she has a chance to even eat one. Well, at least that won’t be an issue this time. And Third – the cookies were stored up on shelf #4 which Sid has never gotten into before. We always kept some food/produce up there because we figured it was beyond his reach. I guess we now have to keep anything edible on the top shelf. Thanks, dude.

Luckily the local emergency vet (who probably know us by name at this point) said our little gurgitator should be ok since there were no toxic ingredients in the cookies (Thank you, Paul Newman!).

Anyway – I hope you’re happy, fatso.

P.S. Now, don’t you pugs out there reading this get any ideas! Sid did get a severe “talking to” and we may have to take away his blog commenting privileges.

Somebody’s feeling all depressed and left-out because he discovered we’d spent the last year writing a blog about him without letting him join in on the fun…

We let Sid read and comment on his friend’s blogs, like Noodles’ pug-poetry jam, or Minnie Moo and Lincoln’s southern adventure stories, or Payton’s journal of pug perseverance, but we never told him about Pug Slope.  Sid already thinks the world revolves around him – we worried that if he knew we were spending all of our free time writing about him and his antics he’d totally forget who’s in charge around here.  And now, with him knowing that all of the pugs he’s been humbly following on the web are also following him? We may as well just put out an endless supply of dinner and toys, never take him on a walk again, and surrender to complete anarchy here at Pug Slope headquarters.

Well, whatever.  The cat’s out of the bag, and now somebody has insisted on having his own commenting account so he can reply to his friends’ comments and clarify anything Brian and I “got wrong” in our accounts of his daily mischief and mayhem.  And, if he’s really well-behaved and stays off my new pillow, he may even get to contribute a post every now and then.

Sid is anxiously awaiting your comments…

If you thought water drove Sid a little bonkers, wait until you see what happened this weekend.

Due to insanely high temperatures in NYC, we tried to stay inside as much as possible with the A/C cranked. Our apartment is super tiny so it’s not unusual for us to get a little restless – including Sid.

I was sitting at my desk when I heard Sid behind me, frantically spinning around and smacking his lips. I didn’t know what was going on until something buzzed right past me.

I don’t know how a fly got inside (all our windows are closed due to the A/C) but not only did the fly get inside the apartment, he also got inside Sid’s head. Yes, Sid tends to fixate.

It reminded me of this familiar scene from the Karate Kid:

Luckily I was able to grab my phone and record Sid’s uncanny fly-catching technique. Although he lacked the finesse that Mr. Miyagi possessed, he had twice the determination.

It’s 104° in Park Slope today!  Wayyy too hot for a pug to be playing outside.

Luckily, we’ve been sitting on never-before-seen footage of Sid taking a refreshing dip in the Prospect Park dog beach.

Much like how Noodles freaks out over bubbling brooks, Sid turns into el pug-o loco whenever he goes into the calm waters of a man-made pond.  Instead of having fun and swimming like the “normal” dogs, Sid becomes mesmerized / confused by the liquidy depths.  He essentially loses his mind while trying to get the acorns and berries that lie not on the surface of the water, but on the concrete surface below.  Also, you’ll notice in the beginning of this clip, that he also seems to think that his legs have disappeared.  It’s all very confusing and disorienting, but if anybody’s got the determination to pull something “edible” from the depths of the dog beach, it’s Sid.

Sid was worried he’d be the only neighborhood pug at Prospect Park on July 4th.

But, when we arrived at the Long Meadow for off-leash hours, there were already six – SIX! – pugs running around like maniacs in celebration of our nation’s independence.

Eddie was there, leading the pack…

And Winston made his official off-leash hours debut!

The lovely Lola couldn’t get enough of Winston’s puppy energy…

And Sid’s friend Bruno brought along a new buddy…meet Pugsley!

If patriotism were measured in licks, snorts, and circular high-speed chases, these pugs would be right up there with Jefferson, Washington, and Franklin.

Get this pug’s face on a dollar bill, stat!

This Sunday we had a great time at the off-leash hours in Prospect Park. Many of Sid’s pug friends were also in attendance, including his buddy, Eddie.

However the real party was just getting started.

As we, Eddie, and his parents were on our way out of the park, in strolled a familiar face: Winston!

Sid pulled Winston aside and attempted to impart the ancient ways of treat acquisition, while Eddie explained the best technique for face licking.

Almost immediately, in walked another pug friend, Cosmo!

Cosmo started running and everyone else joined in the chase. At this point, it was starting to become difficult to tell everyone apart as they all had on blue harnesses (I think we ended up bringing the right pug home with us).

Of course, Winston ended up being the center of attention.

We can’t wait for next weekend!!!

With summer right around the corner, we’re trying to implement a new routine in which we actually wake up before work and take Sid to Prospect Park for the off-leash dog hours. The blog F’d in Park Slope had a really funny post about the off-leash hours, equating it to Spring Break in Miami Beach, but for dogs. It’s a very apt description.

We’d taken Sid to the park in the morning but never to the long meadow area where the off-leash party takes place. This weekend we decided it was about time. On Saturday of all days, we somehow managed to get up early (for us!) and hurried him over to the off-leash area just before 9am – when the off-leash time ends. We ran into about a half-dozen other pug regulars and we all had a wonderful time – but of course we forgot to bring the camera…We’re really not morning people.

So, on Monday, we made sure to bring along the camera in order to document pugs in the wild.

We didn’t bump into any of the pug friends from Saturday, but instead were greeted by two new non-pug friends. Well, truth be told, one was a half-pug, but Sid took an immediate shine to the tiny jack russel mix named Zoey.

Zoey was already running around in giant loops like a maniac when we arrived and Sid quickly took to her tail. As far as pugs go, Sid is actually quite athletic and managed to keep up with her pretty well. Eventually she abruptly skidded to a stop and flipped onto her back. Sid wasn’t sure what to do.

Zoey started coyly tossing herself from side-to-side and, after a moment’s hesitation, Sid actually started playing. I know this may seem like normal dog behaviour, but Sid is typically the third wheel at the dog park. He’ll find two dogs having a great time and unsucccessfully attempt to butt in. This time a dog was actually playing with him!

It wasn’t long before Zoey’s brother, Elliot, got into the action – though he seemed content to sniff from the sidelines.

While it was clear that our pug buddy enjoyed himself at the park, Sid had no problem leaving when it was time to go. His new dog friends are at the park, but home is where the treats are.