The weather in Brooklyn has been gorgeous lately, so the other day our friend Rob, a professional photographer, came along on Sid’s afternoon walk to stretch his legs, soak in the sunshine, and snap a few photos of the most adorable pug in Brooklyn. Rob took all the photos for today’s post. He’s obviously gifted when it comes to shooting photos of surly pugs, but his normal models are typically more…human. Check out more of his work here: www.robgullixson.com.

We had a nice photo session and Rob got some great shots of Sid among all the blooming flora. As we were leaving the park, though, we encountered something on the sidewalk that made Sid stop dead in his tracks.

Sid was confused. He thought he must have walked into a carnival and was staring into one of those funhouse mirrors. Across from him was a tiny smooshed version of himself!

He tiptoed in to get a closer look and sniff this reflection. He quickly discovered this wasn’t an optical illusion. This thing smelled like a pug, looked like a pug, and breathed loudly like a pug… It must be a pug!

Sid was baffled that something so cute and tiny could exist. We were, too. When Sid entered our lives he was already 4 years old, so we missed out on the puppy stage. We’ve never seen one this tiny in person.

His name is Winston. Sid was trying to sniff a little more but Winston was an excitable little fellow and was skittering all over the place. Pretty soon he was zipping away down the block.

When we got home, Sid felt a little worried we might “upgrade” to a younger model Pug, like Winston, and started googling phrases like “pug botox” and “nose-flap rejuvenation.” We gave him a big hug, disconnected the Internet, and told him not to fret because he’ll always be the cutest pug in our book!

(Thank you, Rob, for taking such great photos!)

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.

On this very blustery Saturday, we met up with our neighbor Sara and her dog Ruby with plans to walk through the park up to Grand Army Plaza to check out the Farmer’s Market.

Ruby is a sophisticated older lady, but don’t think she doesn’t have a wild side. If you are a bird or squirrel, you best stay far away from this ginger gal.

On our way through the park, Ruby found a nice spot of grass to graze on. Sid was very intrigued as soon as he saw Ruby nibbling away and flew over to inspect what she was chowing down on. When he got to her grazing spot, he sniffed intently but couldn’t figure out what she was enjoying so much (Sara said Ruby was just getting her “daily serving of greens”). Thank goodness for us, and the plant-world at large, Sid did not find grass all that appetizing. If he did, Prospect Park would soon become a giant dirt patch.

There were quite a few trees starting to bloom and Sid took an interest in a large flower that had fallen to the ground. Maybe this was what Ruby was so excitedly eating before, when he’d run over and only found yucky grass?  After some close inspection and intense sniffing, he deemed it, too, to be inedible. Flowers everywhere breathed a sigh of relief.

We finally arrived at the farmer’s market, and despite the strong winds and general hum-drum weather, there was a decent crowd there. We took Sid to what he might call “heaven” – the apple stand. The apples were as large as Sid’s cranium, but I’m sure that would not have stopped him from trying to wolf down one (or a hundred).

Much to Sid’s delight, the farmer’s market is a place where scraps of food on the ground are plentiful. In order for us to actually continue on our way through the market without Sid stopping to sniff at each and every bit of something on the ground, we had to pick him up. Ruby didn’t like that one bit and demanded that Sid be put back on the ground so he could enjoy the scraps that dogs are entitled to. When Ruby speaks, one listens, so Sid was back to hovering the grounds of the farmer’s market for the rest of the excursion.

On our trek back home through the park, Ruby found a nice smelly spot on the grass to roll around in and was soon flipped over on her back, swishing around with fervor.

Sid wasn’t sure what to make of what was going on and ran over to make sure Ruby was ok. He knows all about sniffing smelly spots but he’s never tried rolling around on them. Luckily Sid’s diva-like tendencies kept him from joining in, and we were able to make it home with our fresh veggies and bread before the rain began to fall.

As you know, we here at Pug Slope like to keep our masthead up-to-date as the seasons change in our neighborhood. At this point, we are definitely past the time when snow is in the forecast, so we thought it would be a good time to update the masthead which can only mean one thing: Pug Photo Shoot!

We took Sid into the park hoping to catch him doing something adorable in front of some daffodils, but he was a proving to be a little difficult to work with today – largely due to the eventual revelation that we didn’t really have any treats and were just pinching our fingers together and waving them around in an attempt to lure him into posing for the photos. (Don’t worry – he got plenty of real treats when we got back home!)

Here is a shot-by-shot transcription:

“Marvelous shot, Sid. You’re off to a great start. Can we just get a tad more of a head tilt? You know it’s one of the rules of cuteness.”

“WHOAH…ok, that was way too much head tilt. Reel it in a bit…we want a head tilt without it looking like a head tilt, y’know?”

“No, Sid, that guy over there said he was going to meet someone…he didn’t say ‘treats‘…yes, yes, you’ll get your treats after the session per your contract.”

“Alright, Sid! I think we got a winner! Now, uh, about those treats we discussed…I’ve got a tiny bit of bad news…um…”

This past weekend brought with it beautiful Spring-like weather. We haven’t really had a full-on fun day at the park since the fall, and all of us have put on a little extra “padding and insulation” over the winter hibernation period – even Sid. Since Sid isn’t allowed at the YMCA, we took him through our very own Pug Boot Camp.

Unlike Boot Camp fitness classes for humans, which require all sorts of tension bands, weights, and mats, the only supplies needed for Pug Boot Camp are a plush russet potato, a plush bee, and proper workout apparel. Sid happens to have all of these supplies in spades.

We began the workout with some potato-in-mouth short sprints…

… and then moved on to some bee fetching. This skill requires deep concentration, eye-muzzle coordination, and a strong affection for plush bees. Well, at least Sid possesses that last component.

Once the bee fetching was over, we started doing some chasing, pushing his dexterity to the max and beyond. Sid was definitely blasting his quads, mastering his glutes, pushing his max, zoning in on his core, etc.

He was even able to master more advanced skills, including a power run with bee-in-mouth and ears fully extended.

He was pretty knackered after a while, but we made sure he got a proper cool-down.

Well, as you may be able to tell from the majority of the posts this winter, Sid, like us, is a homebody. Not content with just being inside the home, he must at all times be stretched out horizontally with his head propped up on something or someone (see The World is Sid’s Bolster). However, the slight elevation of outside temperatures and the anticipation of Spring has made the notion of going outside for daily walks slightly more bearable for the little dude (and for us as well).

Since we live so close to Prospect Park, we take Sid there at least once a day – usually in the mornings. We have a few set routes that we follow which Sid seemed pretty happy with. But, this past week, all that changed when Sid found his new favorite spot.

Throughout the fall, leaves were Sid’s obsession. A pile of fallen leaves beckoned to him like the Sirens did to Odysseus. But after a few months, the leaves had become old hat and he moved on to a new passion: MULCH! This explains why Sid’s new favorite spot is the landscaped area around the Harmony Playground which recently received a fresh dousing of the woody goodness.

He loves trolling the entire area with his head mere millimeters away from the mulchy surface. After much deliberation and back-and-forth, he’ll determine the ideal place to do his business.

Sid has always done a celebratory set of little “kicks” when he finishes doing his business – similar to the way a bull does before it charges the matador. However the mulch has brought out the little beast in him and he has a whole show that he does now. After a few sneezes and head-shakes he starts the kicking portion. Sometimes he’ll kick so much that he actually starts moonwalking. It’s really hard not to laugh.

All in all though, we’re really happy to be able to spend some more time in the park with our favorite little high-kicking pug.

The snow that had been dumped on us from the post-Christmas blizzard was starting to look pretty nasty, so last week, when we were lucky enough to get a nice cover of fresh snow, we decided it would be a good time to take Sid out and start him on a new vocation – snow plowing.

The blizzard a week earlier was so bad that it took 4 days for our street to be plowed – we required a backup plan. This being Sid’s first winter with snow, we took the little guy to the park to gave him an opportunity to hone his skill.

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