Well folks…turns out Sid spoke a little too soon. His eye is still bothering him and when I took him to the vet yesterday to see what was up, it appeared that his little injury hasn’t quite completely healed. Well, actually it likely did heal at some point but then when he rubbed or scratched his face he essentially un-did the healing. Ugh. So this is likely 100% my fault because I didn’t subject him to 24-7 cone humiliation. See what happens when you cave in to “pug pressure”?!
So now we are strictly adhering to the recommended round-the-clock conage and we’re back to administering drops every four hours (that includes in the middle of the night! Perhaps my next post will be at 4am!).
Sid could use any good pug juju you could send his way. We want this little abrasion to heal up completely so he can get back to his normal cone-free existence. Thank you in advance.
Although I’m feeling pretty good today, last week was another story. I had come down with some kind of cold or flu or combination thereof last week, and let me tell you, I don’t know if I would be here today without the help of my nurse. My fawn-colored, treat-crazy nurse.
He kept me warm and toasty at night by sleeping against the small of my back.
He made me laugh when I was feeling miserable.
By regularly prodding me when he wanted to eat, it reminded me to keep eating and drinking fluids even when I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry or thirsty.
Seeing him nap in the sun encouraged me to keep sleeping so I could allow my immune system to beat the cold/flu into submission.
I’ve also never heard of a human nurse that flipped onto their back and purred with joy when their belly was rubbed by their patient. PUG NURSE FOR THE WIN!
I just wanted to do a little post about a friend of mine from the Idaho Pug Ranch that crossed over the rainbow bridge this week.
Dear Greta –
I never got a chance to meet you in the fur, but I knew you well from all the wonderful stories and photos you shared. I miss you very much. I will never forget your adorable smile and your passion for life and fun. Your family and all your internet friends and fans will also miss you greatly. Although your life was short in years, I know you lived every moment to the fullest. I will remember your great sense of humor, playfulness, and mischief. I think that’s why your mom sometimes refers you as “Naughty Greta”. I’ll send some pug love to your family because I know their hearts are hurting. Rest in peace, little one.
OHMYGOSH – I don’t even know where to begin. Well, how about at the beginning.
This past Sunday, my normal late-morning snooze was interrupted by the sound of my travel bag tumbling from the closet shelf to the floor. My dad was flying around the apartment gathering up a bunch of things including a beach towel, sunscreen, my portable water dish, and a bag of treats. I figured we were heading out to the Foster dog beach. But then we got on the El train which was weird because we usually would walk or take the bus to get to the dog beach. Where the heck were we going?
After about 45 minutes of traveling (which I don’t mind at all since I was the recipient of a pretty steady stream of venison jerky treats the whole time), we arrived at a place called the Pet Care Plus “K-9 Oasis”. I have to say, it looked pretty amazing.
The Oasis had two huge sections: one where dogs could romp around on various platforms and beds, and another which was pretty much just one ENORMOUS DOG POOL!!!
It was a hot and sunny day so I dove right in to cool off. Boy did that cool water feel great! As I started walking I noticed the water getting deeper – turns out the pool starts off shallow but gradually slopes down to a deep end.
I enjoyed wading around the shallow end and sometimes venturing a little deeper so I could float a bit. My dad tried to encourage me to go into the deep end to try some swimming but I adamantly refused.
“DEEP END? Um, no way, dude – unless you’re prepared with handfuls of treats.”
Soon, I started to notice I was not alone. There was another pug hanging out in the pool.
And then ANOTHER. A pug pool party was forming before my very eyes! SWEET!
My dad explained that the Chicago Pug Meetup group had rented out the K-9 Oasis that day. So I guess he knew about this pug party all along but wanted it to be a surprise for me. Well, I certainly was pleased to meet so many cool pugs and have pug-obsessed humans fawning all over me.
One of the other humans brought this awesome pink ball and I was totally smitten with it. I couldn’t stop batting it around with my paws or trying to catch it in my jaws.
For some reason my dad couldn’t stop laughing at my ball-catching technique. He even recorded a video of it. I don’t think there was anything funny about it – I mean it works for sharks, right? And of course I made my dad go retrieve the ball when it started floating towards the deep end. I was not going to let my ears wet!
Sometimes I’d lose track of the ball and another pug would play with it for a while. That little pink ball was a hit, that’s for sure.
“Yo, anyone see a ball? Pink. Floaty. Perhaps with some pug teeth marks in it…”
I played in the water non-stop for over two hours, so by the end of the party I was starting to fade.
I had so much fun. Thank you to the Chicago Pug Meetup group for planning such a fun afternoon. I can’t wait to to do it again! And to all you other pugs out there – if you have a dog pool in your town, BY ALL MEANS get your curly-tailed butt down there pronto! It’s the best thing ever!
It started off as a typical Sunday afternoon. I had just finished my dinner (yeah, I eat dinner at 4:15 PM sharp) and was about to take my post-dinner nap when all of a sudden I was interrupted by my dad rummaging around in the closet. Being the curious pug that I am, I had to check out what the heck was going on.
Out flies my red travel bag. Ok – are we going flying again? Or on the subway? Then comes a big towel – oh crap, am I getting a bath today? Then my EXTRA LONG extendable leash. Wait, I have one of those? Before I knew what was going on, I was sitting at the bus stop in my travel bag.
While in on the bus, my mind was racing – I’ve never gone to the vet on the bus, we walk to Urban Pooch where I get my baths, and when I visit my grandpugrents we have to rent a car. What kind of crazy trip was I being taken on?! Well, our destination became clear as soon as I heard the seagulls squawking and the waves crashing: We were AT THE BEACH!
I hopped out of my travel and immediately sprinted to the water. The water was pretty frigid so I just dipped my toes in for a bit then laid out in the sand to soak up some sun.
My dad tried to get me to play fetch with a mini tennis ball, but since he didn’t have any treats there was no way I was going to bring it back to him (Dad still needs to read Urban Hounds instruction for how to teach a human to play fetch – TREATS ARE REQUIRED, POPS!). Instead I decided to create some “Beach Art”…what do you think?
(You might need to double-click to appreciate my masterpiece full size)
I had been frolicking around for a while at this point and the heat and sand and manic panting must have gotten to me because out of the haze I thought I saw ANOTHER PUG ON THE BEACH!
Turned out it wasn’t a mirage, but an actual little pug named Ginger. I ran over and said hi. She comes to Foster Beach pretty often so she showed me where the good spots to pee were. We sat in the shade and split a bowl of cool water (Please don’t tell T-Buttz, she’ll kill me!).
Before we left, I showed my dad my best impression of an Egyptian Sphinx:
Pretty good, right? BOL!
After all that running around, can you believe my dad and I walked the whole way back home?! He said it was because the temperature had dropped and it had become a “pleasant evening” but I just think he was too cheap to pay the $2 bus fare! I was POOPED by the time we got home.
Over the winter, I noticed a severe shortage in the number of pugs in our neighborhood. There were a lot of dogs that came to the park regularly but Sid was always the lone pug.
Well, that all changed once the weather started getting warmer.
Pugs have been heading to the park in droves and Sid has been making some local pug friends. For those that have trouble telling all the curly tails apart – including me – Sid is the one in the black harness.
A bunch of the local pugs are actually pairs – I guess you can’t have too much of a good thing!
I wish I had gotten a photo of each pug individually but they were all constantly in motion. Also, whenever pugs get in groups, they all seem to want to have their butts facing the camera (I guess they think it’s hilarious – sorta like their version of a photo-bomb).
Let’s see if I can remember all the names of the neighborhood pugs that we’ve met so far (with a little help from the note I keep in my phone…shhh don’t tell anyone my secret):
PUG SLOPE chronicles the adventures of a pug named Sid as he navigates his way through the world. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, started the blog in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and is currently calling Chicago, Illinois his home.
