How am I, you ask? Well, let me tell you, I’m BEAT!
Since the weather has been so nice here in Chicago lately, my dad has been extending my walks and we’ve been covering some major ground every day. Sure, it helps to keep us both in shape, keep my nails at a reasonable length (I REFUSE to let him trim or dremel them!), and it’s fun to walk down new blocks or visit new parks, but with all this extra mileage my legs need a break!
I’ve found this new criss cross position helps to relax and stretch my muscles. I could lay like this all day. In fact, I usually do!
Have do you guys like to recover after a long walk?
P.S. In case you were wondering, that is my current elevated bed, or “ela-bed“, that I use to get up into the big bed. It’s essentially a bin with a bed on top. But sometimes I like to just lounge on it. I have 5 beds, so I make sure to use all of them at some point!
I hadn’t had a chance to catch my breath from my last few adventures when I was hit smack in the nose-flap with another round.
First off, I got to kick up my paws at Osterman Beach again.
This unusually-cool June weather has been PERFECT for pug adventures. The sun may have been shining brightly but the temps weren’t too high there was a nice breeze to keep me from overheating. I also brought along my trusty rusty water dish for mid-adventure refreshment. And then when I was done gulping down all the water flipped my dish over and used it to make sand castles. At least that’s what I attempted to do.
I had heard tales of tantalizing discarded hot-dog tid-bits and pizza crusts lurking in the tall grasses that border the sand but my search wasn’t very fruitful. Er, wasn’t very hot-dog-ful. Or crusty. Still, it was fun to smell all those great beach scents and to squish the sand between my toes.
So, not only did I get to go to the beach, BUT I ALSO GOT TO GO ON…
(make sure you are sitting down, folks)…
A BOAT!!!
And not just any boat, but A BOAT FILLED WITH DOGS!!!
I’m sorry to tease you with just one photo, which was taken by one of the other pug’s parent, but my human still hasn’t pulled our photos from the camera. I’ll tell you all about the boat ride in my next post.
Until then, eat treats and prosper.
To celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday, Sid and I decided to venture into some uncharted territory. Well, uncharted for him anyway. We hoofed it over to the El station, he hopped into his tomato-red travel bag, and we zipped off on the El train down to Lincoln Park.
The sun was bright and the air was warm, so I came prepared with some ice cold water and a small dish so Sid could frequently rehydrate his pug mug throughout our excursion. We exited the train at Diversey and walked East towards the lakefront. By the time we got to the North Pond, Sid and I were both ready for an H2O break and a good ol’ fashioned sit.
We found a nice shady spot where Sid immediately became best friends with his little water dish. We relaxed by the North Pond and watched the birds and other wildlife go about their daily affairs.
After our batteries had recharged we completed the circle around the whole pond, through all the interesting native gardens near the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. In those wonderful gardens we saw lots of songbirds, butterflies, ducks and ducklings, and even a turtle!
The heat was getting to Sid by that point so we started heading back to the El station. Instead of taking the direct route down Diversey, we leisurely zig-zagged down the shady tree-lined side streets. All of a sudden we came upon this wonderfully ornate mansion on Wrightwood Avenue.
My photo doesn’t really capture it well as I couldn’t get the whole facade in the frame as the home is massive. It is known as the Francis J. Dewes House, was built in 1896 for its namesake, and is a registered Chicago landmark. The house next door, which is also from the 1890’s and is a registered Chicago Landmark, was built by Francis’s brother, August Dewes. It is also very ornate and the mansard roof was spectacular.
About a block away from the El station, we took a little break in a shady patch of grass. Sid gulped down the remaining drops of our cool water supply and then proceeded to flop onto his side for a belly rub! It was really funny. He got plenty of “awwws” from passersby.
We had a great day! Hope to have another adventure like this again soon.
I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. Friday was perfect pug weather – sunny, but with a refreshing cool breeze. I got done with work a little early, so in the afternoon Sid and I ventured east to the lake.
Sid must have smelled the sand and surf because as soon as we got a block away he started getting really frisky and started pulling me down the sidewalk which is out of character for him.
Our first glimpse of Lake Michigan occurred at our usual spot, Foster Beach. But the water level was much higher than normal and the entire “dog beach” section of the beach was under water! You see, the area BEHIND the fence is where the dog beach is normally found.
Sid was still just as excited to play in the sand on the outskirts of the dog beach as he would have on the proper dog beach. He had a riot romping up and down the little dunes.
We then headed north along the concrete retaining wall. A few huge waves crashed right near us spraying us with mist – Sid could not conceal his excitement.
“OMG WAVES ARE THE COOLEST! WAAAAAAAAAA!”
If you’ve been following Pug Slope for a while, you know bodies of water of any size – from tiny puddles to massive lakes – have a mesmerizing effect on Sid. He kept intently staring at the waves bobbing and rolling as we strolled along the edge of the walkway.
Soon, we reached the next beach, Osterman Beach.
Sid had a great time running through the larger sand dunes where the grass met the sand. He was channeling his inner-puppy. I had a hard time keeping up with him!
We had so much fun and plan to get to the beach more this summer!
Our apartment building is having all kinds of work done to its exterior so life has been pretty chaotic the past couple weeks at the ol’ Pug Slope HQ. Poor Sid was finding it hard to relax with mysterious men walking around on scaffolding outside all of our windows. The work seems to require lots of really loud drilling of bricks which releases brick dust everywhere.
This past weekend, Sid was finally able to find solace from all the noise and commotion with his new plush lion toy.
He located all the good sunny spots around the apartment and would trot from spot to spot with his gigantic floppy lion in tow.
I’m hoping I can find something to serve as my own comfort lion before all the drilling makes me lose my mind.
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!
Let’s just say I had another one of the best weekends ever this past weekend. It’s amazing what happens when you combine a hot sunny day, a large body of water, a squishy pink ball, and like, you know, TWENTY OR SO PUGS!
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.
