Sorry we’ve been absent for a bit. Sid and I have been travelling back and forth between the city and the suburbs this past week for some activities with the family and haven’t spent much time online.

We have, however, spent a decent amount of time in transit or waiting for trains, which Sid doesn’t mind at all since he gets a the steady flow of treats while he’s in his travel bag.

Now put that tongue away so I can zip you up, dude – the train’s arriving!

Sid and I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. As expected, Sid was spoiled with all kinds of tasty scraps and got lots of extra belly rubs from his grand-pug-rents.

This was an exciting Thanksgiving for us because it was the first time that Sid and I got to ride together on the Metra train to visit my family out in the suburbs.

You may remember, shortly after moving to Chicago, I discovered that pets in carriers were allowed on all Chicagoland public transit systems except the Metra trains that link the city with the suburbs. I met another person who had just started a petition as she wanted to bring her small dog with her to events in the city. So for the past couple years we worked together to get more and more signatures on the petition. We were able to get articles written about the issue in local news sources, we attended meetings of the Metra board and spoke during the public comments section, and this summer they finally implemented a pilot program to allow pets in carriers on one of the lines during the weekends. It was a success so they expanded the program to all lines during the weekends and holidays. I’m hopeful that by the end of the year the permanent policy will allow pets in carriers on all lines at any time, just like all the other public transit systems.

Sid is a traveling champ and once he gets in his red travel bag, he has no trouble kicking back and relaxing. I always provide him with an ample dose of treats while he’s in his bag, so of course he often doesn’t want to get out of the bag when we arrive at our destination. Most other travelers don’t even notice that I have a dog with me, and those that do ask me all about him and “ooo” and “awww” the whole time (most pugs are used to, and expect, this kind of adoration).

So this Thanksgiving we were especially thankful for all the Pets on Metra supporters, including all you lovely Pug Slopers that signed the petition, and the wonderful folks at Metra that made our dream a reality!

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.

Well, I don’t mean the whole world – actually quite a small bit. Specifically the policy that doesn’t allow pets in small carriers on the Metra commuter trains that connect Chicago to its suburbs.

The photo above is of Sid was getting ready to hop inside his travel bag while at the airport last year. Most airlines allow small pets in the cabin as long as they stay inside an approved carrier during the flight. Same goes for all the buses and subterranean & elevated CTA train lines in the Chicagoland area. Somehow the Metra commuter trains, which connect the suburbs to the city, opted for a no pets period policy. Plegh. That’s a lot of P’s.

All of my family live in the suburbs and most of them are within walking distance from a Metra train stop. So if Sid and I want to visit them we have to rent a car, which for one is expensive, and, more importantly, defeats the purpose of living in a city with a great public transit system. We don’t want to contribute to auto traffic congestion – we want to ride the trains!

After doing a little research, I came across an online petition that had been created earlier this year by a like-minded individual who was looking for the exact same thing that Sid and I were looking for: a change to Metra’s pet policy to allow small pets in carriers (like everyone else!).

I know many of you do not live in Chicago, but if this issue hits home at all – perhaps the same type of policy exists in your city – please sign the petition. The more places we can bring our furry companions the better, right? THANK YOU!

I’ve come to the conclusion that Sid has absolutely no faith in our promise to reward him when he does something good.  Considering the number of treats this pug gets throughout the day as rewards for doing things as minor as sitting in his bed, I have no idea how and when we lost his trust.  Was there some incident in the past when he saved a boy from a well and we totally forgot to give him a treat???  Perhaps he vacuumed up all of his pug fur one weekend and we didn’t even notice, let alone give him a carrot???  Whatever it was, now the pug can’t just patiently wait for his treat when he does something good, as you’ll see in this video of Sid waiting at the bus stop in his travel bag:

This weekend, Sid got to go on a super-special-day-trip that involved going OVER a CANAL, UNDER a RIVER, and ONTO an ISLAND! It also involved some of his human relatives and some other pugs that he had never met before. So, did you you figure out where he went yet?!

As usual, Sid had to ride in style – in his bright red Sherpa travel bag, of course!

Be sure to tune in later this week for all the exciting details of his travels!