After all the vet visits earlier this month (including a yearly check-up, rabies shot, dental cleaning, and a trip to the emergency vet after an episode that I shall refer to as “The Vomity Calamity”), Sid and I were happy to have a fairly normal and uneventful week or so.

Being that it is still mid-winter here, we did get some more snow this past Sunday, but just enough to make everything look pretty and not the kind of snow where people collapse on the street while attempting to extract their cars from gigantic fluffy white mounds.

Winnemac park looks especially beautiful with a coating of snow. We’ve been getting up earlier than usual now that sun comes up sooner, so our morning walks have been very pleasant.

The park holds all the wonderful smells that Sid dreams about each night. I think the snow must enhance the smells as he can spend a good five minutes with his snout plastered to the base of a light post.

He also gets to observe and greet fellow canines. Or, depending on the pooch in question, he’ll just huff and puff and eventually bark at them from a safe distance (as he is demonstrating above).

He will sometimes track human boot prints in hopes that he may eventually find the human and they will have treats for him.

If this little guy tracked you down through the snow-filled tundra, you’d reward him with some baby carrots, right?

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes during Sid’s dental cleaning. I always worry whenever he has to be given anesthesia and it was comforting to know everyone had their fingers and paws crossed for him.

I’m happy to report he made it through the cleaning A-OK and did not require any extractions. Woo hoo! So, needless to say, he has happily returned to his normal routine of being spoiled (rotten) with treats.

I only hope he’ll eventually forgive me for making him fast for so long!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Hi there Pug Slopers!

Sid here today. I’m sorry if I seem a little grouchy today. It’s because I’ve been FASTING.

If you’re a pug, the concept will be completely foreign to you because we are not programmed to fast. I had to look up the term on google and basically it means CHOOSING to NOT EAT. Sorry, my brain just fizzled for a second while I attempted to process that concept.

See, I have to get my teeth cleaned today and I’m not supposed to have anything in my system when they do the cleaning. So the last morsel of food I had was YESTERDAY at NOON! Can you believe it? I bet you can’t, but it is most certainly true.

It is NO FUN, let me tell you.

I keep giving my dad the stink eye, but I’ve been unable to break him like I usually can. He gives a deep sigh every time I follow him into the kitchen since he can’t even give me a tiny baby carrot. He can’t look me in the eye, which I think means my fasting is hard on him, too, because he does like to spoil me (most of the time).

Please send me good juju for my dental cleaning today. I don’t want ANY extractions and don’t want the bill to totally eradicate my treat funds, either. Let’s just get the teeth sparkly clean, the nails trimmed, and get back to our normal eating routine.

On the plus side, my Dad said that once I’m done with my dental, I’m going to get SPOILED with treats and even get some extras for the ones I missed while fasting. At least that is something to look forward to!

When the weather gets brutally cold and I find myself cooped up at home, I finally find that I have time to do those little projects that I had put on the back burner during the more pleasant summer months when all I wanted to spend every minute outside.

Today’s project involved one of Sid’s many beds. He was given this bed as a gift for his 7th birthday back when he called NY home. While the sturdy material the bed is fashioned from had stood up well after repeated washings and feverish digging/nesting sessions courtesy of Sid, over time the stuffing had compressed and the bed just looked flat and sad.

During the summer, when I got the idea for this project, I had picked up a bag of fiber fill from Joann Fabrics for this very purpose. I wasn’t sure how much to get so I got a rather large bag (thinking I might eventually re-stuff one of his other beds, too!).

Plumping up the bed was much easier than I had anticipated. First, I took the bed to the laundromat and put it through the hot wash cycle to get it squeaky clean. I hope Sid doesn’t mind that the patches of peanut butter that were mashed into the fiber are now long gone!

I then cut a hole big enough for my hand to fit into on the underside of the bed and finally got to the fun part: I just began stuffing fistfuls of the fiber fill into the bed (making sure to pack it in tightly) and distributing it evenly throughout all the nooks and crannies. As you can see from the photo above, I ended up using up over half the bag! My Sid will not stand for a saggy bolster.

Then a quick row of stitches to seal up the hole and PRESTO! Good as new! In fact, BETTER THAN NEW!

I think he likes it, wouldn’t you agree?

We’ve been keeping up with our friends and family members out on the East Coast and it looks like Jonas brought in more snow then we’ve seen here in Chicago this winter so far. I’m sure we’ll be getting more inches (or feet???) as the winter wears on but just the other day we woke up and were greeted with a nice dusting of huge fluffy flakes.

We were very lucky as I know some folks in Washington DC, Boston, and NY are dealing with much-taller-than-a-pug drifts of snow!

We hope you are all staying warm and safe out there!

We are well into the throes of a frigid winter, and unless you are reading this in Florida or southern California, you are probably looking for a simple method to keep from freezing.

Well, my friends, you’re in luck because today Sid would like to show you his favorite technique for beating the cold: Sunbathing! Indoors!

The first step is to bundle up in some thick warm apparel, preferably dark in color (it absorbs the heat better). You might try a cozy fleece sweater similar to the one our model is sporting.

The next step is to locate the spot in your home with maximum sun exposure. Keep in mind this spot will slowly move throughout the day, so be prepared to shift every hour or so.

Sprawl out in a comfortable position and start absorbing those wonderful warm sun beams. That’s it!

Good luck keeping warm folks!

With just a few hours to go before the big Powerball drawing, Sid made me run down to the corner liquor store to pick his numbers.

He told me he plans to do the following if he wins the $1.5 billion:

1. Fly all his canine friends (and their humans) from around the world to Chicago for an “epic” play date and treat binge.
2. Donate $1 million to each pug rescue organization.
3. Purchase a few more confidence shirts as most of his are pretty threadbare.
4. Buy a rustic vacation home on a baby carrot farm.
5. Nap more

Also, he added that even though I paid the $20 for the tickets, we are by no means “going splitsies” on the winnings. Apparently, since they are HIS numbers, HE gets full determination as to what happens to any winnings. Well, we’ll see how far he gets without me when he tries to claim his prize.

Anyone else get their tickets?!