Hi everyone! Sid reporting. I’m so glad you’re here today. I want to tell you about the insanely fun time I had last weekend. Now that I’ve had a few days to recuperate, I’m ready to tell you all about it.

Well, I first knew something was up when my dad starting digging around in the closet and out flew my red travel bag. Last time that got pulled out we ended up going on an epic adventure in Lincoln Park. This time, however, we didn’t ride on the El train but instead got on a city bus. When we arrived at our destination in the west loop – Pet Care Plus – I was greeted by a handful of friendly pugs. Some of them were wearing flotation devices which I thought was odd, until I set eyes on… THE POOL!

I began by doing a few laps around the perimeter. To make sure the pool was, you know, up to all the proper regulations and such.

There were a few pugs swimming and some bobbing around in their floatation devices. I noticed a few other pugs just hanging out at one end of the pool, where the water was only dew-claw deep. Aha! That looked like a good place to start.

It was very hot and the sun was beating down, so getting my feet wet felt splendid and instantly cooled me off. Then all of a sudden I saw something familiar in the water. It was my glow-in-the-dark WIGZI ball!!! My dad had brought it with so we could play in the water.

It floats, and sometimes it would drift out of my reach into the deep end…

See how I put on the brakes?! Luckily my dad or some of the other awesome humans there would toss it back in my direction so I could try to bob for it in the shallow water again. Trying to catch it in the water was really challenging. I eventually found the best strategy was to quickly dunk my whole head under water to grab hold of the ball.

I decided to take a break from playing with the WIGZI ball so I waded back into the shallow end of the pool. Well, guess who I ran into?! None other than my friends that I met last month on the pug boat tour – Violet and Timmy!

That’s me and Violet – isn’t she cute?! She’s very petite. She just celebrated her 10th birthday and brought home-made mini cupcakes for all the pugs. They were delicious! Full disclosure: I actually ate two cupcakes. Thank you so much for the cupcakes, Violet!

I was feeling a bit mischievous and saw Violet trying to take some glamour shots, so I thought it’d be funny to photo-bomb them (with my blue potato, of course). Hee hee!

My dad and I played a bunch more with my blue potato, I met a bunch of other cool Chicago pugs, and I was the lucky recipient of some complementary butt scratches. Yes, that is the spot!

All in all, it was the perfect day for a pug.

And now you can hopefully understand why I was soooo pooped when I got home! I can’t wait to go to the next pug pool party!

—

Thank you so much to Violet’s mom, Christina, for taking the bulk of these photos. See, my doofus dad, in the heat of packing all the beach towels, toys, sunscreen, and other items, FORGOT to bring his good camera! So Violet’s mom was kind enough to take a bunch of shots of me! THANK YOU, CHRISTINA!

Also, THANK YOU to Chris and Dee Dee for organizing and hosting the event. If you live in Chicago and are interested coming to the pug meetups, the group’s website is: http://www.meetup.com/chicagopugs.

Sid reach a new level of exhaustion yesterday.

He was pretty much horizontal from 3pm until bedtime. I actually had to wake him up to give him his dinner, which, as you know with pugs, is unheard of.

Now you’re probably wondering: “what sort of crazy activity would cause a pug to get THAT TIRED?” Well, I’m going to let Sid tell you all about it later this week, but here’s a little picture preview. Let’s just say it involved a pool, a plush potato, and about thirty pugs…

(Above photo by Christina Gibson)

One of Sid’s favorite snacks, second only to baby carrots, are blueberries. You may already have seen him catch them mid-air. Today Sid is demonstrating his ability to “leave it”. “It” being some tasty plump blueberries. This skill is very challenging for a pug since, in their mind, the main reason for living is to “eat all of the foods”.

Not only does it require discipline and willpower, this skill also demands an ability to…

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dad. Enough yappin’. Are we gonna eat the blueberries or what?!”

In between adventures at the beach and getting pizza with his pug-sitter, Sid has been getting a lot of much-needed rest and relaxation. This has provided him lots of time for reflection on some of the deeper questions of life.

Questions of such profound magnitude as “how many hours until dinner is served?” and “when is he going to stop pointing that dang camera in my face?”. He’s a regular Socrates with a flat face.

On a side note, even though he has 3 beds (well, 4 if you count MY bed which he considers HIS bed), Sid has been spending a lot of time stretched out on the cool hardwood floors. Sometimes I’ll go over a put a plush toy under his head as a pillow, although I think he prefers to just rest his little round head flat on the floor sans pillow. What a goofball.

It certainly has been hot here in Chicago and the other day our ceiling fans just weren’t cutting it, so Sid and I took a stroll over to the lake to cool off.

The water level in Lake Michigan is a very high this year and the Foster Dog Beach has been reduced to a little triangle of sand. But Sid hardly noticed as he was there for one reason only: SWIMMING!

I got in the water with him and, let me tell you, that chilly water felt amazing and cooled off both of us instantly.

At times, the waves got pretty choppy and Sid ended up a little deeper than he realized. He is really good in the water, though, and managed to keep his head above water the whole time.

While there, we met a new pug friend: Colby!

Sid and Colby splashed through the waves and kicked up sand while racing each other on the beach. Colby certainly has a cute little face, huh?

With more sweltering days on the way, we may start making every day beach day!

… the Pug Will Play!

Hi everyone! Sid here today reporting to you live from Pug Slope HQ.

Now I make look cute, sleepy, and innocent in the above photo, but let me tell you, while my Dad was away on vacation for a few days earlier this week I PARTIED LIKE A CHAMP!

My two awesome pug-sitters, Lauren and Pam, loaded me up with excellent treats and belly rubs the whole time. I even took advantage of the fact that my overnight pug-sitter wasn’t familiar my normal schedule so I woke her up EXTRA EARLY so I could get breakfast as soon as the sun came up! Hee hee! Score one for the Sidster.

“TIME TO GET UP! I really do eat breakfast at 5:30am every day. I swear.”

I got to go on really fun walks to new parts of the neighborhood that Dad never took me to before.

“I have NO IDEA where I am and I’M OK WITH IT!”

I even got to EAT PIZZA at a restaurant that had outdoor seating! And guess who got a bunch of blueberries for dessert?! It was heaven.

I had so much fun, guys!

I did miss my Dad a little but my pug sitters were so awesome that they made the time he was away fly by. Thank you, Pam and Lauren!!!

(Now I just need to find a way to secretly hide these extra pounds I gained so I don’t have to go on a DIET!)

Hello everyone! How are you all doing today?

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!