Sid is still talking about the ice cream he ate this past weekend and his fun visit with Christy, Tim, Donald, Daisy, Gammy, and Gampy. In addition to taking Sid out for some amazing ice cream, they also gave him a gift bag with some awesome plush toys in it. There was an ample supply of plush potatoes, which, as you probably already know, are one of his all-time favorites, and an extra-large and extra-floppy plush lion.

Sid has become smitten with the lion and now he carries it around with him when moving from one room to another. He also likes to bring it onto the bed at night and hike it through his back legs REPEATEDLY. I guess we all got to have our bedtime rituals, right?

Thank you guys for such great toys! You certainly know what Sid likes!

Sid and I hope everyone had a fun Fourth of July. It was so nice having a three-day weekend. Not only did we have amazing weather but we were graced with the presence of a whole car-load of special guests!

When the packed car pulled up at Pug Slope HQ, Christy and Tim (pug-rents of Angel Payton the Pug) and their pugs, Donald and Daisy, hopped out followed by two other humans. Humans whom Sid and I had never met in person before: Christy’s parents – a.k.a. Payton’s “Gammy” and “Gampy”! Sid’s mind was blown.

The beach was packed for the holiday so we opted to hang out at Winnemac Park. We spread out the blanket, kicked back, and let the pugs do some serious sniffing. Daisy was happy we didn’t end up going to the beach as she is not very crazy about sand and surf. The recently-mowed grass of the park was much more her speed.

I was armed with venison jerky treats and as soon as Sid noticed this fact, he got into super-model mode and did whatever pose would ensure promptest treat delivery.

Donald caught wind of what was going on and joined in on the action. If you ever wish to have a pug in your presence, and you don’t see any around, just hold some venison jerky in your hands. Within seconds you will have at least half a dozen sitting in front of you staring unblinkingly.

We all hopped in the car and rolled over to Crosby’s Kitchen for lunch. All pugs were on exceptional behavior! I guess they might have had some premonition of joy in their near future and didn’t want to do anything stupid that would spoil what was in store for them after lunch.

After a delicious meal, we all made tracks for Scooter’s Frozen Custard which was one of three places on Gampy’s Chicago checklist. The other two were also ice cream joints. The man has his priorities in order, that’s for sure.

Not only did the humans get to indulge in delicious frozen custard concoctions, but each of the dogs were given their own complementary mini cones filled with vanilla frozen custard! The teeny cones were adorable but I didn’t get a photo of them. You know why? Well, I was busy dealing with another situation. I’ll let the photos tell the story…

If there would have been a third photo, it would have captured Sid’s muppet arms swiping my ice cream right off the bench and onto the ground. Remember when I said the pugs were behaving exceptionally well during lunch? Well, a CERTAIN PUG WHOSE NAME STARTS WITH AN “S” couldn’t contain himself in the presence of the sweet sweet ice cream and knocked his poor dad’s cup onto the ground.

Thank goodness Scooter’s was very understanding of my predicament and gave me a replacement cup for free. I’m pretty certain Sid felt no remorse for his actions and probably would have knocked my second cup of ice cream on the ground if there was a 0.001% chance that it might end up in his mouth.

Before we parted ways, Sid said he wanted to be sure he got a photo with Gammy because she’s one of his biggest fans.

Thank you to Christy, Tim, Donald, Daisy, Gammy, and Gampy for visiting us and for making this one of Sid’s best days ever!

Yesterday, we did some further experiments in the endless quest to keep a pug cool during the sweltering days of summer.

METHOD 1: COOLING HARNESS – Now this is how you keep cool in style. Sid received this sharp-looking harness from our fellow pug-blogger friend, Christy. It was handmade by her and fits Sid like a well-tailored suit. The main part of the harness is made out of a water-absorbing ShamWow-esque material. You just get the harness nice and wet with cold water, wring it out, and then slip in on. The harness stays nice and cool and the moisture also allows the breezes to provide some cooling action (since dogs don’t produce sweat on their bodies). Sid wore his on his walk and kept cool the whole time. We also stuck to routes along tree-lined streets that provide much-needed shade.

METHOD 2: TUB OF COOL WATER – After some failed attempts by Sid to jump into the tub while I was taking a shower (wish I could have got a photo of that somehow), I put him in the tub by himself with a few inches a cool water. I doused his back and belly using a small bucket. The cool water seemed to help quite a bit, but pretty soon he was counteracting the cooling of the water and working up a sweat by splashing water everywhere like a maniac (he has a strange obsession with water as you might recall).

METHOD 3: BAG OF FROZEN PEAS UNDER A BLANKET – In retrospect, probably the worst idea for a food-crazed pug. He wouldn’t leave the bag alone and furiously kept digging until he unearthed it.

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CONCLUSION: I need to get the A/C unit up from the basement and get it into a window – pronto!

I’m not a huge fan of the term “velcro dog” but when it comes to pugs, it’s a pretty apt description. Sid almost always joins me in whatever room I happen to be in. Cleaning/organizing the house becomes quite comical as I am usually mad-dashing around from room to room and Sid is tip-tip-tipping around behind me like a little snorting shadow.

He even joins me in the bathroom.

I suppose I can’t fault him for it. Whenever he goes to the bathroom, I’m right there beside him. I suppose he’s just being polite and returning the favor.

I know Sid just told you about an adventure he recently went on in our neighborhood, but I guess it’s been his lucky week because he got to go on yet another one. The weather was just perfect so we took a little stroll over to Lincoln Square which is about a 10-minute walk from Pug Slope HQ.

Lincoln Square is home to a lot of interesting independent shops including Merz Apothecary which is over 100 years old. Merz has all kinds of fascinating stuff including fancy soaps, perfumes, bath supplies, homeopathic treatments, moisturizers, and even moustache wax (which was a necessity back when I was sporting the handlebar!). Many of the items are imported from Europe or other parts of the world, thus making their selection way more interesting than a CVS or Walgreens.

Aside from the apothecary, Lincoln Square also has a book store, a vintage guitar store, lots of stores geared to kids, a small movie theatre, gift shops, and lots of little places to get a bite to eat or wet your whistle.

We sat down to relax for a bit at Giddings Plaza which is a pleasant outdoor space with benches, shade trees, and a fountain. There’s almost always people hanging out here and often kids will be running around or drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. In the summer they have free live music in the plaza.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah….I’m standing by the fountain. Now gimme my baby carrot.”

Before we left Sid wanted to get a photo by the El tracks. If you’re not familiar with Chicago, the “El” is the local name for the subway system here, although “subway” isn’t the best term because most of the system is elevated (thus the nickname). Sid actually got to ride on the El train last month when he had to go to the vet for his dental.

Siddhartha Lamont: Urban Pug

Hi there, everyone!

I hope you all had an awesome weekend. I want to tell you about this cool place in my ‘hood that I got to check out last week.

My Aunt Anna (who, along with Uncle Andrew, watches me when my dad goes out of town) has this cool job where she designs spots around town where new plants, trees, and paths are going to go. She was working just around the corner from Pug Slope H.Q. the other day so I wandered over to check out the construction site and to offer my opinion on the best plants to install for pugs to pee on. Plus I heard she was in charge of telling some huge digging things what to do so I was dying to see that, too. Anywho, here’s a shot of the site.

The flat areas are going to be transformed into a walking path for humans (and dogs) and those big boulder thingees will serve as benches for sitting and relaxing. Pretty neat, eh? The benches were very nice, but, like, I’m a rebel so I just laid down and had a rest right in the dirt! I can’t be tamed.

I can’t wait until the plants arrive – there will be so many new smells!

Sid and I have been avoiding the computer as much as possible in an attempt to take advantage of the pleasant weather we’ve been having lately. After enduring this past winter, which seemed to go on forever, we have been savoring the sunshine as often as possible.

I’m still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that it’s already June. It seems like just a few weeks ago we were donning the puffy coats and fleece and bracing for a walk in the polar vortex. Well, anyway – I hope that helps explain why we’ve been a bit absent on the blog lately (and have been a bit lax visiting other blogs).

…

This weekend, Sid went on a rampage. It all started with the arrival of an enormous box with his name on it.

Yep, the UPS delivery person arrived with a gargantuan package from Sid’s favorite online vendor, Mr. Chewy. I’m pretty sure Sid doesn’t know how to read (he does know some basic spelling though, like T-R-E-A-T, S-N-A-C-K, and V-E-T) so I’m always impressed how he can instantly detect a cardboard box that contains dog food, treats, and nylabones. I suspect Mr. Chewy sprays their boxes with some kind of scent that drives dogs wild (Eau d’ Beggin’ Strips?). Or perhaps the shape and/or color of the logo on the side of the box was designed to stimulate the dog brain. Who knows. In any event as soon as the box was opened, he leapt inside and starting going nuts.

Stand back, people, I’m goin’ in…

The rampage continued on over to his toy bin where he extracted every plush toy and distributed them around the entire apartment. It’s kind of like how Disneyland is intentionally laid out so there is always a garbage can within reach. Sid applied that same concept to Pug Slope HQ, only that at any given moment he wanted to assure he’d be only a paws-length away from a plush toy.

At least he decided to have a little rest after his rampage – while I was left to clean up the war path.