Hi there my loyal ‘Slopers’! Sorry for taking so long to get this post up. I had all the photos ready to go but then my Dad got sick so I’ve been on call for nursing duties the last few days. The nursing just means lots of extra naps, even during the daytime! Can’t beat that, right?

Anyway, I probably built this up too much in my last post, but I did really go on an expedition this past weekend, though it might not have really been a RAMPAGE or THRILLING or TURBULENT.

My Dad and I started out on our usual after-dinner walk, but then we just kept on going! It was the first warm-ish day we’d had for many months so with a spring in our step, we strolled all the way to River Park. I know, it’s pretty much the most generic name for a park ever, but it actually is a really beautiful park the runs right along the Chicago River (which explains the name I guess).

As soon as we got there I noticed there were all these gigantic brown bean-pod things on the ground. I eat green beans from time to time so I thought they would taste the same but boy was I wrong. They were pretty disgusting, although I still tried to eat every single one I came across. I was hopeful there might be one that tasted as good as a green bean. No such luck.

Then we strolled around under the trees for a bit and took a few posed pictures. My Dad tricked me into thinking he had some baby carrots with him which is why he got me at the top of my posing game. I don’t know how I fell for that again – it’s definitely not the first time he’s pulled that move. Next time we do this I’ll be sure to make him stop by the fridge before we leave so I can WITNESS him actually putting the b.c.’s into his pockets.

Head on:

Profile:

And full-body, with a three-quarter twist (one of my specialties):

We then trekked over to the river. There’s a fence that blocks direct access to the river so I wasn’t able to go for a dip, but it still was a pretty sight, especially since the sun had begun setting. I can’t wait to go back again (if the weather here ever decides to cooperate!).

Well, after surviving the mildest East Coast Winter EVER (did we even get any snow?), today we celebrate the official arrival of Spring.

We implore all of you to follow Sid’s simple guidelines for a successful Spring Equinox Celebration: go outside for a nice, sunny walk in Prospect Park with your favorite treat-giving humans, and while you’re there, be sure to take some time to stop and eat smell the daffodils!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: SID DID NOT ACTUALLY EAT ANY DAFFODILS DURING THIS PHOTO SHOOT, AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU! After making what I thought was an innocent joke, I hopped over to our good friend Google to do some Googlin’, and apparently Daffodils are highly toxic for dogs.  Like, beyond toxic.  Lethal.  Especially the bulb but apparently a small nibble of any part of the plant could make you guys sick.  So, yeah, DO NOT EAT THE DAFFODILS!!!

I know we’re supposed to be posting the photos from Sid’s big night out, but mother nature has insisted that we hold off on that for now.  Within a few hours, Sid’s about to experience his first hurricane!

As you can see, Sid is a very prepared pug.  He’s already holed up in his hurricane shelter crate, his treat, water, and food supplies overfloweth, froggy’s nearby, and he has a package of wee-wee pads on hand so he can take care of business inside rather than becoming the umbrella to my Mary Poppins while Miss Irene passes through Park Slope.  Hooray, weather!

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since we packed all of our belongings into a Penske truck and drove from Los Angeles to Brooklyn. This may come as a surprise to you, but Sid is a great traveler.  The cabin of that truck became our cozy little home for about eight days, and Sid was happy as a clam.  Seriously.

We put a rubbermaid container between the two bucket seats and put his bed on top so he could be up at our level.  His water dish sat on the dash between our cup holders, and his Petco safety strap kept him buckled in but gave him a little freedom to move around.

Oh, and we quickly learned that the only way to avoid mass mayhem on the highway was to store his food / treat supply inside the rubbermaid container he was perched upon.  You gotta learn some lessons the hard way.

Click through for a few photos from the first days of our trip:

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This past weekend brought with it beautiful Spring-like weather. We haven’t really had a full-on fun day at the park since the fall, and all of us have put on a little extra “padding and insulation” over the winter hibernation period – even Sid. Since Sid isn’t allowed at the YMCA, we took him through our very own Pug Boot Camp.

Unlike Boot Camp fitness classes for humans, which require all sorts of tension bands, weights, and mats, the only supplies needed for Pug Boot Camp are a plush russet potato, a plush bee, and proper workout apparel. Sid happens to have all of these supplies in spades.

We began the workout with some potato-in-mouth short sprints…

… and then moved on to some bee fetching. This skill requires deep concentration, eye-muzzle coordination, and a strong affection for plush bees. Well, at least Sid possesses that last component.

Once the bee fetching was over, we started doing some chasing, pushing his dexterity to the max and beyond. Sid was definitely blasting his quads, mastering his glutes, pushing his max, zoning in on his core, etc.

He was even able to master more advanced skills, including a power run with bee-in-mouth and ears fully extended.

He was pretty knackered after a while, but we made sure he got a proper cool-down.

The snow that had been dumped on us from the post-Christmas blizzard was starting to look pretty nasty, so last week, when we were lucky enough to get a nice cover of fresh snow, we decided it would be a good time to take Sid out and start him on a new vocation – snow plowing.

The blizzard a week earlier was so bad that it took 4 days for our street to be plowed – we required a backup plan. This being Sid’s first winter with snow, we took the little guy to the park to gave him an opportunity to hone his skill.

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Since Sid was born and raised in Southern California, he has never seen snow.  So, of course, our first snowfall of our first winter in Park Slope was a blizzard.

Typical.

Our neighborhood was slammed with over two feet of snow.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know what all of you Upstate / Mid-western folks with your “lake-effect” snow storms are thinking.  But regardless of whether or not you think we’re wimps, our neighborhood went from “Dry as the Sahara” to “Arctic Expedition” in about 36 hours.  I’ve got photographic evidence to prove it:

December 25th:

December 27th:

That’s a lot of snow!

We had no idea how Sid would react to the snow; he hates the rain and he refuses to walk though puddles, so we were pretty much expecting the worse.  Also, we were advised that he should wear these rubber balloons on his feet to protect him from all of the salt that’s being tossed about on the sidewalks.

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