Hey guys and gals! My Dad has been rushing around buying Christmas gifts so it’s me reporting today.

Oh, have I got a story for you!

See, I was out walking at the park when all of a sudden…

Whoa, sorry there. Let me start again.

So, I was out strolling at the park like usual when…hang on a sec, let me just get a little more comfortable…

OK. Um, where was I? Uh…the park…right…strolling…

…yes, the park. It’s…such…a nice…birds…smelling trees…sometimes food scraps…

ZZZ ZZZ ZZZZZZ

Hey everyone!

It’s Sid here with you today.

I have a quick question for you: is it Spring already?

Have we already made it through the dreaded midwest winter?! I only ask because it’s been unusually warm and rainy here in Chicago for the past week.

My Dad was out on the west coast all last week so I was living it up with my fantastic pug-sitters. Let’s just say an entire bag of baby carrots was consumed by yours truly in only a week’s time. There was none of that rashioning stuff my Dad normally does. I was given baby carrots to my heart’s content!

Anyway, when my Dad returned from California I think he brought back the best souvenier ever – WARM WEATHER!

It’s been pretty grey, but at least I don’t need to cuddle up in my striped afghan.

Anyone else enjoying some unseasonable warmth?!

P.S. My good pug friend in Oakland, Bea Arthur, is having trouble with one of her eyes. She’s got to have lots of drops and has to wear a cone (poor girl!). Please send her some good pug juju if you can spare!

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!

Welcome to Chicago! Where one day when you go for a walk in the park it looks like this…

and the very next day you go to the same park and it looks like this…

Boy, was that one quick Autumn!

In an unrelated matter, anyone interested in doing an apartment swap for a couple weeks (or months)? You can come live here and experience the nonpareil joy that is a Chicago winter while Sid and I stay in your tropical beach house near the equator. I swear we’ll take good care of the place.

Hi everyone!

Sid here today. I’m sorry I’ve been away for a bit. I had been reading about bears and hibernation and thought I’d give it a try since the weather has started getting colder here.

I’m a champ at taking naps and thought this would be pretty easy. Well, I was only able to hibernate for about 4 hours before I started getting hungry and had to go stare at my dad and persuade him to give me a few treats. So bears go the WHOLE WINTER without eating? I don’t know how they can do it. I can barely go an afternoon! Do you guys have any hibernation tips for me?

Sid and I hope you all had a nice Halloween and that your treat bounties were plentiful. Sid did enter the South Andersonville Neighborhood Association’s dog costume contest again this year but the weather was really lousy. It was rainy and cold so most dogs were soaking wet and shivering. I think Sid’s lion mane came in handy as it kept the water off his face and kept his head toasty! We didn’t win any of the prizes but I think Sid enjoyed parading around with the other costumed pets.

Fall is in full effect here in Chicago and despite the lousy weather on Halloween day every other day has been exceptionally gorgeous. We took a trip to a park that is about a mile away from our apartment and flanks the Chicago River. It’s the aptly named “River Park”.

I love that retro-looking sign!

Sid had a great time running through the fallen leaves and sniffing all those fragrant Autumn scents.

Although he was able to get pretty close to the river there was a fence that prevented him from taking a dip.

River Park is filled with trees of all sizes. Many of them were lovely shades of orange and red. Have the leaves started changing color where you live?

We’re going to try to get over to River Park at least once a week to see all the trees change color this month!

Happy Friday everyone! OHMYGOSH, I have a crazy story to share with you today.

So my Dad just got back from an African safari and he got to see an actual lion in the wild!

He said this lion was very tiny, but had a stocky body and a flat-face. He said it was very pug-like!

Even though the lion looked fierce, he said this one was actually really chilled-out, and even let my Dad rub his belly. I can’t believe lions like belly rubs just like us pugs do! Pretty crazy, right?