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!

Today we are celebrating Sid’s 10th Birthday!!! As we mentioned in our last post, Sid and I went on a camping adventure over the weekend so we were on the road for his official Birthday on Sunday. We had a great time hiking and camping and will tell you all about just as soon as I sift through the few hundred photos we took! Since we were away from home I postponed the dispensing of Sid’s Birthday cake until today…so here it is in all it’s goopy, chewy, crunchy glory:

I packed it with Sid’s favorite ingredients: apples, peanut butter, clementine oranges, and (as many of you had predicted) baby carrots.

You should have heard the screeching going on while I was making the cake. At one point Sid slipped on his own drool.

OK Sid, this is it. Get Ready…Get Set…GO!!!

He went straight in for the apples – the peanut butter layers didn’t slow down his chewing one bit!

Now on to all the snacks dabbled along the perimeter!

And now to lick up any remnants! A pug leaves no trace behind.

Folks, that whole cake was gone in about 2 minutes. Based on the way he just burped in my face, I think he liked it!

Hey guys –

So yesterday, my dad was sitting at the table reading a book so I strolled up to him and did this:

Now usually, this move will get me a treat. But guys – get this – it DIDN’T. My dad just looked at me, smiled, and then went right back to his book. SERIOUSLY!

I don’t know what’s up. I mean a smile is nice, but you can’t eat a smile. And even if you could, there’s no way it would be as delicious as a blueberry.

Have I lost my touch? It’s ok, you can level with me.

Could it have been that I did this too soon after being fed my dinner? I mean, I had waited five minutes which felt like an ETERNITY!

What gives?

I mean, you’d give me a treat if I sauntered up to you like so, right?

Hi friends (both of the furry and non-furry variety)!

Sorry, I just woke up so I’m still a little groggy.

This winter has been great for napping, especially when the sun is blaring in through the windows and dad moves my bed into a sunbeam. Unfortunately though, right now it’s that awful time of day between my post-breakfast nap and lunch with no edibles in my near future.

I feel like getting a snack now. So here’s what I do…

First, you need to get those eyes nice and shiny. Think of how you’d feel if you weren’t going to get dinner that night. I know, I know – it’s a horrible thought but we need to get those tear glands working! Let your eyes get a nice even gloss to them and open them wide. Now tilt your head to one side, and direct your longing stare towards your human. The glistening orbs of a pug have been proven irresistible to humans, especially when combined with a head tilt, and the treats will soon start flowing.

We hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving. Sid and I journeyed out to the suburbs and got to hang out with my parents for a few days. Sid had an unbelievable time. He spent most of his waking hours in the kitchen, attached to the ankles of anybody that happened to be in there.

I lost count as to the number of snacks/tid-bits/morsels he scored based solely on his proximity. Not only did he immediately snatch up anything that accidentally fell to the ground (sometimes even BEFORE it hit the ground), but he also was GIVEN pieces of food just because he was in the right place (at the feet of the food preppers) at the right time (ALL THE TIME).

Based on this experience, he told me he’s “ready for a new career”. I thought I’d at least hear him out, even though I’m still unclear what his current career actually is, or if he even has one. I mean, he seems to just sleep most of the day.

Anyway, he desires to get a job at a restaurant as a “Prep Chef Assistant”. Preferably at a restaurant that serves a lot of dishes requiring chopped baby carrots, Fuji apples, or sweet potatoes. He’d also prefer that his superior, the actual Prep Chef, not be that great at bending over to pick things up off  the kitchen floor. OK. I see where he’s going with this.

So if any of you know any job openings that would fit the bill, let us know. Sid would probably need to be paid in cash since he’s under 16 years old. Oh, also the restaurant manager would have to be ok with having a stray pug hair or two in like 99% of their dishes.

Thank you to everyone for the Birthday wishes for Sid. Saturday was the big day and I tried to go all out with his Birthday cake this year.

This year’s model was pretty similar to last year’s, with the main part of the cake fashioned out of a de-cored Michigan apple  sliced into layers with peanut butter spread in between each layer. However, those brown sticks are a new addition. They are called “Jumpin’ Sticks” from Natural Balance. They pretty much look like Slim Jims for dogs. The perimeter decoration consisted of two of his favorites edibles: baby carrots and watermelon slices.

While I was busy slicing and dicing and assembling said cake, Sid was doing his best to manage his excitement. There was a lot of panting, heavy breathing, squeeking, and scurrying around taking place. I mean, how much anticipation can a pug take!

I set up the cake on Sid’s play blanket because he is known to make a huge mess when he eats watermelon. He employs his patented “gorge and regurgitate” method when consuming large watermelon chunks. It’s a bit disturbing to the uninitiated and the main impetus behind the super-tiny cuts of watermelon on the plate.

He could barely hold that pose for one photo and then he dug in full stop. Yum!

Happy 9th Birthday to my best little buddy!!!