So, my Mom and Dad are always complaining.  Complain, complain, complain.  Sid, your food is soooo expensive.  Sid, your food is soooooo heavy to carry home from the pet store that’s two blocks away because we don’t have a car anymore because we decided to transport you to Brooklyn (I <3 BK!).  Sid, they’re always out of the only pre-packaged treats that you’re allowed to eat because you’re allergic to everything and we get soooo annoyed when your allergies flare up!

Well, hellooooo Mr. Chewy.

I went to Mr. Chewy’s website after I received his email, and I followed Noodles’ instructions and searched for venison treats.  OMG, you guys, Mr. Chewy had way more venison treats than they have down the street.  He also had duck treats, and my mom told me in her sleep one night that I’m allowed to eat duck (I asked her while she was sound asleep and she went “meayurusghsSHRHSARG” or something, which means YES).  And on top of just having venison treats and duck treats, he also had venison treats and duck treats that were GRAIN-FREE.  And, because I like blueberries and carrots so much, I searched for vegetarian treats, and he had those too! Grain free for super-cool bubble-pugs like me!  He even had my healthy mealtime food – Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Venison and Sweet Potato uber-delicious dry dog food – for way less than my parents pay when they have to schlep the 15 pound bag home on Dad’s back.

So, I placed an order, and TWO DAYS LATER the giant box arrived!  Holla!

Mom and Dad let me open the box myself, which was super cool.  Mr. Chewy threw in all of this awesome brown thrashing-around paper for free! (Jenn here – thank you, Mr. Chewy, for using pug-friendly packing materials!  There’s nothing worse than having to pull styrofoam peanuts from Sid’s iron jaw)

LOOK AT ALL OF THE TREATS I GOT:

The box in the background is Dad’s cereal.  Everyday I ask him to feed me some, and everyday he says no.  BUT WHO CARES?!?! LOOK AT ALL OF THOSE TREATS!  Didn’t I do an amazing job picking out tons of awesome yummy yum yums to eat?  If all of my pug friends out there were at Planet Cool Sid right now, I’d totally take ONE treat from each bag, place those four treats in a pile, and split that pile of treats amongst all of you.  I’m such a cool, generous guy.

Oh, and also in the box:

GIANT BAG! GIANT BAG! GIANT BAG OF FOOD!

Woo-hoo!!  I love Mr. Chewy! (Jenn here, again.  Um, yeah, Mr. Chewy’s prices and service were awesome.  Of course, we don’t have a car and we’re the type of people who order our groceries online, so, although this has resulted in a Coup de Pug here at Pug Slope – I mean, Planet Cool Sid – we’re totally on board with Mr. Chewy.  Back to Sid.)

Now, a word of advice from the ruler of Planet Cool Sid.  When welcoming a box full of new yummy yums into your house, it’s important that you make them feel welcome before you eat them.

Pose for stately portraits with them:

Listen to their problems:

And if you find yourself really smitten with one of your new friends, don’t hesitate to spend some time together staring off into the distance.

That’s all for now!  XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO, Sid!

Well, like I mentioned in a previous post, not only did we get to hang out with my family over Christmas, we also finally got the opportunity to meet up with another pug blogger and her family. Yep, we got to meet “Pugnacious P” herself – Payton!

After some initial meet-n-greet circle-n-sniff (by the pugs of course – the humans shook hands), Payton’s dad brought out a bag of dried apple treats, immediately gaining the undivided attention of the flat-faced two-some.

Even though the treat is out of the frame, its location is pretty obvious to gauge. Just follow the intense stares emanating from Sid and Payton. Sid had never eaten dried apples before but that didn’t stop him from immediately bowing down to the unknown-but-sure-to-be-tasty enigma (as he often does with anything in a bag).

Still, the treats were held captive by the humans. While Payton chose to do the aloof  “I don’t care about that stupid treat” reverse-psychology technique, Sid went even deeper down, into a Full Jimmy. This pug wanted one of those delicious dried apple treats – and he wanted it NOW.

And finally the treats started flowing!

Payton’s dad was lucky he didn’t lose a finger in the nosh-fest that followed.

Oh, and not only did Payton’s family bring treats, they also brought a present for Sid. Without even being told about it, he dug the wrapped present out of their tote bag and started tearing into it while we weren’t looking – c’mon, Sid, really? We need to work on those manners, dude.

While Sid paraded around the living room squalking his giant plush duck, we sat down with Payton and her parents, ate a little pizza and talked shop – pug shop. Among other interesting stories, we found out Payton’s name comes from running back Walter Payton of Chicago Bears (aka “Da Bearce”) fame. I’m not really a huge football fan, but I certainly was in 1985 and can recite the entire Superbowl Shuffle verbatim at the drop of a hat (don’t make me do it!).

After the pizza and pug-talk, we moved over to the living room for a shot of the whole gang.

 Thank you to Payton and her family for meeting up with us and for the gifts. We hope to hang with you guys again the next time we’re in Chicago!

Sid was a shark.

Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking.  Does a shark hoodie that Sid already wears all the time really count as a Halloween costume?  Shouldn’t Brian and I, two seemingly creative people with endless time on our hands, be able to put together something a little more special?  Pug Vigoda, say?  Or Pugs Moleman?  Or Pugs Moleman dressed as Bart Simpson?

Well, what if we told you there was a matching PENGUIN in the house?

And what if we told you that Penguin’s name was TIMOTHY BUTTONS?!

That’s right.  A few weeks ago, we discovered that Timothy has a Penguin hoodie made by the same brand that makes Sid’s shark’s hoodie.  When fate presents you with a perfect marine-based halloween theme for your pug and his girlfriend, a theme which requires no output of money or effort, you listen to fate:

True, penguins and sharks don’t exactly get along in the wild:

File photo illustrating the universally-feared Great White Shark’s feelings of mild annoyance toward the universally-loved Emperor Penguin.

But Sid and Timothy used this opportunity to present an alternate reality – an aquatic utopia in which penguin and shark coexist harmoniously, like the yin and the yang of the sea:

In this utopia, when the shark licks the penguin, the penguin licks him right back:

In this utopia, sharks and penguins spend their evenings slow-dancing to the operatic wailing of the humpback whale:

In this utopia, sharks and penguins have mutually-beneficial, symbiotic goals; by working together to conquer the humans, the shark hopes to gain control of the treat supply while the penguin hopes to gain a better vantage point from which she can lick sharks:

But just when our aquatic utopia was becoming a reality, Sid overheard a small child on the street say “TRICK OR TREAT.” It was then that Sid put two and two together and realized that today was THE DAY when all of our neighbors were HANDING OUT TREATS.  FOR FREE.  And all that you needed to do to get these treats was WEAR A COSTUME.

The flap-flip of stubborn indignation was immediately deployed:

To be continued…

Today is Sid’s big day and we kicked off the celebration with a pug cake. Well, it wasn’t technically a cake but rather a combination of some of his favorite treats.

We started with one de-cored apple, slathered on some chunky all-natural peanut butter, and topped the whole thing with carrot slivers to serve as the candles (he’s six this year). We set up a towel for him to eat this goopy mega-treat on but he immediately plucked it up and toted it over to his bed where he started going to town.

In order to try and encourage him to slow down a little and savor the experience, we took the cake away for a moment…

…and of course his little pug face immediately dropped. It’s Okay, buddy, you can have the cake back now.

Timothy Buttons, who was over for the party, made sure no peanut butter drippings got left behind. She’s a smart girl and knew better than to get between an obsessive Birthday Pug and his cake!

In addition to the cake and Sid’s Secret Toy (which we’ll reveal tomorrow) he also got a flat plush rabbit raccoon (You were right, Payton!).

Like the Secret Toy, the flat rabbit raccoon also brought out the wild animal in him!

Sid, let’s calm down a little. We don’t want that cake to come back up!

 All in all it was one excellent Birthday. Sid is one happy (and spoiled) 6-year-old!

On Sunday, Lola hosted a brunch for some of the neighborhood pugs. As an added bonus, the parents of said pugs were allowed to tag along.

There was an amazing spread of food for the humans. Much to Sid’s dismay, the bagels and lox were all kept well above pug-level, but there were plenty of dog toys to go around.

Lola was there, of course, along with Timothy Buttons (Sid’s girlfriend), Eddie, and Charlie. Lola got dressed up for the occasion in her bright yellow tee.

Eddie hopped up into his dad’s arms in order to work his way closer to the out-of-pug-reach quiche.

Sid latched on to Lola’s pink plush bee toy and basically spent 80% of the party with it in his mouth like a doofus. I guess it gave him an excuse to avoid any small-talk.

Lola and Timothy got the party started by breaking out the nyla-bone and battling each other for it.

…And all the while Sid kept relocating himself, with plush bee in tow, in order to avoid the action.

After a while, the pugs caught on that they were not going to be feasting on all the brunch goodies that the humans were eating so they started to raise a stink. However, a mutiny was avoided by Lola’s mom, who had the foresight to plan ahead with – get this – SMOOTHIES FOR DOGS!

Charlie: “Smoothies?! For Dogs?! Me want-ee!”

All the ears perked up when the box was brought out the freezer, even though none of the pugs had ever eaten one before. How is it that they know food from non-food (or maybe they just assume everything is food).

Sid sat like a good boy and waited as patiently as a pug can before he was given his Smoothie.

Time to Dig In!

Timothy had a better method for eating her Smoothie.

We can’t wait for the next pug brunch!!! Thank you to Lola and her parents for putting on such a great party for human and pug alike!

So at Sid’s recent vet visit to address the “mutant toe” we also got some other interesting news. It turns out our little guy isn’t so little anymore.

He tipped the scales at 22.8 pounds!

That may not seem like a lot but it’s the most he’s ever weighed.

We’re not sure if this extra padding is related to the Ginger-O’s incident, or lack of morning exercise time at the park due to the excessive rain we’ve been having, or perhaps Sid is just “letting himself go” now that he’s got a girlfriend.

Either way, we need to get Sid back to his 20-21 pound ideal weight.

Some potential solutions:

1. Aquatic exercises like his friend, Payton.

2. Invite Timothy Buttons, his girlfriend and personal trainer, over for more cardio-infused playdates.

3. Less treats (Sid has already strongly vetoed this one).

4. Doggie Dancing???

Anybody else have any thoughts on how to shed a pound or two?