Happy Birthday, Cleopatra!

My little girl is 9 years old today. We may have, um, forgotten until the day had already started, so the puglet's birthday dinner was a little bit of a scramble.

free range chicken and kibble for the allergic pug

I don't think she noticed the lapse. Since she is always quite excited for her dinner.

She hoovered it up in about 15 seconds.

Note the careful hoovering of the chicken pieces, first. She's no dummy -- with age comes experience.

A car ride!

The pugs get so excited when they know we're going to 'GO FOR A RIDE??!!' They all race each other down the stairs to the garage, yipping excitedly the whole way. and then whine in front of the garage door, hopping from foot to foot, looking at me, like -- come ON mama, let's go let's go letsgoletsgoletsgo! and practically fall over each other in their exuberance to be the first into the car. and then.... promptly fall asleep as soon as the engine turns on.

What is so exciting about this car ride, pugletinis? because you could have done this at home.

u would never understand mama it is a pug mystery

Le Grande Dame

So the other night, I was accosted by a pug looking to snuggle up like a heat-seeking missile. I just assumed that it was Cleo. and was shocked to look and see Miss Greybeard Sasha looking at me, with her very white, very distinctive eyebrows.

Sasha, you are old

Sasha doesn't know where the time has flown. She was only just yesterday a frisky puppy, chewing all the wallpaper off of her gramma and grampa's house and knocking wineglasses off of kitchen tables. Now she is toothless, half blind and deaf.

i must shield myself from the harsh truth

Noah's ark

Well, it's been raining the equivalent of 40 days and nights. And you know what they sung about the animals -- the pu-ugs, they came on, they came on, by twosies, twosies.

Yes, I realize that the sun is shining in this picture. It was the one brief 5 minute period of no-rain before the clouds opened up again.

Dog-friendly park areas are being threatened!

The Golden Gate National Recreational Area has entered an open forum in which to discuss their currently (mostly) dog-friendly policy on their park trails and beaches. Most of their preferred alternatives involve changing off-leash/'voice control' policies to 'on-leash' access only.

However, one of the proposed/preferred changes is to completely disallow dogs on our favorite, local beach -- Muir Beach! as well as some other popular Park trails.

This is totally sacre bleu! the puglets love the beach, especially my darling geriatric Sasha. So on a hot day, when husband and I want to take off for the cooling waves to escape our non-AC house, we have to either a) abandon the pugs and leave them with a bag of ice to help cool 'em down, or b) abandon our escape, stay and swelter in the house, get cranky, fight and get divorced, instead.

The link is formidable, but the key chart summarizing the alternatives is on pages 5 - 11 on the 'Executive Summary'. Comments can be submitted directly through a link on the left of the page.

Please help get the word out to all dog-owners who would like to continue to enjoy the park, responsibly.

WHERE are the guard pugs

when I need them.

With the continuous drizzle and rain, the yard has been fairly constantly damp. Which means that every evening, when the sun goes down, the snails and slugs emerge. As crushing them would result in a yard covered in a thick layer of dead slime, our latest technique has been to toss 'em in bag, seal it, and throw 'em away.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg

The tables have been turned

Deedee's propensity to lick her sisters within an inch of their lives is well-known. What's less known, is Cleo's new habit of licking Deedee. Not yet documented, of course. Since she's apparently keeping it all under wraps.

i sense that ur remarkably stinky ear is available

i am stealth licking pug, who will never be caught on film

i am innocent non-licking pug

Pug weapon of choice

In the absence of opposable thumbs, pugs have very little in their offensive arsenal. I mean, they have paws and claws, but let's face it, they're not only not sharp, but also not coordinated. They have their amazing cuteness, but no one has ever been adorable-d to death.

So what is left? their teeth. Most pugs, with their flat little plate-like faces, can't even get those in gear. Except for Cleo. She has the advantage of -- a muzzle.

A really dangerous muzzle.

Convalescing Pugs

I was feeling under the weather, for various reasons unknown, and here unspoken. As it involves embarrassing details. SO, I spent the majority of the day in bed. Luckily, the pugs were only too happy to keep me company.

OK, so Sasha and Deedee aren't so much keeping me company, as much as totally passed out.

Sasha can't even face the most delicate rays of the morning sun.

Deedee is... barely breathing, barely conscious.

Cleo is ever alert for the next snuggle. or treat.

The best seat in the house

is apparently, not any of the number of cush, plushy, expensive dog beds in the house.

It would be my fave armchair.

I am still beautiful

Sasha can't see well or hear anymore, but she still knows how to look pretty.

I need a skeleton, STAT!

How is a puglet to maintain structural integrity in the face of such odds?

Lazy weekend

My guess is that when we're not around, the puglets are just a frenzy of activity. Perhaps they spend their days wrestling, playing and running around the house. Or perchance they write novellas, create pug-art, and pontificate on the state of Being.

Whatever it is that they do, it must be exhausting. Because they spent the entire. weekend. sleeping.

like a pug 3 leaf clover

Deedee's fave spot to snuggle is with her Cleo

Cleo doesn't seem to mind. At least, she's not kicking her.

Sasha perfects the buried-head pose.

The empress' new pajamas

My yearly winter knitting frenzy got off to a late start this year. I think it was the piles of half-finished sweaters in the basket, taunting me, that caused me to procrastinate and pick up a good book, instead. Twilight, anyone? for the 5th time?

So instead of finishing those sweaters, what better way to feel productive, than to start a COMPLETELY NEW project? In the interest of thrift and efficiency, I decided to glom together some scrap yarn to make the seniorest of puglets a cozy set of pajamas. Sasha has been a little chilled at night, such that she will crawl over to my head in the middle of the night, turn around so that her butt is facing my carotid, and furiously kick out with her hind legs like a donkey. This is to get me to personally invite her to crawl under the covers with me.

Yes, I could have made it striped but then that would have been too pretty

Pugs are color blind, anyway, aren't they?

Sasha seemed to like it. Did it help? not really. She still wakes me up to get under the covers in the middle of the night, but now she ALSO wakes me up, panting, because she gets too warm. Funny pug.

My fury of industriousness petered out after Sasha's PJs, so Cleo and Deedee wear for bedtime the cute little T shirts their auntie Vanna got them. Apparently my interest in taking pics also petered out.

A bit more than Cleo bargained for...

Cleo has made it quite clear that her fave spot is in a lap. Her whipped cream and cherry on top is if she also gets to rest her noggin on the dinner table. She will actually go thru a ridiculous amount and painful-looking degree of body contortions in order to get her chin on the table edge.

ah, success

Of course, what a puglet must always keep in mind is the price she must pay for being on said lap. If, for example, the lap is her dada's, she can be assured of loving and gentle pats. If, in contrast, the lap is her mama's, she needs to gird herself for extensive and aggressive kisses.

i am being encapsulated with luv

And, if said lap is auntie Vanna's, she should ready herself with an oxygen mask.

*gerk*