Saturday, January 29, 2011

We're doing okay

It's been a rough week, but we're doing okay. 
Thank you to all of our blog and Twitter friends for their words of support. 
We have felt the virtual hugs and prayers.


Isabelle is doing remarkably well. Bully sticks are a great distraction.

Tallulah enjoys a rawhide wrapped bully.

Petunia prefers to remove the rawhide first.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. 
And hug your pugs. 
Daily.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

My Quincy pug has crossed the bridge

Sometime during the night, Quincy passed in his sleep. 

Quincy came into rescue in March of 2009 with Isabelle. They both were in pretty bad shape. 

Three out of four nails on every paw had grown so long that they curled into a circle.
He was blind in both eyes from PK, a condition that could have been treated with proper vet care. 

He weighed 24.75 pounds, far too much for a short pug. He weighed so much that he couldn't even lift his leg to pee like a boy dog.
He had arthritis so bad that he shuffled around instead of walked.
His teeth were so rotten that all but two had to be removed. 
His skin and coat were in horrible shape, dry and lifeless.
He had a mast cell tumor about the size of a thumb tip on his neck and two other smaller tumors. 

But Quincy was a fighter. He did well during his surgeries and through three months of chemotherapy. He lost about 8 pounds and his coat came back to life. As he lost weight, the arthritis improved, and he loved to wander around the back yard, sniffing everything. I can remember being so excited the first time he lifted his leg to mark an azalea bush because he was finally able to pee like a boy. 

I also remember the first time he stood up on his back legs, wanting to get on the couch with me. That was about a year after he came to me. He had lost enough weight and gained enough strength in his legs that he could do it. It's the little things. 

Since he couldn't go for walks, he exercised by swimming. He loved to swim. 


 He was part of the family, enjoying birthday cake


and having his picture taken with Santa.



This woman came to a party, just to hold Quincy and love on him.
He was on television, for a story about our dog park. 
He was in the parade in November.
He presented thank you certificates to volunteers for Pugapalooza, after I snuck him into a meeting covered up like a baby. 
I bought a stroller for him so he could be included in walks around the neighborhood. He would sniff the  air, sometimes standing up in the stroller as if to look out.

Quincy loved his food, like pugs do. When it was time for a meal, he got so excited that he ran laps in the kitchen and barked until I put the food bowl in front of him. When it was time for bedtime treats, he would sit, curly tail wagging, with his head up, waiting patiently for that treat that came from above. 

He loved to sleep with his chin on someone's foot.

He and Isabelle were rarely far away from one another. I would find them snuggled together in one bed, usually the smallest bed on the floor. 

In the last few months, Quincy developed signs of canine cognitive disorder or doggy dementia. He sometimes got "lost" in the house and would bark until I went to bring him back to his bed. He forgot his potty training and had to wear bellybands all the time. That didn't stop him from trying to mark wherever he felt it was necessary to say "Quincy was here." 

Lately, he started to sleep with his chin on my shoulder, snoring softly in my ear. Until it got really loud and I had to move him further down the bed. On cold nights, he liked to start out under the covers, but then he would get hot. Wherever he slept, he liked to be close to me and Isabelle.

Every night after bedtime treats, he would climb in my lap. I held him close, told him I loved him and that he was my Quincy pug. I guess I knew that he and Isabelle would probably never be adopted. Few people are willing to take on a pair of bonded senior dogs with health issues. That was okay, though. He would always have a home with me. After the life he had, it was the least I could do to make sure he was loved and cared for, for as long as I could. 

I would do it all again, even knowing that it would end like this. 

Photo by Erin Kass

Run free, my little Quincy pug. 
Where you are, there's no more dementia, 
no more cancer, 
no more arthritis, 
no more blindness.

You can pee wherever you want. 
You can eat as much as you want.
You can swim or run or nap, whatever pleases you.

The treats and Frosty Paws never run out. 
There is always a lap available.
There is always a sun puddle to nap in.
There is always someone to love you like you deserve to be loved.

Please say hello to Kirsty and Lapis and Sassy. 
They will take care of you and show you the ropes.

Little man, you were so loved. I hope you knew that. 
You will be remembered and missed. 

In memory of Quincy, please hug your furbabies and tell them you love them. 

Quincy, 2009-2011

Monday, January 17, 2011

Christmas!

We had a late Christmas so we could be with our family. Again, we totally scored. 

We got these two adorable dresses.
Petunia

Tallulah

And these shirts.


And these balls which must be locked away and only played with under strict supervision. Tallulah LOVES these balls. And plays a version of hockey/keep away/death match with them. 
The last one was desqueaked. From the inside out.

Plus gobs of noms. So many noms, we even had leftover noms. There are no pictures of the noms because mom knows better. Don't worry, Quincy and Isabelle got lots of noms, too. They don't play with toys and aren't as fashion conscious as we are, so they got extra noms. 

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Our entry for Mango Minster 2011 Shameless Diva category

When we saw the categories for this year's competition, 
we just couldn't believe our luck. 
A Shameless Diva competition. 
Just our style. 

And the timing could not be more perfect. 
January 14 is Dress Up Your Pug (pet whatever) Day. 

For your viewing pleasure, most of our wardrobe. In order to not crash your interwebs, we tried to consolidate our wardrobe into fewer pictures rather than modeling each outfit. 
And some of our stuff is in the laundry.

First up is our holiday dress collection. Halloween, Easter and Valentine's Day. Mom hasn't finished our Christmas dresses, so we didn't count those. 

 Next is our summer dresses. 

Then there's our casual dresses, plus our pugkinis.  

You may recall that we won
in the swimsuit competition.

Then we have our dressier dresses. 

Next up would be our t-shirts and sweatshirts. 
These are our Christmas shirts.

Then there's the pink collection. Notice the multiple Princess shirts and the ones that say High Maintenance, Spoiled and Lovin' It, and Good Things Come in Small Packages. Notice a theme here?

Lastly, in this category, we have our terry bathrobes and more cute shirts. 

Our bedtime wear. 

Jogging suits. Got to stay in shape to fit into our pugkinis. 

Sweaters! 

Fleeces. 

Pink sweaters. 

Christmas sweaters. 

Outerwear. Note the coats of different weights for cold and 
OH MY PUG IT'S FREAKING COLD days. 
Plus raincoats.


That's not all. There's our Halloween costumes, too. 
Bacon and Eggs

Lightning Pugs

We also have Hershey's Kisses and ram costumes. Unfortunately, we destroyed the Kisses costumes before Mom even got a picture of us in them. 
They made us look fat.

Finally, our embroidered blankets and stockings. We also have pink satin stockings shaped like bones with our names on them. 
They have already been packed up though. 

We are also philanthropugs. 
Instead of adding to our enormous wardrobes or overflowing toy boxes, we asked the guests at our birthday party to make a donation to the charity of their choice or to ours Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescue. Our party this year raised $100 for MAPR and $50 for the Norfolk SPCA. But then we also scarfed down some of our guests' pupcakes. It was our birthday. 

There's more stuff, but a girl can't share all her secrets. 

On to Mango's criteria

1. Are there pictures of us on the internet? 
Of course! We've got our own blog! And we're on DoggySpace. And probably on other people's Facebook pages. And Twitter.

2. Is your wardrobe bigger than your humans? 
Not yet. 
But, our mom has an entire room that she's turned into a closet. 
Plus another closet. 
The woman has more than 125 pairs of shoes. 

BUT, we do have 131 outfits, plus 8 Halloween costumes. And we're only 3. Mom's been working on her wardrobe for a lot longer.

3. Do you allow yourself to be posed in shockingly embarrassing outfits? 
See above pictures. And other blog posts. And Twitter.

4. Will you work for (gasp) praise? 
Sure, as long as it comes with a side of treats.

5. Do you howl and moan or head butt when some other fur kid is getting attentions? 
Yes. The less said, the better.

6. Do you possess a crown and/or a tiara? 
We have issues with stuff on our heads, so no tiaras. Trust us, we would have them if we would wear them and not eat them.

7. At the end of the day, is it all about YOU? 

Of course it is. Was there ever a question? 
We are pugs. 
Girl pugs. 
Diva pugs.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you the Mango Minster 2011 Shameless Divas.

Tallulah

Petunia


More photos, full wardrobe list, and pawtographs available by request. 

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Vote for Oko!

If you haven't seen this already, prepare to laugh your pug butt off. Go ahead, watch. We'll wait.


Is that not hilarious? It's so funny cause it's true. 

Well, there's two stories behind this commercial.

1. This is one of 5 finalist videos for a chance at a spot at the Superbowl. You can vote every day and the top three vote getting videos will be shown at the Superbowl. You have to put in your email address and birthdate to vote. So, if you have more than one email address, then you can vote more than once! And there's been no spam so far. So vote like crazy until the Superbowl www.pugattack.com

2. This is not an actor pug. Her name is Oko Nono and about a year ago, she was attacked by a coyote and almost died. The fact that she's alive and running like a crazy pug is miraculous. 

It's up to us pugs to get out the vote and have a representative at this Superbowl thingie.
We might even watch a little of it instead of watching the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet. 
Tell your friends and family and coworkers and even enemies. 
Tell strangers. 
Tell them to vote Pug.
Oko needs her Doritos.


Wordless Wednesday: Our little Christmas tree

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Still pretty tired

Our aunt and uncle and cousins left yesterday morning, but we were pretty tired before they even left.

This is what we looked like Sunday night.
From left to right, 
the little black blob is Sheba, 
Noodle is in the house, 
David is on the big bed and, 
Petunia is in the brown bed on top of the pink bed.

Tallulah and Noah on the couch.

Quincy on the loveseat.  

And yes, we have lots of dog beds. 
If you can believe, that wasn't even half of them. 

Monday, January 10, 2011

Boy, are we exhausted!

Our family came to visit last week. That was two grandparents, one aunt and uncle, and four doggie cousins. Plus us four pugs and four cats and one mom.
 IN ONE HOUSE! 
The chaos, the dropped food, the laps!

This is Noah. He's a 200 pound Great Dane/couch potato.












This is Sheba. She's a 5 pound Pomeranian who thinks she's a 200 pound Great Dane.
This is David. He's also a Pomeranian. He loves his Nanna.

This is Noodle. He's a Chihuahua. Mom made him a house of fleece and foam which is what he is huddled in. 

We went to the dog park, we ran around the yard and the house, we begged for food and treats. 
It was awesome. 
Now, we need to sleep for a week.
Next time, we'll tell you about the gifts we got.
Off to nap.
Tallulah, Petunia, Quincy and Isabelle