Misadventure

Well, we made it through the cold snap ok. No pipes freezing, no frostbitten paws. We were glad to move back upstairs though. 

The last really cold night was Thursday. It had warmed up enough that we wanted to go outside again. About 9 pm, mom let us (Tallulah and Petunia) out to potty. She was putting her coat on when Tallulah started barking very high-pitched and shrill. Mom grabbed her phone for the flashlight and ran out to see what was going on. 

You may recall that this guy pays us a visit once a year or so. 

Mom's not sure where he was in the yard or what he was doing. But when she ran outside, Petunia was dragging it across the yard. Mom thought it was a plastic bag or something, maybe had food in it. When she shined the flashlight on it, she realized what it was. 

Boy, was she freaking out on the inside. These little buggers can do some damage with their claws and carry all sorts of nasty diseases. Amazingly, we actually listened to her and dropped it. Mom bribed us to come inside for a cookie. Once we got inside, mom removed the wad of possum fur from Petunia's mouth and duly rewarded us with a cookie. Then we got crated. 

She went back outside to check on the possum. By that time, he was getting up and running off. He really was playing dead! That kind of surprised mom given that the possum probably outweighed us by 10 pounds. A few years ago, when he was under the deck, he hissed at us. And when he was on the fence, he hissed. Mom figures that he was on the ground somewhere, maybe burrowing in the leaves or something. She doesn't think we are fast enough to have chased and caught it. Maybe the cold had slowed its reflexes or something.

Hopefully, Mr. Possum will share the news that our yard is not friendly to critters that look like living squeaky toys. 

Hope your weeks is less eventful and no where near as cold as last week was!

Tweedle's auction

We're sure all of Blogville knows about the auction for Tweedles. 

But did you know that mom donated a gift certificate for a pair of custom pugjamas? The winning bidder gets a pair of custom fitted jammies for their dog. Doesn't have to be a pug. Mom can make pjs for all kinds of dogs. 

Aren't these just ridiculously cute? 

There's lots of other items there, too. 

If you've got any treat money left, be sure to bid on something!

Click here to go right to the auction page.

SO COLD!

Holy pug, it's about to get cold. Not as cold as Minnesota or Iowa, but really cold for us.

Many houses around here have heat pumps instead of furnaces. Unfortunately, when the temperature goes below 25, heat pumps just don't work. That means lots of folks are going to be cold in their own houses. Many local stores have already sold out of space heaters.

We have a heat pump upstairs and a gas furnace downstairs. We managed one night last week when it was in the 20s by keeping the heat on downstairs. But three nights in a row just isn't going to work. So we've moved downstairs for the week.

It's like camping! Keep telling yourself that, mom.

We are bundled up in layers, t shirt then fleece. Needless to say, we probably aren't going to go outside tomorrow. Thank pug for potty pads!

And thank pug we don't have the snow that some of you have!

Stay warm and cozy, friends.

Happy New Year!

Mom came home from work and immediately put on pajamas. 

That's our night. She's going to make pizza and promised that we'd get the crusts! 

2013 hasn't been the most awesome year, but it hasn't been the worst either. Being sick took up a lot of the year, then the exam process was really rough. In October, mom lost a dear, wonderful friend, too. In the good column, she did pass two exams so those are out of the way. Tallulah seems to be doing well on Prozac and her poop issues are on again, off again which is better than always on. Isabelle is still going strong. Petunia is still her rotten self but healthy. Mom also got a new job which means she comes home at lunch every day to let us out. She likes where she works which is always a wonderful thing. 

We don't do resolutions but we do have goals. Mom wants to improve her financial health and her physical health. That should include more walks for us. We want more treats, more lap time and more trips to the dog park. Isabelle wants a burger every month instead of just on her birthday and Gotcha days. Heck, she'll be 14, she's earned it!

We wish each and everyone of you a safe and peaceful New Year's Eve. It's supposed to be cold here (for us anyway) so maybe the idiots with the fireworks will stay inside. We are going to snore in the new year. 

Here's hoping 2014 brings you health, wealth and happiness!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you peace, health and joy.

Merry Christmas from the Southern Fried Pugs.

Almost Christmas!

Since we stayed home this year, mom decided to make some goodies for the neighbors. We have a couple of new ones that we need to get to know better. And goodies go a long way to making nice with folks.

Banana nut muffins

Mint chocolate trees

These are kind of a pain to make with several sessions of chilling the dough but they turned out cute and delicious. 

Gingerbread

Can you believe mom's never made gingerbread cookies before? Her lack of icing skill is apparent (she told her coworkers that neighbor kids decorated them), but they are delicious! They even stayed soft. 

She's still baking today and will deliver these yummies later on. 

Our holiday foster pug Cosmo is here. 

Not sure how old he is, but he's pretty active still. He has some skin issues and has to have three baths while he's here! That's a lot of baths. Poor dude. He isn't itchy though so that's a good thing.

He has already made himself at home!

In sad news, mom's VHS tape of White Christmas has passed on. 

She got one more viewing out of it but then the VCR ate it. 

It served well for many, many years. Quite possibly more than 20.

The VCR then proceeded to eat Muppet Christmas Carol so it's probably time to dump that dinosaur. 

Both DVDs have been added to the Amazon wish list for next year. 

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! 

Cautiously optimistic

Well, Tallulah has been on Prozac for about six weeks now, and we think it's working.  We did one month at the lowest dose, then increased to 3/4 of a tablet daily. That seems to work for her. The low dose helped some, but she was still anxious.

How do we know it's working? Well, things that may seem small are really an improvement. Previously, if Isabelle tried to use the potty pad in the kitchen, Tallulah would lunge at her. Two days ago, Tallulah just barked and whined but didn't make a move to go after her. She's a tattletale, but we can live with that.

Tallulah would also go after Isabelle if one of the cats cried. This last time, Tallulah did run toward Isabelle but actually stopped short when mom started yelling her name. Didn't even touch her. That is amazing progress.

Tonight, we are pretty sure it's really working for her. The neighbor kept revving up his motorcycle. Now Petunia and one of the cats jumped every time, but Tallulah didn't. For a dog that jumped every time a car door slammed, that's pretty impressive.

And she can enjoy a bully stick without getting into a brawl.

Now, she'll probably stay on the leash for a while longer until we all feel she's really relaxed. We are taking in a foster pug a few days while his foster family goes out of town on Friday. That will test how well it is working. Taking in the foster isn't the ideal situation, but it has to be done. So on leash, she will stay.

Hope everyone is doing well!