Merry Christmas

My wish this Christmas is that all the homeless Pugs out there find wonderful homes.

I'm a rescue pug, and even though I had a loving home as a youngster (they just couldn't handle my neediness), other pugs weren't so lucky. Arnie spent a Christmas at the pound, before mom heard about him and rescued him. So please, support Pug Rescue any way you can.

And have a very Merry Christmas.

Arnie's Christmas Wish

I'm mom's favorite, yes I am! From pound puppy, with no chance of being adopted to much-loved agility partner! It's been a long road, but a fun one, for sure.

Levi says Merry Christmas

He hated the sun in his eyes, but always the trooper, he performed perfectly anyway.

Snap says Merry Christmas

Next up for a Christmas photo is Snap. She's the token Boxer, and is the coolest dog. I even like her. She lets me bite her lips, and nip at her nubby tail. She never hurts me, or is mean to me. We even play a little, until she starts getting carried away and mom yells "no feet!" Yeah, those paws are WEAPONS.

Anyway, here she is posing for Christmas.

Arnie's gonna ruin Christmas for us!

I've gone over this a million times - you've got to be nice, not naughty. That's the only way Santa will bring you presents. I had to lecture Arnie last year because he killed Santa. Well, not the real Santa, but a stuffed Santa toy that we won at a dog show. He tore him up, limb from limb, dismembering Santa under the Christmas tree, of all places.

We still got presents, but I think they were a little stingy last year. Mom said it wasn't because of Arnie's incident, but what else could it have been. I'm just sayin'.

I thought the lecture had done some good. He's been behaving himself all year. He's paid attention in agility. He's cut down on the barking. He hasn't attacked anyone.

Then, this morning, he STOLE our training treats and tore up the package, then ate half of them before mom caught him in the act.

The worst part is those are MY TREATS too. And I'm starting agility class next month and NEED THOSE TREATS. Now, I may not get more because Arnie's been naughty.

It took mom awhile to figure out how he had gotten into the treats. They're usually kept on the top of the fridge (because of Arnie....) and she's pretty sure he can't climb up there. Well, the washing machine was making noise, so dad jammed the treats next to the washer to stop the banging. The treats must have fallen down next to the washer, and Arnie dragged them out and ate them! The treats are now back next to the washer.

Sorry I didn't put up more Christmas pictures, but this was waaaaay more important. It could jeopardize our Christmas score this year. If you see Santa (I see a lot of you sit on his lap and talk to him), can you tell him that it was Arnie that was naughty? I've been VERY good this year.

Five Days of Christmas

Today was "Christmas photo day". I love having pictures taken, because it usually involves lots of treats and attention. But not everybody here feels the same way.

In the interest of fairness, I'll go oldest to youngest. So first up is Puck.

No, the strap is NOT too tight on his neck - he's just a drama queen. Yes, it took him the least amount of time to get settled into the photo. That was, after he raced up and grabbed the antler/hat before mom could react, and dashed around the yard with them in his mouth!

We love our new petsitter

When mom and dad flew to NY, they called a pet sitter to watch us. Mom was totally sweating the whole thing, because we're her "number one priority". Since they just moved here, she was worried they wouldn't be able to find someone that meets her high standards of excellence. She was kind of spoiled back in California, since she had lots of sitters to pick from - and all of them were top notch.

Dad happened to pick up a business card for www.mypackleader.com when we were at the Pug Party, so mom gave her a call. She came by to check us out, and mom could check her out. Well, long story short mom LOVED her, so she was hired!

But even though mom loved her, she still worried the whole time she was gone, she didn't have to. because they were awesome. They came by three times a day, and snuggled and played with us. They kept telling mom "not to worry" and she didn't have to.

When mom and dad got home, there was a really nice note waiting for them about what we did while they were gone. And....drum roll please....treats and a present! There were 5 bags of yummy treats and a spa package.

In fact, mom was so impressed that they came to watch everyone else while Arnie and I went to our first agility trial in Texas. We didn't stay overnight, but were gone a long time. Dad felt better knowing that the old guys could go out to pee while we were gone.

If you need a Pet Sitter in the Mid Cities area, check out www.mypackleader.com.

Charlie Brown Christmas

How lame is my mom. She says our house is too small for a Christmas tree this year. WHAT?!?!? Just because our rental is really small, with barely enough room for couch, tv and dog beds? How is Santa supposed to bring us presents? We have no chimney, so we've already got some challenges. Now he has nowhere to put the presents! What are we going to do? Mom says not to worry, there will still be presents. And next year will be extra festive, when we're in our own house.

In the meantime, she got this tree to tide us over. It's on her computer desk so she can see it all the time. And it's decorated with the toys I won at agility last weekend. Glad I could help. Hope Santa remembers that when the time comes.

Back in the Saddle

We got to run agility last weekend! We got to run agility last weekend! Since I love agility almost as much as I love treats, it was awesome.

We haven't shown in about 6 months. Between the hot weather, moving, looking for work, etc., agility's been a low priority. For mom, at least. For me, it's always towards the top.

Now that mom has a job, and dad has a car, we can start showing again. So last weekend we went to a place called Wichita Falls for an AKC trial. Mom was terrified that we would embarrass her. We tend to do that.....

But she shouldn't have worried. Arnie only ran in Jumpers, and except for his usual weave pole nonsense, he did GREAT! Here's his first run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V6V_4-SxcM

Arnie tends to have focus issues, so mom sweats it when we're in new places. But Arnie was attentive and ran his legs off.

I got to run 4 runs, because mom can trust me to not run off. My jumpers run the first day was a little rough, but we got through it. Then we went to the Standard ring and I did something I've never done before. I looked for dad while I was running the course. Not once, but a bunch of times. I even went through the dreaded tire backwards to see where he was. Mom thought it was because I was nervous because it was a new place. But the truth is, I knew dad had the treats! We left, and mom was a little disappointed because none of us Q'd the first day. Then she watched the tape and realized that I hadn't made as many mistakes as she first thought. When she checked on Sunday morning - there was my blue ribbon and my Q! Here's the run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F186StQWxYY

We don't have any video of Sunday, because dad stayed home and there was nobody to tape us. But we did really good again. Arnie didn't Q, but he did really good. And I got an Open Jumpers leg, with another blue ribbon and a Q. I wish I could say I did really good in Standard, but that would be a lie. We were the first dog after the jump height change, and mom forgot they have to change the aframe now. So we went to the start line, and had to wait. And wait. And wait. Well, I couldn't control myself and took off running before they said we could go. Mom screamed at me, and picked me up. So I tried to bite her. I didn't mean to hurt her, I just WANTED TO RUN!!!!! Needless to say, we weren't really in sync, so the run was a disaster. Oh well, I had fun anyway.

This was our first time to show in Texas. The venue was wonderful. Indoors, with heat. There was lot of room to set up, a concession stand and the rings were completely enclosed. That helped mom's nerves about Arnie, for sure. The weirdest part was we didn't know anybody. Mom used to know everybody in California, but not a soul in Texas. But by the end of the weekend she was the "Pug Lady", and had even convinced a couple with a young Pug that they should try agility.

Mom says we'll be going to a lot of shows now that we're settled. Yeah!!!

Back Home

Early Sunday morning (but not as early as Turkey Day) mom and dad got back on the plane. Meme made French Toast with Columbus Bakery bread (it was yummy, I hear).

The flight to North Carolina was pretty good, and then mom heard the dreaded words: "extreme turbulence". As they were coming into Dallas, it was really windy and they were told to fasten their seatbelts. Mom imagined flaming balls of fuel, and plane parts everywhere. Dad was just trying to grimace through the pain of his leg being SQUEEZED really hard. And all that turbulence? Amounted to NOTHING! The landing was text book. Haha.

The took a taxi home (just like on Amazing Race), and then THEY WERE HOME! We were all so excited to see them. I couldn't stop running around. And around. And around. We all hung out the rest of the day, and they told us all about their trip.

Tomorrow: a review of our awesome Pet Sitter.

Day 3 in the 'Cuse

Saturday morning was pancake time. I'm thinking all these people do is eat. Everyone had Mickey Mouse pancakes (a Meme specialty), then they went to the niece's basketball practice.

After practice, they went to lunch. Of course, more eating. But this was a super special place - they went to Heids Hot Dogs.

http://heidsofliverpool.com/ If you've never been to Heids, you are missing a treat. And if you're ever in Syracuse, make SURE you go to Heids. It's not just a hot dog. It's a hot dog OR coney cooked an extra special way. They're so famous that the TV show Man versus Food filmed a segment there.

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Man_V_Food/Episodes_Travel_Guides/Syracuse

Mom craves them, and always goes there when she visits. Dad had a coney and chocolate milk (the only way to eat them), and loved it. He could have eaten lots of the hot dogs, but had to save room because there was a big party on Saturday night.

So off they drove to mom's other brother's house. Lots of people came over, and there was tons of food and talk. They went down memory lane until they finally packed up the car and headed home. It had snowed a little, and was really cold. But they made it home safe.

Next morning: back on the plane.

Day 2 in the 'Cuse

On Friday morning, Meme and mom showed dad around town. First, they went to see the house mom grew up in. It's right around the corner from Meme, so that took about 2 seconds. Then they drove by LeMoyne Elementary School, where mom when to kindergarten.

Then they went through the ritzy part of the North Side -

Sedgwick Farms http://www.sedgwickfarm.org/history.html, just to show him how the other half lives.

Then it was out to Eastwood, and the Palace Theater

http://palaceonjames.com/history

Mom remembers going to see movies there, and the owner wacking her with a flashlight when she put her feet on the seat in front of her.

They went past mom's 2 aunts house, then up to Henninger High School, where mom went to high school. She won't go inside, because she wants to remember it like it was 30 years ago.

Next stop, downtown Syracuse. When mom was little, she would take the bus downtown and go shopping. Sadly, the city has gotten run down over the years, and nobody walks around much anymore. But it was fun to see the historical sites.

Clinton Square http://www.clintonsquare.com/history.htm

Armory Square http://www.armorysquareofsyracuse.com/about/history.php

The Cathedral http://www.cathedralsyracuse.org/

The Onondaga County Courthouse

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM85E4_Onondaga_County_Courthouse_Syracuse_NY

Then they went and bought fresh italian bread from Columbus Bakery. It's made in brick ovens, the old fashioned way. The place hasn't changed since mom was a kid (and her mom, and her mom), and the bread is divine. They bought 2 loaves, both point (they were out of flat), and broke off big chunks to eat on the way home.

For lunch, they took dad to have "real" pizza. Apparently the stuff we have west of the Mississippi is no good. At least by Syracuse standards. So they went to Twin Trees for some delicious pizza. http://www.twintreesaveryave.com/ Manga!

Then it was back to the house, because everybody was coming back over to, you guessed it, eat dinner and talk. Lasagne was on the menu, and the bread of course.

The niece and nephew stayed overnight, so they all watched the basketball game (Syracuse University basketball is a religion there) and went to bed.

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. It's a little late this year, because mom and dad weren't home for Turkey Day. They went on a plane to visit mom's mom. They left us with a petsitter (more on that later), and flew to New York. Syracuse, to be specific.

Early, early, EARLY on Turkey Day they jumped in a cab and got on a plane. The plane left at 5:20am, so you can imagine how early they had to get up. Mom hates to fly, so she was freaking out, but got on the plane anyway. The plane left on time, with no x-rays or pat-downs. Dad's junk went untouched. They transferred in North Carolina, then on to Syracuse. When they landed, the pilot told them it was 28 degrees - YIKES!!! And there was snow on the ground.

As soon as they landed, they called Meme, and she came and picked them up. Then it was off to mom's brother's house for turkey and the fixings. Mom got to visit with her brothers, their wives, and the 2 nieces and 1 nephew. They talked and ate. And ate and talked. Then mom's cousin came by. So there was MORE talking and eating. In between the socializing, they played with a puppy. Her brother has a new Boxer puppy. Mom says she's really cute (doubt it - she's NOT a pug), and was a lot of fun. They have a 2-year-old Boxer, too. Her niece has trained her to do all sorts of tricks. Apparently, she put us to shame. Mom's been trying to teach ANY of us to roll over with no success. But this Boxer just rolls and rolls and rolls. She got lots of cookies for her tricks (!), and then the humans ate and talked some more.

The next day, they went on a "tour" of mom's old stomping grounds, to show dad (he'd never been to Syracuse.) I'll write more about that tomorrow.

WE'RE BEERKNURDS

It's official. Mom's a member of the UFO Club. What's that, do you ask?

Well, a few weeks ago, mom and dad found a cool draught emporium. Basically, it's a beer joint. See, mom loves beer. I mean LOVES beer. The darker, the better. This

beer place is called the Flying Saucer, and they have over 200 kinds of beer. It's in downtown Fort Worth, and on Sundays there's free parking downtown.

http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/fortworth/

When they went the first time, mom swore that she would join the UFO Club as soon as she got a job. Well, she has a job (temporary, but a job nonetheless), so they went and signed her up. With her membership she gets a cool shirt.

She also gets a membership card. Every time she drinks a beer, it's recorded onto her card. When she drinks 200 beers, she gets her name on the wall and A PARTY!!!! Dad didn't join (he's a beer wimp), but he likes the idea of a party. The goal is to hit 200 in time for mom's 50th birthday. That means she has to drink, like, 2 beers a week for the next 2 years. She says she can do it. I think she can, too.

She's going to write about the beers she drinks on her blog. She'll put the titles in caps for the beer updates. Just so you can keep track too.

Her first beer was......drum roll please......The Ugly Pug.

http://www.rahrbrewing.com/our-beers/year-round-beers/ugly-pug.html

It's a Texas beer, which works out good, since Texas beers are on sale on Sundays. Win, win! She says the Ugly Pug was really good. Kind of dark, but tasty.

Her second beer was 512 Bruin.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17863/53957

It was dark, too, but not as heavy. Kind of chocolatey.

Make sure you keep watching the blog to find out what kinds of beer she tries next. She likes dark beer, so you'll see a lot of those on here. She also likes beer on tap. And she'll be trying lots of ciders. Eat your heart out, Trish.

It's Finally About Us!

Since we've been in Texas, mom and dad have gone off exploring a lot. And they usually leave us at home. But today, Arnie and I got to go on a hike. We went to a place called River Legacy Park http://www.riverlegacy.org/ and it was awesome.

The trails are paved, and perfectly flat. Easy walking. Or in this case, dragging. When we start out on a walk, we usually pull on our leashes.

The park runs along the Trinity River. It's about 10 minutes from our house.

Mom is constantly amazed at all the turtles that are in the rivers. Every time we see a river, we see lots of turtles clinging to rocks and branches.

We took a break by posing in front of some pretty fall colors.

One of the COOLEST things about Texas is that every park has dog-sized drinking fountains. At least all the parks we've been to. Unfortunately, I won't drink out of them. They make noise, and water shoots into the bowl. I'm not sticking my nose into that. Arnie isn't so particular. He loves the fountains, and drinks and drinks until he's not hot anymore.

Mom had her new camera with her (obviously), and took pictures along the way. At the end of the walk, I was having none of it. Here I am refusing to sit for dad. Notice the look of complete disdain? Notice Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes sitting? For the record, I never sat down. Dad gave up trying. Score one for Gracie.

We walked for a couple of miles, most of it power-walking. When I got home, I curled up for a bit of well-deserved napping.

Doing the Jimmy

Lots of things happening here in Texas, so the blog's been coming last on the list. First of all, mom has a job (yea), so she's not here at home as much. Second, the weather's been beautiful, so we've been going on lots of walks, because three, we're entered in an agility trial next month and we need to get in shape (mom's words, NOT mine).

But mom took time to videotape one of our tricks. The other day on dailypuglet.com, Puglet said everybody who can Jimmy should send him a video. Weeeelllll, WE CAN JIMMY. To beat the band, I might add. When Levi was 6 months old, he learned that trick at a clicker seminar. It's his default behavior - he can't even lay down without his chin hitting the ground. Because he knows it, we all have to know it. The whole Three Muskateers thing. So we made a video, and here it is:

Face It - we're cute!

Mom's been taking lots of pictures of us with her new camera. She decided I could blog some of just our faces. In the interest of fairness, I've decided to go cutest, um, I mean youngest, to oldest.

Here's me. My mom says I always have the same look on my face: eye's bugging out, every nerve trembling, waiting for a TREAT to come my way. OK, she's right.

Here's Arnie. Mom says he always looks so serious when he's having his picture taken.

This is more like the real "Arnie". He's really a big mush.

This is Snap. She looks all regal in this picture. That kind of fits her personality. She takes herself waaaaay too seriously. She worries all the time about being good. I say what the heck. If they wanted good, they should have gotten Golden Retrievers.

Snap has a silly side, too. They call Boxers "clowns" and she has the Boxer sense of humor.

This is Levi. Mom hates taking pictures of him these days, because she can see just how senior he's getting. He just turned 12 years old, so he's earned those silver hairs.

And the old man, Puck. She didn't get a shot of his face because he a) won't stop moving around looking for squirrels, and b) he's completely deaf and can't hear her calling him to look at her anyway. He still runs the household, and he's the only one I don't "challenge" - even I'm not that brave.

Wordless Wednesday

Cutting Loose

When mom took me to the park for my Halloween photo shoot, she decided to take some "action" shots when we were finished. I love to jump, twist and spin.

These are just a few of my moves:

This is mom's favorite. She's says it looks like I'm "dancing like nobody's watching".

Gotta make sure I get every last, tasty morsel.

Whoa, flew right out of the shot.

Check out that air.

Gotta get that treat.

Who knew I could float?

I am soooo happy!

I look like a marionette, don't I?

Grab and go.

It was a whole lot of fun. I got to play AND eat. Win/win in my book.

Happy Halloween

Mom's favorite holiday, for sure. So yesterday she took me to the park to take pictures of me in my cute pirate costume. I like the costume because I get lots of cookies when I wear it.

So it's worth it to me to keep it on, even the hat.

On the way home, we drove by this place. It was soooooo awesome.

Most of our Halloween stuff is in storage. But this gives us something to shoot for next year.

In the meantime, remember these Zombieland Rules:

#1 - Cardio

#2 - The Double Tap

#3 - Beware of bathrooms

#4 - Wear your seatbelt

And always.....

#31 - Check the backseat

#32 - Enjoy the little things

Taking a break from talkin' about Texas for a bit. But it's still a little "cowboy" related. Before we left California, mom and dad went to visit dad's relatives in Arbuckle, CA. It's a little town north of Sacramento. His family has an almond farm up there, and since he hadn't been there in a long time, and mom had never been there, they headed up with dad's mom and her aunt.

This is the original farmhouse. The family lives in newer houses across and down the street, but a family member just moved in here.

The almond orchards are all around the house. This is literally right in their backyard.

There's a lucky dog that lives there. She gets to run and play in the trees all day long. But she mostly wanted to hang with the people. There was a big lunch celebration, so I'm sure that's what she was after. It's what I would have been after.

After lunch, they all went for a tour of the almond processing plant. It's really close to the house, too. This is from the driveway.

They were in the middle of the harvest, and the plant was going full steam. Mom said it was really noisy and really dusty, so she didn't bring her camera with her. This is a view from outside. That big pile is almond husks. Notice the small building in the lower left? That's a small carport. So you can see how big the pile is.

After the tour, it was on to more fun. They were going way over there to ride some horses.

Ropin and Ridin

To continue with the Arbuckle saga, the parental units were going horseback riding. Well, mom was going. And dad's mom. But not dad.

Here's mom on her horse.

Here's dad's mom. She just LOVES to ride.

They had to ride a long way to the pond they were heading to. Besides horses, there were golf-cart-riders and a walker.

This is how I would have been riding. Safely and comfortably in a cart.

This is the pond they rode to. It had a bunch of boats, but only the kids went swimming and boating.

After enjoying a few adult beverages, everybody headed back to the barn. Then it was time to head back to Lotus, where more packing was waiting.