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!!!