Warning: Dangerous Dog Toy

Dear Friends,
One of our friends at the Northwest Arkansas Pug Shelter has forwarded a most horrific story about a beautiful dog, Chai, who was injured while playing with a Pimple Ball produced by Four Paws. Apparently, this has not been the first time that such a thing has happened and the company has not been diligent about preventing more of these freak accidents, since they knew about it in 2005 (according to someone who wrote to Chai's dad) and only now have they issued a recall.

Go through your doggy toy chests and make sure that (1) if you have a pimple ball, remove it and put it in the plastic recycling bin or in the trash, and (2) if you have other Four Paws toys, make sure you inspect them to see how safe they are (think of what would happen if your pup yanked a pice of the toy, or if the toy broke, etc.) or keep an eye on your pup when (s)he is playing with these toys.

Of course, my mom, who is the most paranoid person I know when it comes to our safety, would actually toss any Four Paws toys, if we had any. Luckily, she has trained us to love stuffed animals, and the most that has happened to me is that I poop an eye the following day. I know, gross...

Here's a disturbing picture of poor Chai and his Pimple Ball:



On the same blog entry, you can also see a video of poor Chai.

I hope all my pug brothers and sisters and all my other canine cousins are safe from this and other menaces.

Be well,
Alfred, your loving pug

Three happy pugs...

Me (Alf), Stella and Olive!

Mom loves me...

A couple of weeks ago, Mom had to got to Orlando on business. While she was at the airport she got me a new Froggy. I love my new Froggy... Olive had chewed my old one pretty bad and Mom was afraid that it would not last much longer. So now we have no worries for a while.

Dad said that we may need to start scheduling regular trips to Orlando so that I can have a regular back up Froggy. I'm not sure if Dad meant it or if he was just joking but, in any case, I love my parents...

Mom thinks I'm chubby!!!

And she is going to start giving me less food and I probably will get smaller treats. Mom says that she is going to cut those treats that I get for giving moral support to Stella when she goes to the bathroom outside. But I don't understand why I am being punished if I am being kind to my sister! Plus, I go on walks every day--my nails (and my feet) are so worn out from my walks that the ladies at the vet thought that I was chewing them!!!

Humans are too messed up...

Good Weather

I love hanging out in the yard with my pets. Some months ago, Mom got me this rattling ducky that I love. I think he is my second favorite stuffed animal, the first one being my beloved Froggy. The rattling is really cute but my parents get a little bit annoyed when I bring him to bed at night. But then I give them one of my looks and they cannot get upset at me and the rattling Ducky.

Mom is the best pillow...

Spring has sprung

Mom loves this picture of me in front of the chives. I like chives too, they smell garlicky. And I love oregano too, it's a good herb to pee on. Sshhh, don't tell my mom... She keeps griping at me because she is not able to use her herbs for cooking anymore!

My Humans

As you can see, my humans and I are a very close pack and we even sleep together, share pillows, etc. Here we are on a typical weekend morning.

Another Olive visit

Tomorrow, Olive is coming to spend the night. Her mom has to go out of town again and so I will have to babysit Olive. Just to think about it I am already tired. That little pug is like the Energizer doggy, it just keeps going. I guess the good thing is that I'll have funny stories to tell you.

Speaking of fun, mom told me that she is taking me to the Farmers' Market tomorrow. OMG, I can hardly wait. I love that place; I never want to leave!

Watch out for the laser pug!

She's gone!

It has taken me several days to recover from Hurricane Olive. Oh my God! She is not just an alpha dog, she is the whole alphabet!!! When Olive arrived, we had a blast playing but soon enough I noticed that she was monopolizing my humans. They could not sit down without her sitting on their lap. And then she would not even share the lap with me. It took some major convincing on my part for her to finally let me have some of my parents' attention. Olive also monopolized my frogs! My frogs!!! I am still horrified because I love my little froggy.

The one thing where I could get ahead of Olive was in the food department (thank God). Olive is a little bit insecure when it comes to food, so when Mom was not watching I tried to steal it. Stella did too. But Mom caught us both and she locked us up in the big crate so that Olive could eat at her own leisurely pace. It's probably for the best, I guess.

Anyway, I love Olive and all but I am happy that I can have my parents' lap, bed and attention back (the only one that I don't mind sharing with is Stella). And my frogs too...

Olive, it's just a camera!

 

OK, this cute girl over here, almost in your face, is named Olive. She is one of my friends and she's spending a few days with us because her Mom is out of town and her dad is in Iraq. I don't think Olive has seen a camera quite as fancy as my Mom's. Or maybe Olive's Mom is not a "camera-in-your-face-all-the-time" type of Mom. But Olive will get used to all the picture taking.

Well, it's been exciting around here this evening. Olive plays with me a lot. We chase each other around and she is always grunting. She's a very vocal pug... Mind you, I am still not very comfortable sharing my parents' laps with Olive. I know she loves to cuddle and all but she must respect my home and my cuddling time has priority over hers. Now Stella, she can have my Mom's lap at any time because she's my beautiful little sister of whom I love to take care.

By the way, my sister Stella is sleeping. She can sleep through all the chasing, barking, and running, bless her heart!

But I think it's time for us to go to bed too. We will be having a busy weekend! I'll let you know how it turns out later.

I love it here, seriously

I suppose I would love it more if my parents got rid of this dinosaur of a computer monitor. That way I could spread out and take naps. I may need to have a talk with my folks...

My itty bitty sister

I like my sister Stella. She is older than me, so technically she is my big sister but she is itty bitty so she is a little sister. I hope that as soon as she gets used to our house, she'll become more playful. She is really quiet (except for the light snoring and breathing) and she never barks. But that's OK, I can do the barking for the two of us.

Last night I woke up and Stella was missing so I scratched on the bedroom door. Dad opened the door and I went looking for my sister but could not find her. It turns out Dad was holding her in his arms. As soon as I saw she was well, I just went back to the bedroom and went to sleep. She's so tiny, I worry about her all the time.

Make Do

We got my little sister Stella on Friday evening. She's a tiny little thing, very cute. She sleeps a lot and I think she's still very shy, so she is not playing very much with me. But that's OK because I am a very patient pug; besides, yesterday I went to Pug Play Day and I had the best of times. But I digress...

My sister Stella loves my basket and now I am basketless. Luckily, my Mom still had an old bed that my parents bought me when I was a puppy (and that I never used) and she put the bed next to the window so that I could tan. Of course, I just grabbed Froggy and off we went to the tanning salon.

The bed is tiny (or maybe I'm too big, but I like to think of myself as a healthy Super-Pug...) but it works fine. Mom said she'll try to find me another basket but apparently, PetSmart is out of wicker baskets so we'll have to check Petco.

A tiny seizure on Monday

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I had a seizure; the good news is that it was a little one and I had not had one in almost two months. This was my fifth one and it was very, very mild. It happened when I was taking my afternoon nap and my dad got home from visiting my mom at her new work. I woke up startled and I had my little seizure. Dad said that I was very brave and I was not even scared. He just stayed with me and comforted me until it was over. Thank God for dad...

The waiting is killing me...

Dear friends,
It is official! Next Friday I am going to get an older sister. My dear sister is five years old and she has been living with some nice ladies from the Northwest Arkansas Pug Shelter. Her name is Stella and of course, she is a pug. She is very cute but you best watch out because I am a big pug (25 lbs, mind you!) and I will protect my little sister--she's only 14 lbs! Here a picture of her. Isn't she precious?

Horrible Things

You know that my parents are really nice people--although, I have to say, a lot of it is because of the good values that I have instilled in them. They have been trying to find me a little brother or sister, preferably a doggy that needs rescue. So they have been spending many, many hours browsing rescue shelters and now they are very depressed.

There are so many puppies and doggies that need a home that it is really sad. The other really bad thing is to read all the horrible things that humans sometimes do to my fellow canines. There are doggies that are left at home for a couple of weeks without food or water, others are always kept outside whether it is below freezing or steaming hot, and that's not all. The horror stories go on and on and when you think it can't get any worse than that, bam... Another story even worse than the previous one.

Here's some of the shelters' websites may parents have visited (by the way, if you are an emotional person, don't visit these sites because they will make you very sad):

Pugs in NW Arkansas:
http://www.echoesbleeding.com/pug2/adoptable.htm

Pugs in Oklahoma City, OK:
http://www.homewardboundpugs.com/available.html

If you can help any of my little brothers or sisters, I'll be forever grateful! And don't forget, if you live in NW Arkansas, March 8 is Pug Play Day. You can take your doggy to meet all the great pugs in the neighborhood and you'll be helping to raise funds to help those that are not yet fortunate. And who knows, maybe you'll meet the pug of your life...

Getting ready for the summer

One of my favorite things to do, as you dear readers might have noticed, is to tan. Unfortunately, the winter is still with us but I am already preparing my tan every time I get a chance. Not even my dad's illness (poor dad has a cold or a sinus infection) gets in my way. A couple of days ago I even had to wake him up so that he could open the door for me. You see the sun was out just for me and who am I to not worship the sun? Sun, sun, sun, here I come...

Baxter and Me

Yesterday, I had a canine visitor. It was Baxter, a Boston Terrier that has become my newest buddy. Shhhh, don't tell Tink and Macy. Baxter and I had a blast. We chased each other around and I showed him our big backyard and our house. I showed him the bedroom where I sleep with my parents. My Mom was not around, so Baxter did not get to meet her but I told him how nice she is. At night she is just a big pillow that I can lean against and sleep. I told Baxter that there was enough room for him on the bed if he ever decides to move in with me.

I like having friends to play with. I wish my parents would adopt a little sister or brother for me, but no, they're just too self-centered and keep thinking about menial things like jobs and money. It's just not fair. After all the work I have put into making their lives comfortable and joyous, I just cannot fathom how they can be so selfish...

P.S. Sometime after Dad took this picture, Baxter and my Froggy hooked up. I was a little suspicious of Baxter when he just grabbed Froggy and took off. Luckily my Dad rescued Froggy and put him in his cage. "It's for your own good Froggy!"

Look at these cuties...

Look at this! J. Crew has a doggy clothing line Crewmutts that is totally adorable. And they are showing it off with these cute little puppies--I call this unfair competition! Although I must say that they did resit the urge to use pugs as so many other brands have done. The only thing that I don't understand is why are their sizes so small. Most of the items come in XS and S, quite unsuitable for a healthy pug like myself. Plus, it's like they think that only puppies need clothes, which is absolutely not true!

How Embarassing!

This morning Mom and I got up and she let me out so that I could go take my morning restroom break. It was really cold this morning too! When I took my poo-poo, a little piece of it got stuck on my bottom. I was so embarrassed that I did not even want to go back inside. When Mom came to check on me, I was sitting in a corner away from the door. She called me and I went inside and she saw immediately my problem. I went and sat under the kitchen table to hide my shame. Mom was really nice. She got a paper towel and wiped my bottom. I was happy right away. Thanks Mom...

My Epylepsy Update

I know that it's been a while since I posted. Oh, hush my fans, everything is fine.

About a week ago I had my fourth epileptic episode. This one was not too bad and I wasn't as scared. My parents and I now have enough information about these episodes to be able to observe a pattern. So here's what we know so far.

All my episodes took place at night. I would be sleeping restfully, when my dad would arrive from work and I would get startled with the noise of his arrival. I would sprint out of the bedroom to protect my mom (I didn't know for sure that it was dad coming home, you know!) and then BAM! my limbs would become stiff and I could not move properly. All four episodes happened like this.

On my last one, dad picked me up while I was having the seizure and took me to my mom. She held me until I was O.K. I wasn't very scared this time, so my legs were not as stiff and my face did not look as terrified. That made my mom happy. She thinks that maybe my seizures are getting weaker and maybe they'll go away. We'll see, I'll keep you posted.

I'm so glad my parents are here for me. I'm a very lucky pug!