Monday, February 11, 2008

Every morning, shortly after the dew dries on the grass, Benny goes out in the yard and sits on the bench that he is convinced we bought just for him. He usually just sits there squinty eyed listening to the birds chirping, but on this morning there was a distinct smell of bacon in the air. He just sat there, soaking up the rays, smelling and smelling the air. Sunshine and bacon! He was in heaven!
Monday, February 4, 2008

Like most pugs Benny is very alert and listens closely when you speak. You might not even be speaking directly to him, but he always has an ear out listening to the words you are speaking. This is all well and good, except for the fact that there are a few words that you can not say to Benny unless you really mean it. Here are a few.
Hungry
Use this word in any sentence and Benjamin will not calm down until you feed him. I think this all started because when him and Henry were pups I always asked them “Are you hungry?” before I fed them. Why? I don’t know. The answer was always a resounding YES. I must have asked them too many times because now you can’t even use the word hungry in any sentence without Benny thinking it is time to eat.
Breakfast, Dinner, Snack or Treat
Unless you are feeding Benny all of these words are off limit. Say any of them and he automatically assumes it is feeding time. It has gotten so bad that we had to start referring to things like our dinner as “D”. We’ll say things like, “So what’s for D?”
Wanna
Benjamin assumes that any sentence that has the word wanna is a question and his answer is always YES. This probably came from me asking them, “Do you wanna go for a walk?” or “Do you wanna go for a car ride?” So if Benny hears the word “wanna” he automatically assumes he is going for a walk or a ride in the car. Even if you ask him something like “Wanna get a bath?” He still assumes he is going to do something fun. He’s definitely an optimist.
What are your pug’s favorite words?
Monday, January 28, 2008

Benjamin likes to lay on things. People, dogs, pugs it doesn’t matter. If you are sitting still he will plop right on top of you. Size wise, Benny is the middle pug so when he plops down on Henry it isn’t really a big deal. Henry isn’t always thrilled, but he can handle it. When he plops down on Luna, though, it is a different story. He nearly squishes her and Luna always desperately tries to wiggle her way out from underneath him. We have to remind him that he just can’t go around squishing his sister.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Just talked to the vet and Baby Benny’s teeth cleaning went well and he is coming out of the anesthesia now. I’m sure he is a whiny mess and is searching around for his puffy. I’ll be sure to bring it with me when we go to pick him up.
Surprisingly, they said they did not have to pull any teeth! I’ll get the update when we go to pick him up. Thanks for all the well wishes.
Monday, January 21, 2008

Baby Benny on the way to get his teeth cleaned. The drop off went smoothly. Although, Benjamin was concerned about skipping breakfast. He is a firm believer that you should never skip breakfast or any other meal for that matter.
Now we just wait to hear when he is all finished up with his teeth cleaning.
Monday, January 21, 2008

Benjamin is getting his teeth cleaned today. I know it is necessary, but I just hate days like today. I’ll be worried all morning until I get the call from the vet letting me know how things went. We can pick him up around 4 this evening and we will be bringing both his sisters, Luna & Cupid to get him. Both of the girls are due for their shots, so we have a 3:00 and 3:30 appointment for them to get their annual checkups and shots. If we are going to be there we might as well get as much done as possible.
When we pick Benny up he will be a whinny mess. He doesn’t come out of the anesthesia well at all. He just sits there and whines and whines. We always debate whether or not we should leave his puffy with him when we drop him off. I know he would like to have it with him, but if they were to misplace puffy I don’t know what he would do. So we normally leave it home to keep it safe.
I think Benny will also need to have one of his teeth pulled! We brush their teeth pretty regularly, but unbeknownest to us, Benjamin has a tooth that is pretty much growing out of the roof of his mouth (I’m exaggerating a bit. It isn’t growing out the roof of his mouth, but is is set in much further than the others). Until the other day, we never even knew it was there, so needless to say we have never brushed it. It doesn’t look like it is in good shape at all so I am sure they are going to have to pull it. I just can’t believe we never knew it was there!
In general, Benjamin’s teeth are pretty crazy. He definitely suffers from the problem of having too many teeth in such a small mouth. The arrangement of the teeth play a big role in how easy it is to keep them clean. Benjamin & Henry are the same age, they eat the same food, chew the same bones and get their teeth brushed at the same frequency and Benny’s teeth are so much worse than Henry’s. Bad enough to warrant a teeth cleaning. Henry’s pearly whites are in great shape.
In the meantime, I will be counting the hours until I will be able to bring my cranky old man back home!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008

At the young age of 5, it is always a standing joke that Benjamin is a cranky old man. He’s been this way since he was about 1. He’s not cranky in a mean way, he is just set in his ways. He likes routine. He’s a little like Raymond from Rain Man. He’ll freak out if he doesn’t get to watch his Wapner at 11.
While Benjamin is not very smart at training and things like that, he is a master at picking up on routine. He generally knows when I am going to leave the house before I even decide to go anywhere and he promptly goes to his crate and waits for me to give him his goodbye treat. Sometimes, he has a long wait, but he is always right.
Since he loves routines, Benjamin is a pretty predictable fellow. For example, every afternoon starting at about 3:45pm you will find Benny perched on the arm of the sofa like in the photo above. He just sits there basking in the sun and watching out the front door. After every meal, Benny must go outside to go potty. It doesn’t matter that he just went before he ate. His routine is potty, eat, potty. That’s how he likes it and you better not make him wait for his after dinner pee pee. In the evenings, he sits at the foot of the bed with his puffy in his mouth waiting for me to finish getting ready for bed. When I get in bed, he promptly lays on my chest and is ready for his bedtime massage. After about five minutes he will settle and will be ready for bed. In the mornings he is always at my feet for the pouring of the Cheerios.
He likes structure and if I weren’t at home and Benny was not in his crate, I could pretty much tell you what he is doing at any given moment. Henry finds doing the same thing everyday boring, but Benjamin thrives on it. When his routine gets messed up he is spastic. That is when the cranky really comes out.
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