Friday, May 26, 2006

Cozy

One of the biggest chores in the morning is making the bed.  Not because making the bed is such a hard task, but because how do you make the bed with 3 pugs in it?  All of them look so cute snuggled under the covers and on the pillows that I don’t want to move them!  However, seeing them all cuddled up together in the morning is a great way to start the day!

Monday, May 22, 2006

Land or Sea?

We are a water loving family.  On warm, sunny days we love going to the dog beach or spending time swimming in the pool.  But like a lot of families we are a little dysfunctional.  See, Benjamin hates the pool.  And by hate, I mean loathes!  He detests the pool so much that he insists that no one else should swim in it.  So when anyone else is in the pool, Benjamin paces, barks and whines.  He is perfectly happy at the beach splashing in the surf and rolling in the sand, but the pool is just too much for him.

Henry, on the other hand, loves the pool.  Sometimes, we have a hard time keeping him out of the pool.  There is nothing he likes more than playing fetch in the pool.

So with one pug that loves the pool and one that hates it, we have been anxious to find out if Luna is a surf or turf kind of girl.  To answer our burning question, we suited Luna up in Henry’s old life vest that he had outgrown and put her in the pool.

Well what do you know?  The girl is a very good swimmer!  She is very calm while in the water and does a really good job of keeping her head up high and not splashing too much while paddling.

After a few minutes of testing the water, she was even ready to chase after her brother.

While Luna is an excellent swimmer, I can’t see her getting excited about getting in the pool.  She tolerates it if we put her in, but I can never see her just jumping in the pool on her own free will like Henry does.

So I think the question that has been on our minds for so long has been answered.  Luna is a land lover.  Looks like Benny will have someone to play with while everyone else is swimming in the pool.

Monday, May 22, 2006

She’s a Lady

Luna is not a morning person.  I thought Henry hated getting out of bed in the morning, but Luna is 10 times worse than Henry.  When we first get up in the morning, Luna remains in bed.  It is not until we sit down to breakfast that Luna drags herself out of bed.  While we eat breakfast Luna usually sits on the rug next to the table in a very unflattering position and does her best to stay awake.  Once we crack open our banana, she suddenly jumps up and paces at our feet.  Bananas are about the only thing that can get this little girl going in the morning.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Tuckered Out

For the first time since we adopted her, the boys actually tired Luna out.  Everyone was romping in the yard for quite some time before things started to slow down.  Luna thought it would be nice to lay on the bench and rest up.  The boys, on the other hand, got a second burst of energy and were still running around the yard.  Luna watched them intently and thought about joining in, but decided she needed her rest instead.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Practical Jokesters

The other day, I found a snake on our screened-in lanai.  Now granted, it was a baby snake, so it was not very big, but it was enough to really startle this city girl.  The worst part about it was that I wasn’t able to get the snake out of the lanai.  Cupid, the cat, was the first to spot the snake.  So she proceeded to poke and torment it.  I was so worried about getting the cat away from the snake that by the time I had the cat safe inside the snake was no where to be found.  Needless to say, I looked high and low for that thing, but I could not find it.  For my sanity, I am presuming that the snake let itself back out the same way that it came in, but you can never be too sure.

So yesterday, I pass by the sliding glass doors that have sheer curtains on them and I see a snake like shadow.  My skin starts to crawl and I just know my snake friend is back for a visit.  Determined to catch the little guy this time, I slide the curtains back and what do you know, one of my good little pugs has gotten their rope toy out of the toy box and has forgotten to put it away.  Needless to say, I was very relieved, but I still wonder which one of the pugs was playing tricks on me.

Monday, May 8, 2006

Crate Training

When we adopted Luna she was not crate trained.  This was a bit of a hurdle for us because the boys are crate trained and we have not had success in “un-crate training” them.

After many of the boys’ puppy habits were broken, we tried giving them more freedom in the house.  We were very curious to see how the boys would react to their new found freedom so we set up a video camera.  Needless to say it was a complete disaster.  The boys were nervous wrecks.  They paced, they whined, they barked, they barked at each other - it was chaos.  It seems that they just prefer to be in their crate when we are not at home.  It is where they feel safe.

So knowing that the boys need to be in their crate while we are away, I knew that one of the first orders of business for Luna was crate training.  To gauge her progress and see how much she protested we again setup the video camera.  To help ease her into crate training we were only gone for a small amount of time.  The first time we put her in the crate we didn’t even go anywhere, we just stood in the driveway for about 5 minutes.  After we came home each time, we let them out and then reviewed the tapes to see how the little one did while we were away.

Needless to say the first couple times were disastrous.  Luna never settled, she whined, scratched and barked the whole time.  She even started to get the boys worked up and they joined in and started whining as well.

But we kept with it and by the end of the week we had made significant progress.  The boys started to act like their usual selves and went to sleep shortly after being put in the crate.  By them ignoring Luna and her cries, this helped her to settle.  She still protested a bit in the beginning but after only a few short minutes she was laying down and going to sleep.

Now it is safe to say that Luna is fully crate trained.  Not only does she eagerly go into the crate when we leave the house, but she also goes to the crate on her own when we are home.  The little one is not much of a morning person, so on weekdays when we get up for work, the first place she runs is to her crate.  There she can get an extra hour or so of uninterrupted sleep.

Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Return of the Pug Tug

Henry loves the water and when he is not swimming he likes to float in his Pug Tug.  While relaxing last week, we got the Pug Tug back out and Henry was as anxious as ever to go for a ride.  We weren’t too sure what Luna would think of the boat, but she was brave and decided to set sail with her brother.  The interesting part was that Luna would only ride in the boat if Henry was with her.  If Henry was not in the boat she wanted nothing to do with it.  Henry being in the boat really made her feel safe.