Monday, June 21, 2010
In our quest slim down the pugs we have brought back swim camp (more here as well). Swimming is not only great exercise for the pugs, but it is pretty much the only way they can exert themselves during the summer. The risk of them overheating is still there, but soaking their bodies in cool, pool water does a lot in helping to regulate their body temperatures.
To avoid shenanigans, we changed things up and the pugs now attend individual swim camp sessions. Which means, swim camp is a two camp counselor event. One person conducts swim camp while the other keeps the other two pugs occupied and away from the pool area.
A swim camp session lasts a total of 10 minutes. Each one of the pugs likes to spend their time doing different things, but the goal is to get in as much swimming as possible. They swim a bit, take a break, then swim a bit more. Repeat this process for ten minutes and then you have a swim camp session.
While one pug is at swim camp the other pugs do various things to pass the time. Depending on the time of day, they may go for a little walk, or they may assist in pulling weeds from the garden. Sometimes, we just sit under a tree in the front yard and enjoy the shade.
Completing 3 swim camp sessions takes about 45 minutes. Even though there is only 30 minutes of swimming, the exchange and suiting the pugs up takes time (life vests/harness). We try to do swim camp 3 times a week. That frequency seems to work well for the pugs. It keeps them from getting over exhausted.
This weekend, the pugs hosted media day at swim camp so I was able to get some pictures and take some underwater video. I was going to tell you about one of the pug's swim camp adventures each day this week, but I thought it would be more fun if I let you decide the order. So tell me, which pug would you like to hear about first? Although, I'm pretty sure I know your answer 
Friday, May 21, 2010
The other night we went to the park for our evening walk. It was a gorgeous evening so the park was quite busy. There were lots of joggers, walkers, dogs and kids running about. We meandered around the small lake stopping every once in a while to talk to those who passed by. When we reached a nice shady section, we took a little break to let the pugs cool off and to give us a chance to just relax and enjoy the view.
Have a great weekend! I hope everyone has a chance to relax and enjoy the view.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Preakness was just run in my home town of Baltimore, MD. The pugs saw the race and thought they would hold a contest of their own
Right out of the gates, Little Luna is in the lead, followed closely by Baby Benny and Dawdling Doody is bringing up the rear.
It was a close race, but Luna won it by half a pug length.
Monday, May 3, 2010
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case I think this picture is a way to see the the different personalities of Benjamin, Henry & Luna.
First, we have Henry the adventurer that can't stay out of the pool. Then we have the worriers, Benjamin & Luna, that pace around the pool concerned about their brother. But the real moment of truth is when Henry jumps out of the pool. As you can see, Luna is giving Henry and earful, but Ben is in the back, running as fast as he can because he knows Henry is going to shake. One big shake from Henry will get Benny all wet. And Benjamin's number one rule when swimming is that no one can get wet. 
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Last night was Bark at the Park night for our local minor league baseball team. We found out about the event a few months ago and have been looking forward to it ever since. Since we had a few months to strategize, we decided to only bring Henry.
We were a family of four pugs, when we first learned of the event and we knew that a baseball game on what would most likely be a warm April night would be too much for Sol to handle. We also felt like Luna would not enjoy going to the game either. With not seeing well, Luna doesn't really like crowds. She much prefers small gatherings. Then we thought about it a little more and we knew that Benny would just be crazy with all the ballpark food around. So we thought it would just be fun to take Henry and Benjamin & Luna could have a fun night at home with Grammy.
And Henry did not disappoint. We arrived a tad early, and while we were getting out of the car, Henry met several "Event Staff" people just arriving for work. We talked for a bit and then they went into the park for work. After a brief wait, the gates to the park opened and we got to go in and check everything out. The first perk of the night was that every dog entering the park received a dog biscuit. That made Henry happy.
We walked along and visited some of the dog related booths and when we got near the concession stand, we heard a group of people calling, "Henry! Henry!" Henry went running over and wouldn't you know, Henry had previously made friends in the parking lot with the most important people at the ballpark - the concession workers.
Feeling like a king, Henry waltzed right over to the concession and stood up at the window, ever so happy to say hello to his new friends.
We finally made our way to our seats and Henry watched the players warm up. There were a few dogs around making a ruckus, but Henry just ignored them. With a full belly courtesy of his new friends, he was on cloud 9 basking in the setting sun on a perfect evening watching some people running around on what looked like some very nice grass.
After a few innings we moved up to the bleachers to get a different view and say hi to some friends. There Henry met a few other dogs and people. We tried to get a picture with the mascot, but as soon as he came near the dogs in our section went into full attack mode. Henry just watched, cocking his head to the side.
After a few more innings, we decided to head home, but not before making one more stop at the concessions so Henry could say good night to his new friends.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The pugs had some fun with bubbles this past weekend. Luna was quite fascinated with them and had the most pop right on her nose because she kept trying to smell them.
Henry didn't seem too enthused by the bubbles. He was more interested in the wand instead.
And Benny, true to form, was terrified of them. Exhibit A below.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Saturday morning, before it got too hot for the pugs, we took them to a nearby school to have some fun on the playground. The boys absolutely love going down the slide. Many people have asked if the boys do this all on their own. I always answer yes, but I thought a picture would be more fun. Here is a shot of Benny getting ready to head down the slide and Henry climbing up the stairs on his way to do the same thing.
And here is one of Benny getting ready to stick the landing.
Luna is not a fan of the slide or climbing up on the jungle gym. This is where her vision troubles really slow her down. Instead she waits for the boys and gives them a good chase once they are back on the ground
« Older Posts
| More Recent Posts »
Want more? Wander through our archives.
