Thursday, May 20, 2010
I have been trying to work on capturing action shots of the pugs to help improve my photography skills. Well, that, and my collection of photos of the pugs sleeping or being lazy is getting out of control.
While my skills as a photographer haven't really improved, I have been getting a good laugh at some of the photos I have been taking. Today's photo is a prime example.
I have found that the best way to get the pugs to "do something" is to play our treat catching game. The game never disappoints as it always gets the pugs moving and me laughing.
In this case, we have Henry intently focused on catching a treat I just tossed in the air. The focus, and the touch of crazy in his eyes just kills me. And Henry subscribes to the theory that the pug waits for no treat. His technique is not to wait for the treat to get to him, but to jump up and snag it out of the air.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
I must admit, in Benjamin's old age he has become quite a rule follower. When he was a pup I thought he would be impossible to train. But once he learned a command, he really mastered it. Henry would always learn a new command or trick first, but you could always count on Benny to perfect it.
Take the command "come" for example. Henry learned it way before Benny even had a remote clue of what we were trying to get him to do. But call out the word "Come" at some random point in the day and you will get Henry about 80% of the time. Benny, on the other hand, will run over, full steam ahead, every time. Without fail.
The other night I had a good laugh at Benny and his follow the rules self. We were going out, so I told the pugs to go to bed. They ran off to their crates and I was giving Benny his treat for going to bed when we fumbled the exchange and the treat bounced onto the floor and about a foot away from Benny's crate.
The crate door was still open and being the treat lover that he is, Benjamin craned his neck as far out from the crate door as he possible could, but there was no way he was going to be able to reach the treat. He stepped as far forward as he possible could in his crate and craned his head out the door one more time to try and reach the treat. Again, the treat was too far away.
Then he looked up at me with a look of sheer panic on his face. In his compartmentalized, command filing brain, he knew he needed to be in his crate to be eligible to receive a go to bed treat. If he left his crate, he couldn't eat the treat. A true conundrum for rule following Benny.
Meanwhile, I am watching all of this unfold and I am shocked. I knew that he was a stickler for the rules, but even this is surprising me because food is involved and Benny is all about rounding up fallen kibble.
So, I told him to go "take it." He looked at me and again I told him to "take it." He ran out of his crate, grabbed the treat and then ran back into his crate as fast as his little legs could take him. I closed the crate door and he settled with a look of relief and a touch of guilt on his face.
For all his crazy antics, Benny is a very straight-laced pug. He takes the rules very seriously.
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 17, 2010
I feel like Benjamin is waiting for his dinner party guests or something. He's relaxed, but not too casual.
But, wait. Benny would never hold a dinner party because he would have to share his food. Hmm...maybe he is waiting for the pizze guy.
Friday, May 14, 2010
I think Benjamin's wrinkles are one of his best features. Not only do they add to his charm, but they are also very kissable. But, take Benjamin's deep wrinkles and throw in a bit of the FL heat and humidity and you have the perfect recipe for stinkles.
So, when the temps start to rise we really need to be on top of Benny's wrinkle cleaning. If we miss just one cleaning, you can tell. Plus, if his wrinkles get too dirty he will take cleaning them into his own hands and will start rubbing his face on his paws and scratching at them with his hind paws. I hate for him to be uncomfortable so we do our very best to never let them get that dirty. But, it is amazing how dirty his wrinkles can get after a long walk or a quick trip to the dog park.
So from now until sometime in October, Benny has a date with me each morning to get a deep wrinkle cleaning. Plus, he gets one more quick face wipe before bed. Nobody said being so darn cute was easy.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
We are trying our hand at a little, container vegetable garden this summer. So far, we are having some success with our pepper plants (seen behind the pugs). We have a total of 3 plants and we have close to 10 peppers total. I have no idea what we are going to do with all those peppers, but I think that is a pretty good problem to have. At least they are in all different stages. It looks like our first pepper will be ready for picking this weekend.
We also planted a cucumber plant. We have tried cucumbers in the past without much luck, but this year's plant is looking strong. We will definitely need to be getting it a bigger pot.
The pugs enjoy checking up on the plants each evening after their walk. I water the plants and they have fun sniffing around.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
When we first rescued Luna she would not venture out into the yard without one of her brothers. Well, she would got out to go potty of course, but she always went right out, did her business and then came right back. The boys always like to go out and linger in the early morning sun. Luna would always join them, but would never go out unless they went first. However, now that she is more comfortable, she is usually one of the first ones out to soak up the sun. Now her brothers follow her around!
