Sunday, October 25, 2015
The weekend of October 17th we took a trip to St.Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine is about an hour away from us. This trip was for a pug event to benefit Central Florida Pug Rescue (CFPR) called Pugs In The City. This was also a make up trip for Henry. In August 2014, right after Henry "lost everything" (his siblings, his eye, his kidney and bordering on losing the sight in his remaining eye) we had booked a trip to St. Augustine to try to help him through his tough time by gong on a mini vacation. Well, it fell through. He was no where near well enough. He was still chemo sick and by then also had suffered a serious bout of pancreatitis. So, the trip never happened. So, this was not only a great pug friendly trip for Henry, it was also an opportunity at a re-do.
We will tell the story in a 4 part series. The opening episode is about getting there and the dog friendly hotel. Henry enjoyed the hour long car ride and once we were on the "big road" (the interstate) he pulled his head back in the window and settled on his passenger lap pillow for the ride. Once we got there, he was ready to hop out of the car and explore his surroundings! He, of course, was also ready for his lunch which we had strategically packed in a cooler. Well fed, he sniffed around his new home away from home. The hotel was a very dog friendly hotel. They had a small fenced in area for dogs to enjoy while off leash. It was a nice area for pet owners and pets alike.
While there were a few other non pugs at the hotel and the event, there were obviously more than just a few pugs! When we first got there, the pugs warmed up to each other immediately. Surprisingly, the pug peeps were a bit on the shy side at first meeting. In the dog run area, though, there was another Henry! A non pug Henry! A moderately misbehaving, humping everyone else in the park Henry. Oy. It was giving the name Henry a bad name. LOL. Non pug Henry kept getting fussed at by his peep but it was futile. Pug Henry just kind of did what he usually does in new spaces and that is walk the perimeter. He sniffed the fence about half way around and then found a place to sit and settle. He was approached and smelled by several other pugs but never really returned the favor. There was a another blind dog in the run that day. Harley. He was about 8-9 years old. I can no longer remember exactly but I do remember that he was considerably younger than Henry. Other than Ann's dog, Julia, (Ann from CFPR), Henry was the oldest dog at the event that we knew of there but there may have been other elders there that we just did not know about. Julia is a very Luna-like little diva pug and she still has the most adorable pug strut going on. She is the same age as Henry.
It's funny, last week we were just talking about how at a long ago pug event how we could not easily identify our boys from the pack of pugs from a distance. Well, I guess that may be because they were puppies/young pugs (as were the majority of that group of pugs). At this event, though, it was easy to spot Henry in the crowd (and not just because he was the one with shaved square on his side or he was the one stuck under a table or chair but just because at this event the pugs truly looked a lot more different than one another. I guess with a little bit of age, they begin to look a bit more distinct. Anyway, it was not a challenge to tell them apart and spot your own.
#AdventuresOfHenry! #Henry'sMakeUpTripWasASuccess #HenryStrongAllYearLong
Thursday, October 22, 2015
We want to know how you spoil your pug! Share your methods in the comments section!
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Since we had a few good Ask OBP questions, we wanted to finish fielding them before next week when we address the one about our favorite Halloween outfits since we know that will be a full post in itself. So, we will answer questions from Terry pertaining to toys from puppyhood and sleeping in awkward positions. Christie, ever the hygienic pug lady, asked about how often our pugs get a bath. Those will be today's topics. 
I will go backward, though. Bath time. Ugh. Yeah, bath time has never been on a set schedule. It was a kind of "as needed" or let's do it this time "before it's needed". The as needed times would come when: Luna would roll in whatever grossness she could find, Benny would pee on Henry or step in his own poop, or when Henry sat for a spell when a nearby sprinkler was watering someone's grass with reclaimed water. In these cases, they all would get a bath. When they were able to avoid mishaps, baths would be about every 3-4 weeks in summer and a little longer than that in cooler months. And of course, we would try to "beat the grease"....you know that feeling that is left on your hand after petting a dog that REALLY needs a bath? Hopefully we never left someone feeling like that. But there may have been a time or two when we waited a day or 2 too long and they were post ripe.
One of the things we did notice was that Luna, the smallest, was ALWAYS the dirtiest by far. Like SO dirty! So much dirtier than the boys. She totally should have gotten a bath easily twice as often as the boys. Henry would typically be next dirtiest and Benny was usually overall the cleanest with most of his dirt on his stinky feet!
Thank you, Christie. I am sure your pugs get the full deal quite often. I mean you had a pug shower created just for them! We tried to use the set tub for baths but that did not work so they just shower where we shower.
Now, Terry. You asked about sleep positions and toys. The sleep one is an interesting one. The pugs, when they were young, would sleep in some seriously awkward positions. As they aged, however, they limited their sleep position to only a few positions all of which seemed more comfortable. And as they each aged, they would no longer be as comfortable on soft pillows, dog beds or even the people bed. Eventually they all preferred the floor. But in their youth, they mostly slept on Henry! He was often the bottom of the pug pile. So, for the others, it may not have seemed uncomfy, but for Henry, always being piled on probably was not always ideal. But they would sleep with their heads hanging off the edge of a bed or sofa, squeezed into a cat bed, on their back like a dead bug or in various other shapes. One of my favorites, which was not staged, is the one of Benny laying on Henry (picture above). Benny was always hugging up to Henry. It's no wonder that Henry misses his bro so much.
As for toys, oh yes, our pugs played with their toys well into their early 10's. After that they really only wanted chewy sticks. But they were quite the tuggers and shakers of fluffy toys.They had a rope toy that had multiple prongs so that they could each pull. A stuffed octopus worked well for tug, too. That one left their peeps some legs too, so that we could all play. Luna liked things that made noise (but of course was particular about the sound) while Henry preferred rubbery toys or stuff just to carry around and Benny, of course, had his favorite puffy. Henry had pool toys that he liked to fetch and this was part of his summer routine until his health and vision started to dwindle (so that was up until he was 11 or so).
That would be a big yes, Terry. The pugs loved their toys beyond just puppy hood. Maybe you have not found the right toy? I can say that one Henry's faves was the paper towel roll. The boys also would do a mean job on a newspaper! Much like children, sometimes the best toys are the simplest.
Thanks everyone! #KeepAsking!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
As mentioned earlier, we had some high tide issues surrounding Hurricane Joaquin. Well, we specifically went to Ponce Inlet (the dog beach) to see how the tides effected the dog beach. Well, it was quite a trip. The photo below does not really do it justice but the cliff you see here used to be a slopped path of sand where we would enter the beach. Well, now that has obviously been washed away. This meant we had to take a longer route to get to the beach. Or should I say what used to be the beach. The tide was so high that there was practically nothing left! We did go down to the have some time in the waves. Sadly, I was not paying perfect attention and Henry got pummeled by one! Before that we had been jumping a few waves but the one that took him for a loop sneaked up on me, leveled him and definitely got me more wet than I had intended to get. Henry took it like the champ that he is! #HenryStrong!
Knowing that we shouldn't end the experience on a sour note, we stayed in the water a little longer. Henry ended up having a really good time and so did his peeps. Grammy even joined us on this adventure! Some little puggy even got a bath that night to get rid of the sand and sea water stench. Guess who slept well that night!
Monday, October 19, 2015
Welcome back to ASK OBP. We have received a few good questions. One from Sue VDB asking about the use of our fridge now that we are down to only one if we were able to reclaim people space. Sandra B asked about the photo in the Pug Love video where the boys are tending goal at an ice hockey rink. And Sleighbelle asked about getting more pugs when your pack starts to dwindle.
First, yes, Sue! We have indeed claimed some people space in the fridge. Although we have more fridge space it is not often that we fill the fridge with people stuff, though. It comes in handy when g'ma and g'pa come down, though. They can sure fill a fridge when they stay! So, for that reason alone, it is nice to reclaim our fridge (even though we'd rather have a full fridge instead of less pugs).
Sandra B, the story behind the boys in the hockey net is a short but humorous one. This was taken at the first pug only event we ever attended. It was indeed at a skating rink in Maryland. It wasn't actually ice at the time. It was a roller rink during summer months. This is where the event was held, was on the rink. There were probably 50-100 pugs there. This is the first and last time we ever lost our pugs in a sea of pugs! Once they were all mingling we could not find our sweet Benny or Henry among the group! When the boys were young, people would always ask us how we could tell them apart. We were miffed by this question since to us they look nothing alike! I mean they had common pug features, but beyond that did not even resemble one another! But after this event, we could see why someone would ask us that. When you had an over flow of fawn pugs then even your own beloved pug begins to melt into the pile of beige. It was some craziness. With all that aside, since the goalie nets were still up, we thought it would be funny to pose them there and take a snapshot. We wanted to have them dress in hockey attire and make it look like Benny was taking a shot against the defending Henry but that was a bit much even for us to pull off. Good question, Sandra! Sorry there is not really a better story behind that photo, but that's what it was.
Last question goes to Sleighbelle. And thanks to others for chiming in on this since Sleighbelle put it out there. We are answering it, too, but yet not answering at the same time. No one can say if getting a dog (pug or not pug) is right for you. So, you will have to go with your gut and insert some logic, too. I will follow this by thanking everyone by not asking us what will happen when Henry goes. We get this question so often that while it is no longer literally every day, it sure feels like it is every day. Even days after Benny and Luna passed, we would hear, "so, are you going to get more?" as though "more" would replace the ones we lost. I have my own rant about that but keeping it positive, I will leave it with a thank you to you all for not asking that question. We do not know what we will do when that day comes. We cannot predict what we will do when we ultimately do lose Henry, the last pug standing. We can only say that that day and the days (and maybe weeks and months to follow) will be impossibly hard. And we honestly are not sure if we will ever be ready to go down the sad road of loss like that again no matter how much joy they brought us before that. It is something we talk about often and dread regularly. And only the person looking to get a dog can say if he/she is ready, willing and able to undertake such an important feat of giving a fur baby a forever home.
Sidenote: the other question that we hate to hear when we are on our walks, is "what's the matter with him?" as though Henry is broken. He may be slow, but hey, at least he's out here giving it his all and that we, as his people, are still celebrating him and giving him opportunities to enjoy life. So, really, the question we want to ask the asker is "nothing, what is the matter with YOU?" HA! Other than those 2 questions, we are good. If someone is genuinely wondering about him, they ask "why did he lose an eye?" or "why does he have that shaved spot" or some other question expressing actual wonderment or concern. I guess the "what's the matter with him?" could be asked from a loving heart but given the tone it is typically asked in, it does not convey a message of concern but often an expression of disgust or disdain. So, again, with much appreciation that no one has asked our 2 most dreaded questions. Keep asking and we will keep answering!
Stay tuned and next week will answer Christie's question about our favorite Halloween costumes. We typically recap Halloweens of past when it gets a tad closer to Halloween. But I have sensed that there are some folks out there who are as excited for Halloween! Very funny! We are excited, too, though. It is just around the corner!
Sunday, October 18, 2015
So, we have seen Henry being a daredevil when he was walking on the edge of the river when the river was low. We witnessed him hanging out on the edge when the tide was high. Well, we visited the river shortly after Hurricane Joaquin was out at sea. This hurricane, while impacting many others north of us, barely impacted Florida. It did bring us some high tides, though. Locally, our Halifax River was splashing over the edges of the retention wall. Here, we have Henry risking life and limb and getting a few splashes of water on his paws. Seriously, this boy does make your heart skip a beat!
#HoldOnHank #AwayFromTheEdgeBoy #HenryStrong #HigherTideHank
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Each year for the last 3 we have participated in our local Walk to End Alzheimer's. (You have seen photos of Henry with his Uncle Bob who is currently suffering with the disease. Well, at the walk, we are given flowers in colors that represent your affiliation with Alzheimer's disease. Orange is that you support the cause and a vision of a world without Alzheimer's (which we do). Purple represents that you have lost someone to Alzheimer's or dementia (which we have). Yellow tells that you are supporting or caring for someone with Alzheimer's (which would be for Bob's wife, Aunt Kelly). The blue flower is to show that you have dementia or Alzheimer's (and that one is for Uncle Bob himself, although he is no longer in a position to understand any of this).
We wanted to pose Henry in front of the Alzheimer's garden so that Henry, even though he could not make the walk, show that he is in support of a world free of Alzheimer's disease. Henry's brain issues are actually quite similar to that of a person who has the fairly early stages of dementia. So, this is a cause that Henry can support wholeheartedly. After the world of pugs, working to end Alzheimer's is our biggest passion. #EndAlz #WalkToEndAlz #DoingItForBob #HenryHopesToEndAlzToo
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