Friday, February 1, 2008
Pug lover Danielle wrote in and asked if I would post some of the adorable photos of her precious Milo. Milo got sick with cancer and after the cancer spread to his liver and lungs Danielle had to make the painful decision to send him to the Rainbow Bridge to keep him from suffering.
Milo was a true people pug and he won over the hearts of everyone he met including those non-dog loving people.
Danielle, please know that our thoughts are with you.
Friday, February 1, 2008
We returned home the from eye doctor yesterday with a pretty good prognosis.
Little Luna’s eyes seemed to be about the same. No worse, no better. Which is good because up until this point they seemed to be getting worse. There were some minor adjustments in her meds, but that was to be expected. And the best news is that she doesn’t have to return for a checkup for 4-6 months!
It was Henry with his bump that I was really concerned about. He was diagnosed with an Episclaral Mass which is just fancy talk meaning that he has a bump on his eye. It could be a tumor of some type or it could be the result of something poking him in the eye. With our eye experience from Luna, we gave Henry a little of her ointment before we made it in for the eye appointment and it seemed to help ease a little bit of the irritation in his eye. We confessed this to the eye doctor and she said that we did the right thing and she actually prescribed the same ointment for him. So, he will be on that for two weeks and then he goes back for a checkup. Hopefully, by then, things should be cleared up. Otherwise, the bump is a tumor. Right now, both the eye doctor and myself are leaning towards the bump being a result of an injury. We will know more in about two weeks, though. Hopefully, we both will be right.
We stocked up on all of Luna’s meds, got the ointment for Henry’s eye, forked over $380 and left for the long car ride home.
Friday, February 1, 2008
By the way she sleeps, you would think Luna was punished all the time. Rather than sleeping with her back up against the bolster on the dog bed, she likes to use the bolster as a chin rest. Which means she lays there facing the wall like she has been punished. She’s a funny little girl!
From this angle, you can also see her missing fur patches. The ones on her back are the worst. But luckily she is no worse for the wear.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
This afternoon Luna will be heading back to the eye doctor for her checkup. Hopefully all will be well. She will be joined this time by Henry, who will be getting his first exam by the ophthalmologist. It seems he has developed a bump on his eye. We have no idea what it is or how it got there. But is sure has made his eye very red and irritated looking. So we figured we better get him in to see the eye doctor right away. Since we are taking Henry we might as well take Luna because she is just about a week shy of her checkup appt.
Can you say never a dull moment?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
I just wanted to say, “Thank you” for all the kind comments left on yesterday’s post about Luna’s “Gotcha Day” (I like that term!). I have read (and re-read them) and I am very thankful to be able to share my thoughts about Luna, Benny & Henry with all the pug lovers out there.
I have been loving all the comments lately because I feel like I am getting to know everyone out there. So keep them coming because it is great to learn about all you wonderful people owned by pugs.
Also, many said that they have rescued a pug and I would love to hear your Rescue Story. Just send us an e-mail and we will post it on the site.
Thanks for stopping by and reading about Benjamin, Henry & Luna. Your comments always make my day!
Have a wonderful day, pug lovers!
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
I have had a few questions on how to introduce a new pug to the family, so I thought I would share how we went about bringing Luna into the family. I am by no means an expert, so I would love to hear how others went about bringing a new pug into the family.
Here is what worked for us.
The first thing we knew we wanted to do was to have Luna and the boys meet on neutral ground. We didn’t want to just bring Luna into the house and plop her down in front of the boys because we knew they would feel more territorial meeting her this way. So, we brought the boys to the park where Luna’s adoption took place. Would it have been a tad easier to do all the adoption paperwork without the boys there? Yes. Would we have been able to totally pamper Luna more without the boys there? Absolutely. But I thought it was important for the boys to meet her the same time we met her and the park was a perfect meeting place. The boys had never been to that park and I don’t think Luna had been either. So from the boys’ point of view they were just meeting another dog at the park, which is something they love to do. They had no idea that she would be coming home with us.
After we took care of all the adoption paperwork, we walked around the park with Luna and the boys. There was a pug festival going on so the park was buzzing with activity and there were pugs everywhere. So we just walked around meeting other pugs and talking to people.
After we made our rounds, we decided to call it a day and head back home. We had a 3 hour drive ahead of us so we wanted to hit the road. Also, I was anxious to see how the boys would react to Luna getting in the car. This would be their first test of allowing Luna in their territory. And having them first get used to Luna being in their car, rather than their house was no accident. I wanted to sorta gradually introduce her. We had Luna’s seatbelt already setup, so we stuck to our normal routine. Benny always gets buckled in first then Henry, so we stuck to that order. Then we simply buckled Luna in making no big deal of it. Although, that was the hardest part. I wanted to make a big fuss over our new baby girl, but I just knew that I couldn’t. That would be the worst thing to do. I knew that would send the boys into jealous mode, because some new pug is getting all kinds of attention for doing something that was so routine to them. So, we kept it low key and acted as if Luna had been with us all along.
Once we got home, it was dinner time for the pugs. So we decided to feed the pugs before we even went inside the house. Luna was only used to eating kibble at that point, so we made her dinner and got the boys’ dinner ready. Rather than eating in their normal spots we had the pugs eat outside on the lanai. We gave each of the pugs ample space and put down their bowls in their normal order, Benny’s, then Henry’s and now Luna’s.
After they ate, we let them play in the backyard a bit. They had a great time running around playing chase and we got to know Luna a little bit more. Once everyone was tired it was time to show Luna her new house. We simply opened the door and let her in like she had been here before. Luna went around smelling and looking over things and the boys were right by her side (and we weren’t too far behind). Since, they already had a rapport with her they didn’t seem to mind her barging in.
After that, we just tried to keep things business as usual. It was really hard no to dote on Luna, but I knew it would be best in the long run if we treated her just like the boys (they don’t do too bad in the doting department themselves).
To sum things up, here are the thing that we deliberately set out to do to make the addition of Luna as smoothly as possible.
How did you go about adding another pug to your family?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Happy Birthday Luna! Today marks the 2nd anniversary of Luna’s adoption day. And in honor of such an event we like to treat the day like Luna’s birthday.
To celebrate this year, I wanted to share a few of the things that Luna has taught me in the two years that she has been a part of our family.
If you were to look at the AKC’s definition of pug, nothing about her fits. She’s scrawny, scrappy and doesn’t even have a full coat of fur, but let me tell you she is all pug at heart. She truly embodies the spirit of the pug. She’s outgoing, she’s rough and tumble, sensitive and comical. She possesses all the wonderful traits of the pug breed.
It’s no secret that Luna isn’t a looker. While on walks, we are frequently asked, “What happened to this one?” when Luna is standing next to her brothers. At first, this used to make me incredibly sad. In comparison to her brothers, Luna doesn’t have the beautiful coats that they do or the sparkling eyes and you can just tell she hasn’t led the pampered life that the boys have had. But I soon realized that none of this mattered much to Luna. She has an inner confidence, a sense of personal pride and love for herself that simply doesn’t factor in physical appearance. When we are out and about, it is usually Benny that catches someone’s eye and draws them over to meet the pugs, but it is Luna that keeps them around to chat.
Luna has to be the most optimistic dog I have met. She looks forward to everything! Even getting her eye drops! She just refuses to see the bad in any situation.
Not everything in life is easy and sometimes life can simply just suck. But Luna is a constant reminder to me to stick with things because “this too shall pass.” Her past was less than ideal. She had minimal human companionship and her basic needs were simply not met. But look at her now. She eats better than I do, gets 3 walks a day, has plenty of human companionship and all the love she can soak up from her brothers. She spends her mornings sunning herself by the pool and her evenings curled up on a warm lap. It is like she knew this day was coming and she made it through each day of the past knowing that one day things would be better.
These are just a few of the things I have picked up in the two years Luna has been part of our family. I’m sure she has a lot more to teach me over the years. One thing is for sure, though, I know I am a better person because of my pugs.
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