Awkward Positions

I've done many posts about the funny poses pugs have but this time I'd like to do a post on the funny poses that we (the humans) are forced into by our pugs.  It's amazing the awkward and uncomfortable positions we are willing to put up with for our pugs' comfort and entertainment.  These are all pretty common for me.  The "behind and around leash dance" kills me - every day Rosy (and sometimes Sunny) does this non stop on our walks and I have to either twirl out of it or step awkwardly over the leash.

Pug Curfew

I have terrible sleeping habits and often go to bed really late at night.  Sunny and Rosy are pretty good sports about it but sometimes they just get fed up and give me subtle and not-so-subtle signs that they are ready for bed.  Sleeping on the couch and in the dog beds is all fun and good, but when it comes time to catch their beauty sleep, they need quality sleep in the big bed.

Pug Alarm Clocks

When I first got Sunny I told myself that I would never let her sleep on my bed and she would have her own separate bed next to mine.  This lasted for several months but I noticed that I kept falling asleep on my couch at night only to wake up in the middle of the night (or even pre-dawn) and make my way to my bedroom for real sleep.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my sleeping habits until one night I was about to fall asleep on my couch yet again and I caught myself thinking, "Ooh I'll just close my eyes a bit so I can snuggle with Sunny some more."  Aha!

Because I work full days I don't have that much time with my dogs so when I'm home I want to spend as much time as possible with them.  So Sunny and Rosy sleep with me on the big bed.  I don't know if my sleep quality is necessarily better though since they have some unique ways of waking me up every single day (including weekends).  Still, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Pugs - Descended From Wolves?

Domesticated dogs have come a long way from their wolf ancestors.  This is probably more evident in pugs with their unusual physical features.  Whenever I spend a ton of time or money on my dogs, I often think to myself about how far they've come from their ancestors and how they wouldn't stand a chance living in the wild without a human to take care of them and pamper them.

Food Pugs

Maybe it's because pugs love food so much but have you ever noticed how so many of their positions resemble food?  The pug loaf is well known and is also referred to the puggerpillar, but do your pugs ever do any of the other positions?  Most of these are based on Sunny but Rosy is often doing the donut and popcorn.

Why Pug, Why?

One of the things I love about having Sunny and Rosy is how they do so many strange things that crack me up.  It almost never fails - if I have a bad day, as soon as I come home I completely forget about it once I see Sunny's and Rosy's happy dance and the other silly things they do.  So here are a few things that I love to wonder about - why do they do the things they do?

Live Like a Pug!

I always find it odd that I ended up an attorney because by nature I am very lazy and hate stress.  My perfect day would be to lounge around, eating good food, watching tv, reading a book and napping.  Basically my spirit animal is a pug.  So really it was inevitable that I'd end up a crazy pug lady.  I think we could all take some advice from pugs about how to live our lives.  Pugs, and dogs in general, live life in the moment and without any filter.  They love absolutely, they relish every morsel, and they balance their frenzied outbursts with long and deep naps.  We should all live like a pug!

Let's Get Ready To Pug Ruuumbbble!

Sunny and Rosy get along pretty well nowadays and don't get into any real fights that often.  Most of the time  their tiffs are because Rosy's harassing Sunny and just being a pesky younger sister.  Sunny is pretty patient, but when it gets to be too much she fights back!  Sometimes I think Sunny actually enjoys it because afterwards she'll get into the play stance and stare at Rosy and then they run around my apartment with their butts tucked under as they make crazy snorting sounds.  So here's a few pug (really applies to all dogs I think) maneuvers when play fighting (not the real scary fighting usually over food and treats).

And if you'd like to see a bit of this in real life, here's a video of Sunny and Rosy.  I especially like Sunny's peg leg attack of waving her straight legs in the air totally ineffectively.  And notice Rosy loving stare as she gazes up at Sunny at the end.

Sunny v. The Beast

Every single time a truck drives by (garbage truck, mail truck, grocery delivery, any rumbly truck or suv), Sunny gets fixated on it and stares at it with her alert, ears forward pose.  As soon as the vehicle moves Sunny pounces into action and tries to chase after it as she makes these weird high-pitched yelping noises (not quite barks, more like pug screams?).  It can be really frustrating but also entertaining.  Rosy doesn't care about vehicles at all.  I like to imagine that this is what Sunny sees when a truck drives by.

X-Pugs!

If Sunny and Rosy were X-Pugs, Rosy's super power would be flight, wagging her tail and using it like a helicopter, and Sunny's super power would be her immense, immovable weight (like the Blob).  Their nails also grow super fast, so maybe they'd also have some Wolverine-like claws.  And ability to camouflage themselves by shedding copious amounts of pug fur in their surroundings.  So many superhero possibilities...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Love,
Sunny and Rosy

Pugs Want To Go To There!

Essentially, pugs want to be wherever you are, or wherever there might be food.  Here are a few places that I'm sure most pugs wish they could go to.

Nurse Pugs

Last week I had a slight cold that I thought I recovered from by the end of the week.  But then on Saturday I had a bit of a cough.  I was scheduled to do a long run that Saturday and I didn't want to miss it so stupid me  did it and now I am miserably sick.  I ended up having to stay home from work and I sound terrible.  Luckily my nurse pugs are taking good care of me.  They really do help me feel better, except when I'm feeling hot and feverish.  Then their warm bodies feel uncomfortably hot as they lay next to me or drape themselves over my lap!

I almost didn't post this because my pen slowly dying on me plus my inability to draw a steady line while sick made for some shaky lines.  It also didn't help that Rosy licked my sketchbook, not once but twice!  I don't know why she thought she'd taste my sketchbook since I can't imagine pencils and pens taste any good.  Anyways, I decided to go ahead and post it after cleaning it up a bit, because it accurately reflects how I feel when sick, both in the drawings and in the way it was executed.

Pug Poop Cycle

Pooping for Sunny can be a long, drawn-out, and complicated process.  Rosy just starts sniffing, circles a few times and then squats and does her business.

Sunny has to sniff every inch of grass near her until she finds a potential spot.  Then she'll circle, sniff, circle, sniff.  If I see her pawing at the ground, I get hopeful that she's finally going to poop.  But this is no guarantee.  Scratching at the ground means there's a 40% chance she'll finally do her business.  More often than not she'll circle a bit and even go so far as semi-squatting until, for some unknown reason, she realizes that this is not the right spot and she dashes off to find a new place to poop.  This process can repeat for up to 5 times.  Sometimes I feel like a ringleader in a circus with Sunny running in circles around me and then making tighter and tighter circles until she finally poops.

I never see any other dog in my neighborhood do this so I'm thinking it might be a pug thing?  Like they need the centrifugal force to poop?  This can be frustrating when I'm in a rush in the mornings, but it's always entertaining and hilarious!

Velcro Pugs

One of the best traits of pugs is their attachment to their humans.  Some pugs are more velcro-y than others. Luckily I have two extreme velcro pugs and they follow me everywhere and always want to be right next to me.  Rosy is especially attached and will follow me from room to room, or even one side of the room to another.  My velcro pugs are glued to me, whether it's in the bathroom, exercising, lounging on the couch, or trying to use my computer.  I love every second of it!

Lost in Pug Translation

Sometimes pugs do things or act a certain way that confuses or frustrates us because they just interpret things different from us.  This came out to a lot more cluttered on the same sized paper I usually use so I hope you can still follow what I tried to do here.  Just follow the arrows for each little scenario!

Stubborn Pugs

Some people think that pugs are stupid because some pugs are hard to train.  It's not that they're stupid, it's just that they are extremely stubborn.  Maybe they know what you're trying to tell them but they don't want to do it.  Maybe they just don't care.  It's a trait that can be incredibly frustrating, hilarious, and entertaining.

Sunny is the worst - she's the most stubborn dog I've ever met!  If we're out on a walk and she doesn't want to move she will just plop her big ol butt down and refuse to budge.  Sometimes, not even food is enough to convince her to do something.  Rosy on the other hand is a people pleaser and a food monster so it's pretty easy to convince her to do anything.

So You Think You Want A Pug...

It always amazes me how many pugs are in rescues.  I think that a lot of times people get dogs without realizing all the ups and downs of having one.  I love all aspects of having Sunny and Rosy (well maybe not the nail trimmings so much), but there are definitely some more challenging/difficult parts.  So if you're thinking of having a pug because you think pugs are cute, just keep in mind a few of these things.

Benefits To Pug Ownership

Having my two pugs makes me happy and I wouldn't trade them for anything!  They say that having a dog even has some health benefits like lowering one's blood pressure.  Here are a few other "benefits" to pug ownership.

Cold Dogs And a Side of Fries

I normally run hot and summers here are hot and humid so I normally enjoy fall and winter but the weather here has been bitter cold with a crazy wind. Sunny, Rosy, and I are trying to stay as warm as possible until this cold spell ends. If it's going to be cold it should at least snow so we can have a snow day at home!

Oh and there are no fries in this drawing. I just liked the play on "hot dogs" in the title. And I do love fries.