Friday, April 21, 2006
People often ask me if pugs shed. When asked this I always laugh and then offer up a definitive “Yes, yes they do and they shed a ton!” But sometimes I feel that people that don’t already own pugs don’t really understand how much pugs shed.
To help manage my gang’s shedding I brush them fairly regularly with the Zoom Groom. The other night I took the boys and Luna out in the yard for their regular brushing and this is how my shirt looked afterward.
So how do you stop the shedding?
Well, I have found that you don’t. Nothing I have tried has ever stopped my pugs from shedding. Instead I find the only thing you can do is minimize the shedding and do your best to keep up with it around the house. I find that brushing the boys and Luna with the Zoom Groom helps to get rid of a lot of the hair at once. This still doesn’t stop them from leaving fur all over the rest of the house, but it does help a bit.
The other main thing that I do in the battle against fur is vacuum. Now this may seem silly, but I vacuum every day. When I had a regular, bag type vacuum I used to vacuum every two or three days. Then I got a Dyson that has a clear canister. After I ran the vacuum, I was disgusted by the amount of hair that it picked up. I wanted to test it, so I ran the Dyson again the very next day. Needless, to say I was shocked by the amount of fur it picked up after that I now vacuum every day. It was kinda like Scared Straight for neat freaks.
The only other tactics that I have in the battle against shedding is to have pug friendly decor. For instance, the carpet through most of my house is a light color. My sofa is an odd, fawn-like color. An added bonus is this items are all within my personal taste. So not only do I like them, but if I miss a day of lint rolling the fur doesn’t show quite as bad. Now, if you own both a fawn and black colored pug you have my sympathy. The decor tips will be of not luck for you.
Good luck in your battle against shedding!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Sometimes we think we should have re-named Luna Henjamin. The more we learn about Luna the funnier it is because she is an odd cross of the boys. The traits she takes from Henry are:
- they are similar in physical looks (same colors/ buggy eyes, tail curls toward the right side, is snorty)
- neither are morning people
- both will stop at odd places because they have an irresistible urge to scratch
- both bark at you to egg you on
I could go on but you see what I mean.
But she is also so much like Benjamin that it is crazy, too. Just like Benny, Luna has:
- times when she gets sudden bursts of energy and just runs around in circles
- an insatiable appetite
- the annoying habit of jumping on your leg at meal time
- the ability to sleep standing up
- the constant urge to chase the cat
- a huge dislike of all water related activities
- the need to gives lots of kisses
- the quirk of scratching to settle down
- the disdain of being put on her back
It is just too weird. Luna has some of her own traits, too, like the way she scoots across the carpet to rub her belly, the way she grunts at you if you are not giving her her dinner quick enough, the way she perches her butt up in the air when she chews her bones.
One trait that they all have, though (but is very un-ladylike) is that they all lift their legs to pee-pee. Yup, even Luna will cock herself up on a little bush or perch her hind legs up the side of a tree to go potty. It looks absolutely ridiculous.
She really must admire her brothers because she sure has picked up a lot of their habits! So much so that she is perfect combination of the both of them! Henjamin, Benry, whatever you call her, Luna is fits right into the mix!
Monday, April 17, 2006
Well, Luna had to go back to the ophthalmologist for her follow-up appointment. She has chronic dry eye and was taking 3 separate drops 3 times per day. When she first went to the eye doctor her tear production in her right eye was a 3 and in the left it was a 5. (This is on a scale of 20 with 20 being the highest.) So, needless to say, her condition wasn’t good. The eye specialist put her on the medications and we were diligent to follow through and get her well. Well, when it came time to go back to see how the meds worked, boy were we in for some good news!! Luna’s tear production had increased to 20 in each eye! The vet said she had never seen such a dramatic increase. The vet thought Luna maybe would’ve made it to a 15 at best, but she has resumed normal tear functionality. We were overjoyed! The vet gave some extra kudos because she said that Luna is overall healthier now (diet, exercise and outlook on life) and that has dramatically helped her eye health, as well. They were even able to eliminate one of her medications so now she only gets 2 medications 3 times per day. GO LUNA!!! Good job, girl!
Friday, April 7, 2006
Benjamin was outside, when he spotted this dragonfly that made its way into the screened in area and was sitting on his level on my office door. Being the outgoing guy that he is, he immediately went over to give the dragonfly a good sniff. Surprisingly, the dragonfly did not budge.
After thoroughly inspecting the dragonfly, Benny went over to his favorite chair to sun himself leaving the dragonfly perfectly intact.
The boys have a very gentle nature about them. On our walks we have encountered many critters, but neither Benjamin nor Henry has ever harmed any of them. We most commonly run into frogs on our walk and the boys just watch them hop along and they don’t try to chase them.
I like to think that this is because they have been exposed to a lot of different animals when they were puppies. They live with a cat and they grew up with a rabbit. It was pretty obvious to them that the cat was not a toy, but the rabbit took a little bit more work when they were puppies. Luckily, Lou, the rabbit was very patient and very brave and I think he taught the boys a very valuable lesson.
As for Luna, I don’t have a complete read on her yet as to how she will handle other smaller critters. She does very well with other dogs, the cat and with babies (she adores children). The jury is still out on frogs, rabbits and other critters.
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
This past week both Benjamin & Henry celebrated their 4th birthday. Benjamin turned 4 on March 27 and Henry turned 4 on April 3. It is so hard for me to believe that my little boys are 4 years old already! It seems like only yesterday that they were unruly puppies.
Birthday celebrations were pretty low-key this year, but we are going to go to Doggie Dayz this weekend to pick up Benjamin & Henry’s complimentary birthday bones! I’m sure we will get something for little Luna too. We don’t want the little one to feel left out.
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