The bowl you see is Luna’s and that blobber you see in there is her spinach. At my vet’s recommendation, each week, I add a different veggie to the dog’s homemade food. The main purpose of the veggie is to help keep the pugs full and the variety of veggies is to help them get different vitamins and such. This week’s veggie is spinach and while none of the veggies are Luna’s favorite, she won’t even eat her spinach. She is also good at eating around her spinach, because I put her spinach on the top of all her other food. She some how works it to the side and leaves it at the bottom of the bowl every time.
Henry, who is a veggie lover, loves spinach week because he gets a double serving. He gets his and Luna’s.
Last weekend, we had a friend visiting from Maryland. One night we headed out for ice cream and when I saw they had pumpkin ice cream I knew I had to bring a doggie dish home for the pugs.
The only thing the pugs like better than when I bring home ice cream is if they get to go with me to get the ice cream. The ice cream shop is outdoor only and has several serving windows and the building itself has lots of very big windows so you can see what is going on inside. The windows have low ledges so if the pugs stand on their hind legs they can see inside. We mostly take the pugs in the summer and in the summer there are always long lines. It took a while, but the pugs have learned that they need to wait in line and can not simply rush up to the counter. I make the boys sit and they become intensely focused on the serving window and they anxiously scoot up each time the line moves. It is really the funniest thing to watch. When they get to the front of the line, it is paws up and they spend the whole time peering into the window. Luna passes the time by getting attention from everyone in line.
A few week’s ago, Mike from Best Bully Sticks sent over a few bully sticks for Benjamin, Henry and Luna to enjoy. The boys and Luna each love to chew and we usually give them a new bone on Sundays for them to work on while we unwind and watch TV and get ready for the work week. Yesterday, we gave the pugs each their own bully stick and they went to town!
Benjamin loves to chew and when he chews for hours on end in the evenings he naturally gets thirsty. During a normal chewing session, he makes a couple of trips to the water bowl and it isn’t uncommon for him to come close to emptying the pugs’ huge water bowl. But while he empties the water bowl, I would be surprised if he actually drinks more than a few tablespoons of water. We have labeled him the most inefficient canine drinker because he somehow always ends up soaking his chin and that cute little bit of extra skin under his neck with water.
I always thought he just dipped his chin in the water while he was drinking, but this super slow motion video of a dog drinking may shed a little bit of light on the subject. In any case, I found this video of how a dog drinks very fascinating.
These knucklebones must be pretty yummy for Henry to give up part of his bed so that the bone may rest comfortably. This particular bone is one of the rejects. Meaning, on the night the knucklebones were given out, this was not the one bone chosen by the pugs that they all wanted to chew. So, it will sit, untouched for days until someone starts chewing on it and makes it interesting enough for all the pugs. In the meantime, Henry is being a hospitable host. Yesterday, when I walked by the bone was in the center of the pillow and Henry was sleeping between the wall and the pillow! Which of course made me shake my head because Henry will give up his bed for a bone, but won’t budge for me when I need him to scoot over a bit so I can get my whole body on the bed at night. The boy obviously doesn’t know where his pumpkin bread is buttered.
Ann was kind enough to send over her pugkin bread recipe for me to share. So without further ado, here it is!
½ c. unbleached all purpose flour
½ c. whole wheat flour
½ c. buckwheat flour
½ c. old-fashioned oatmeal
1 T. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
¼ t. salt
¼ t. nutmeg
¼ t. ginger
1 can pumpkin
2 eggs
1 T. flaxseed
2 T. wheat germ
½ c. milk
2 T. plain yogurt
¾ c. unsweetened applesauce
Blend ingredients and spoon into prepared (greased and floured) pans. I use three small loaf pans…or you can use one large loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then remove loafs to a rack and cool completely. Serves three hungry pugs….or one Benny.
Note: This is a very flexible recipe…you can add or subtract here and there to suit the tastes and food sensibilities of your pugs. If they have allergies to milk or eggs, for example, add more applesauce to moisten the recipe. I sometimes add a little more oatmeal (love that fiber!), adding just a touch more yogurt or milk for additional liquids. Oh, and if the pugs will share, this is perfectly suitable for humans, particularly if you are trying to cut down on sugar in your diet. One more note…I make my own applesauce for this recipe, and I make it using unpeeled apples. More fiber and vitamins to boot!
When we arrived at the Sock Hop, Ann greeted us with a very special bag. The bag had a loaf of pugkin bread for each one of the pugs! When we got home from the Sock Hop on Saturday night Benjamin was very anxious to get a piece of Ann’s special pugkin bread. So we set them up in the living room each with their own loaf. The silly pugs thought I was going to let them eat the whole thing! I snapped a few pictures and then we broke off a few pieces for them. We did the same thing on Sunday and Monday night too! The pugs are in heaven! The best thing is the pugkin bread is very diet friendly for the pugs. It is made with whole wheat flour and uses applesauce instead of sugar.
Thank you, Ann! You are so very kind and thoughtful!
