Thursday, April 12, 2007

Tails from the Treat Jar #2

After last week’s treat jar scare, the boys and Luna were happy to find that the treat jar had been refilled and that justice had been served!

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Tails from the Treat Jar #1

Benjamin, Henry & Luna are all treat connoisseurs and since great connoisseurs need to hone their craft by frequent treat tastings, we keep a treat jar on the counter for easy treat access.  The boys and Luna’s treat jar sits right next to the cat’s treat jar and despite what Benjamin might try to tell you, only one of the containers has dog treats in it.  We weren’t sure how the treat jar would go over with Baby Benny at first.  I knew we would have to get something pretty air tight or else Benny would just sit and whine at the counter all day.  Our current treat jar seems to fit the bill because, for the most part, Benny doesn’t whine or scratch at it.  The treat jar is also a place where the pugs can express their inner feelings.  It has a little chalk area on it and Benjamin, Henry and Luna are frequently leaving us notes on it.

The other day the treat jar was undergoing a little bit of Spring Cleaning and I took a lot of the older treats out of the jar.  I hadn’t gotten around to filling back up the jar when I noticed that the pugs were up in arms.  It seems they saw the empty treat jar and assumed the worst.

Monday, March 19, 2007

The Look

This is Baby Benny’s patented “Oh my goodness, you have a treat and I think you are going to give it to me” look.

The boy loves to eat and he becomes totally fixated on whatever you have in your hand.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Henry’s Vices

In general, Henry isn’t much of a beggar.  When we are eating he usually just sits quietly at your feet.  However, there are a few meals that Henry really likes and during those meals he shows a little bit more interest.  One of those meals is Grilled Chicken Salad.  Henry just loves the chicken!  The best part about that meal is that Henry may just get a little bacon bit stuck to his chicken piece and he just loves that!

Another one of Henry’s favorite meals is spaghetti.  And guess what Hank?  You are one lucky pug because guess what we are having for dinner tonight.

Friday, March 2, 2007

Tricks for Treats at Grammy’s

The pugs are very fortunate to have 2 sets of grandparents.  G’Ma & G’Pa live in Maryland while Grammy lives here in Florida just a few doors away.  There are occasions when each pug gets to take a special trip to Grammy’s house right up the street.  Tonight was Henry’s turn.  While the 3 pugs are sometimes all at Grammy’s house at once, it is much more manageable when they go up in singles.  (The fact that Grammy has 4 cats and don’t really have the love of pugs the rest of have also makes it easier when they visit one at a time.)

So, this evening a little errand had to be run to Grammy’s house and Henry really wanted to go.  Henry is definitely the smartest and completely understands the question:  Do you want to go to Grammy’s?  When he was asked this time the answer was no different.  He raced to the door, got hooked to his leash and dragged “his human” straight up the road.  Usually we visit Grammy in daylight hours and use her back door but since it was already dark the front door was the safer entrance.  Henry, known for being a little lazy and enjoying his short cuts, though, still tried to use the rear entrance to Grammy’s.  When he was told to use the other door, Henry immediately changed his path and headed for the correct entry.

Once there, Henry darted to the kitchen where Grammy was waiting.  She had her box of cereal (special Grammy dog treats) nearby just for the king of all pugs.  As soon as he saw the box, Henry sat and went into the down position going back and forth between his 2 “tricks” to see just how many treats he could get.  All the while Grammy was enjoying having the most well behaved of the 3 pugs at her house.  (When any of the 3 pugs are by themselves they each can be the perfect single dog with Henry topping the list.)

Henry was only mostly a good boy at Grammy’s, though.  After getting plenty of Kashi cereal bites, Henry decided to take a nibble into the cats’ food bowls.  Fortunately, Henry also knows the command “leave it” and after being fussed at, Henry laid off the cat chow.  Just when it was time to go home, Grammy pulled out all the stops.  She offered Henry some ham lunch meat.  Whoa!  So, again, Henry goes into sit and down positions while he anxiously awaited more yummy treats.  At the mere smell of the ham, Henry’s eyes almost popped out of his head.  He ate it not even chewing it.  It made Grammy wonder how Henry even knew that he liked it.  Could he even get a taste?

Needless to say, Henry made out like a bandit!  He had a very good day.  Now, if he could figure out how to make a pit stop at Grammy’s every day, he’d be living high on the hog!

Friday, February 16, 2007

Henry’s the Man

We got the boys as puppies when they were only 8 and 9 weeks old.  Baby Benny is actually a week older than Henry but he’s still the “baby.”  Henry, however, is a natural leader and far more serious and (sorry Ben but…) intelligent of the 2 boys.  It is pretty obvious that they are high maintenance puggies.  It is all our fault.  We made them that way.  When they were little we would hold them all the time, hold their bones for them and give in to their every need.

Finally, however, Henry can chew a bone on his own.  Benjamin can, too, but he will do everything in his power to get someone to hold it for him instead.  Henry, though, is a big boy and he can do it on his own now.

It definitely goes to show you that how you are raised greatly impacts on what you are like as an adult.  You see, Little Luna who has probably never even had a bone in her life until she came here, holds her bone with confidence because she has always had to do things on her own.  No one has ever done anything for her.  She does not need any help.  She has even tackled bones that are bigger than she is!  That’s why Henry is the man and Baby Benny will forever be the Baby.  Little Luna, well, she’s in a league all her own.  She is more like a Cinderella story in a scrappy sort of way.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Flossies

The boys and Luna got their first taste of a Flossie on Christmas.  Santa was kind enough to leave them each one in their stocking.  Needless, to say they loved them.

So we decided to stock up on a few.  They keep them very busy and they are a great distraction for the pugs at night when we are trying to make it through about an hour of TV with no distractions.  If it wasn’t for Tivo and bones I don’t think I would ever be able to catch any TV time.