Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Welcome to Part 2 of Pugs In the City! This was probably our favorite part! After Henry had some time riding in the car, eating lunch and in the dog run, he was ready for the "down time" of riding on the red train/trolley car. This was a train ride through historic St. Augustine. The train ride, which is usually a 2 hour tour, had been chartered for us so we didn't have to make any stops and we were given the express version of the tour. So the whole trip was probably about an hour or so. Henry was not the only pug on the trip. The train was filled with people and pugs alike. Everyone was so well behaved! Henry truly enjoyed this ride.
The weather was beautiful! He was in the shade with a patch of sun on his feet. We could offer him cool water as needed. He had a couple people laps from which to choose. It was pug heaven for him! The tour guide was full of information and that made it a pleasure, too! CFPR's Ann was even dressed like a pug! That was a pure hit, too! She must have been burning up in that suit, though! (A panting mess, I am sure!) And Ann's hubby sat near us and shared more historic facts! We had the double bonus box seats! We've added a few extra photos in to share some of the sites that we saw and that Henry smelled.
After the train ride was a tour at the Pirate Museum. We got to the museum really late and just zoomed through since we realized that the day was taking a toll on Henry. We needed to get back to the hotel to see if our room was ready. We made a silly mistake and got back on the red train at a stop near the beginning of the train line, so we had to do the whole tour again. This made for a long journey back to the hotel room, but Henry seemed to enjoy the ride. Once we got back to the hotel, we got checked in and made our way to the room just in time for Henry to have dinner. Henry had a few bites of his dinner, but the poor guy was so tired he could barely stand. Henry caught a super quick nap and then it was time for him to get ready to go to the Pug Party at Ann's house! This left Henry with maybe a half hour nap that day with a full evening ahead of him!
Catch the story of the Pug Party in part 3 of 4!
Monday, October 26, 2015
This Ask OBP is a response to the question about what has been our favorite Halloween Costume. This is almost impossible to answer. But we have tried our best to rank our faves in order. From most favorite to least favorite they are below, with photo reminders. (There are some photos missing as we did not have a digital camera that year, let along a camera on our phone. What sort of world were we living in then!)
Hands down our favorite. Describes the boys throughout their whole lives. Henry as Batman with Benny as Robin, his boy wonder
This was Sol's only Halloween with us. This was a compromise year in the OBP household. If Sol had made it to a second year, OBP peep #1 promised OBP #2 that the next year the gang could be Star Wars with Sol as Darth Vader, Henry as Luke Skywalker, Benny as Han Solo and Luna as Princess Leia, but sadly Halloween 2 never came for Solsey.
These costumes were specially made by Punchy at Pug Possessed. And rank high on our list of favorites! Again, appropriately fitting their personalities. Benny's "Linus Blanket" was really his puffy and Luna, with a Lucy attitude totally would have pulled the football out from under an unsuspecting, ever trusting Henry as Charlie Brown.
Straw House Pig, Wood House Pig, Brick House Pig From dumbest to smartest, enough said.
#5 Firefighter and King (2003)
Not quite their first costumes and we were still rookies, but Henry has always been the King! And Benny, while actually afraid of fires still made a great community helper
Superman, Spider Man, Wonder Woman. Who, other than Henry, could pull off Superman? We picked Spider Man for Benny since he had recently been diagnosed with an arachnid cyst in his spine. Being that that is a spidery type diagnose, what other super hero could he be? And Luna, well, Luna was obviously Wonder Woman!
Cute costumes, but not among our favorites for a few reasons with a strong one being that we didn't like making the boys be "the same thing". But they were brothers on the football field and in life. Luna made an adorable cheerleader!
Again, low in the ranks since the boys were the "same", but the spoof here was which boy frog would Luna choose to kiss and turn into a handsome prince? Luna's real answer would be "Neither! I am a strong woman! I don't need a man!" Our answer, is she kissed them both.
3 of the "same" crayons, but a cute theme. Benny was always called green bean, so he was green. Henry, ever the mopey type was obviously Blue and Luna, ever the diva, strutted her way in Pink, of course.
Benny, Henry and Luna are all valid words in Scrabble! Henry is worth the most points with Benny a strong second and Luna close behind in total point value.
#11 Clown and Bee (2004)
These were weak costumes and early on in their Halloween lives. Cute but not super cute and no theme.
#12 Devil and Bat (2002)
This was Benjamin and Henry's first Halloween costumes. Benjamin, always the little devil, rocked red horns and red tshirt reading "devil" and Henry was in a bat costume mostly because he used to sleep with head hanging over the edge of the sofa leaving his ears looking like bat ears. He also was slept upside down frequently, which resembled a bat. They were cute puppies but their costumes were just eh.
While this was a very cute and appropriate costume for a one eyed pug, it was Henry's first year solo and a very sad year.
#14 To be revealed later... (2105)
While a very appropriate costume, things still aren't the same without Benjamin and Luna.
Hallloweens of yesteryear. May your tricks be few and your treats be many. We will post Henry's this year photo soon. I don't see him going out for treats this year so we will likely just stay home and give out to the neighborhood kids.
Oh yeah, this is still an Ask OBP post, so be sure to ask something!
Sunday, October 25, 2015
The weekend of October 17th we took a trip to St.Augustine, Florida. St. Augustine is about an hour away from us. This trip was for a pug event to benefit Central Florida Pug Rescue (CFPR) called Pugs In The City. This was also a make up trip for Henry. In August 2014, right after Henry "lost everything" (his siblings, his eye, his kidney and bordering on losing the sight in his remaining eye) we had booked a trip to St. Augustine to try to help him through his tough time by gong on a mini vacation. Well, it fell through. He was no where near well enough. He was still chemo sick and by then also had suffered a serious bout of pancreatitis. So, the trip never happened. So, this was not only a great pug friendly trip for Henry, it was also an opportunity at a re-do.
We will tell the story in a 4 part series. The opening episode is about getting there and the dog friendly hotel. Henry enjoyed the hour long car ride and once we were on the "big road" (the interstate) he pulled his head back in the window and settled on his passenger lap pillow for the ride. Once we got there, he was ready to hop out of the car and explore his surroundings! He, of course, was also ready for his lunch which we had strategically packed in a cooler. Well fed, he sniffed around his new home away from home. The hotel was a very dog friendly hotel. They had a small fenced in area for dogs to enjoy while off leash. It was a nice area for pet owners and pets alike.
While there were a few other non pugs at the hotel and the event, there were obviously more than just a few pugs! When we first got there, the pugs warmed up to each other immediately. Surprisingly, the pug peeps were a bit on the shy side at first meeting. In the dog run area, though, there was another Henry! A non pug Henry! A moderately misbehaving, humping everyone else in the park Henry. Oy. It was giving the name Henry a bad name. LOL. Non pug Henry kept getting fussed at by his peep but it was futile. Pug Henry just kind of did what he usually does in new spaces and that is walk the perimeter. He sniffed the fence about half way around and then found a place to sit and settle. He was approached and smelled by several other pugs but never really returned the favor. There was a another blind dog in the run that day. Harley. He was about 8-9 years old. I can no longer remember exactly but I do remember that he was considerably younger than Henry. Other than Ann's dog, Julia, (Ann from CFPR), Henry was the oldest dog at the event that we knew of there but there may have been other elders there that we just did not know about. Julia is a very Luna-like little diva pug and she still has the most adorable pug strut going on. She is the same age as Henry.
It's funny, last week we were just talking about how at a long ago pug event how we could not easily identify our boys from the pack of pugs from a distance. Well, I guess that may be because they were puppies/young pugs (as were the majority of that group of pugs). At this event, though, it was easy to spot Henry in the crowd (and not just because he was the one with shaved square on his side or he was the one stuck under a table or chair but just because at this event the pugs truly looked a lot more different than one another. I guess with a little bit of age, they begin to look a bit more distinct. Anyway, it was not a challenge to tell them apart and spot your own.
#AdventuresOfHenry! #Henry'sMakeUpTripWasASuccess #HenryStrongAllYearLong
Thursday, October 22, 2015
We want to know how you spoil your pug! Share your methods in the comments section!
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Since we had a few good Ask OBP questions, we wanted to finish fielding them before next week when we address the one about our favorite Halloween outfits since we know that will be a full post in itself. So, we will answer questions from Terry pertaining to toys from puppyhood and sleeping in awkward positions. Christie, ever the hygienic pug lady, asked about how often our pugs get a bath. Those will be today's topics. 
I will go backward, though. Bath time. Ugh. Yeah, bath time has never been on a set schedule. It was a kind of "as needed" or let's do it this time "before it's needed". The as needed times would come when: Luna would roll in whatever grossness she could find, Benny would pee on Henry or step in his own poop, or when Henry sat for a spell when a nearby sprinkler was watering someone's grass with reclaimed water. In these cases, they all would get a bath. When they were able to avoid mishaps, baths would be about every 3-4 weeks in summer and a little longer than that in cooler months. And of course, we would try to "beat the grease"....you know that feeling that is left on your hand after petting a dog that REALLY needs a bath? Hopefully we never left someone feeling like that. But there may have been a time or two when we waited a day or 2 too long and they were post ripe.
One of the things we did notice was that Luna, the smallest, was ALWAYS the dirtiest by far. Like SO dirty! So much dirtier than the boys. She totally should have gotten a bath easily twice as often as the boys. Henry would typically be next dirtiest and Benny was usually overall the cleanest with most of his dirt on his stinky feet!
Thank you, Christie. I am sure your pugs get the full deal quite often. I mean you had a pug shower created just for them! We tried to use the set tub for baths but that did not work so they just shower where we shower.
Now, Terry. You asked about sleep positions and toys. The sleep one is an interesting one. The pugs, when they were young, would sleep in some seriously awkward positions. As they aged, however, they limited their sleep position to only a few positions all of which seemed more comfortable. And as they each aged, they would no longer be as comfortable on soft pillows, dog beds or even the people bed. Eventually they all preferred the floor. But in their youth, they mostly slept on Henry! He was often the bottom of the pug pile. So, for the others, it may not have seemed uncomfy, but for Henry, always being piled on probably was not always ideal. But they would sleep with their heads hanging off the edge of a bed or sofa, squeezed into a cat bed, on their back like a dead bug or in various other shapes. One of my favorites, which was not staged, is the one of Benny laying on Henry (picture above). Benny was always hugging up to Henry. It's no wonder that Henry misses his bro so much.
As for toys, oh yes, our pugs played with their toys well into their early 10's. After that they really only wanted chewy sticks. But they were quite the tuggers and shakers of fluffy toys.They had a rope toy that had multiple prongs so that they could each pull. A stuffed octopus worked well for tug, too. That one left their peeps some legs too, so that we could all play. Luna liked things that made noise (but of course was particular about the sound) while Henry preferred rubbery toys or stuff just to carry around and Benny, of course, had his favorite puffy. Henry had pool toys that he liked to fetch and this was part of his summer routine until his health and vision started to dwindle (so that was up until he was 11 or so).
That would be a big yes, Terry. The pugs loved their toys beyond just puppy hood. Maybe you have not found the right toy? I can say that one Henry's faves was the paper towel roll. The boys also would do a mean job on a newspaper! Much like children, sometimes the best toys are the simplest.
Thanks everyone! #KeepAsking!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
As mentioned earlier, we had some high tide issues surrounding Hurricane Joaquin. Well, we specifically went to Ponce Inlet (the dog beach) to see how the tides effected the dog beach. Well, it was quite a trip. The photo below does not really do it justice but the cliff you see here used to be a slopped path of sand where we would enter the beach. Well, now that has obviously been washed away. This meant we had to take a longer route to get to the beach. Or should I say what used to be the beach. The tide was so high that there was practically nothing left! We did go down to the have some time in the waves. Sadly, I was not paying perfect attention and Henry got pummeled by one! Before that we had been jumping a few waves but the one that took him for a loop sneaked up on me, leveled him and definitely got me more wet than I had intended to get. Henry took it like the champ that he is! #HenryStrong!
Knowing that we shouldn't end the experience on a sour note, we stayed in the water a little longer. Henry ended up having a really good time and so did his peeps. Grammy even joined us on this adventure! Some little puggy even got a bath that night to get rid of the sand and sea water stench. Guess who slept well that night!
Monday, October 19, 2015
Welcome back to ASK OBP. We have received a few good questions. One from Sue VDB asking about the use of our fridge now that we are down to only one if we were able to reclaim people space. Sandra B asked about the photo in the Pug Love video where the boys are tending goal at an ice hockey rink. And Sleighbelle asked about getting more pugs when your pack starts to dwindle.
First, yes, Sue! We have indeed claimed some people space in the fridge. Although we have more fridge space it is not often that we fill the fridge with people stuff, though. It comes in handy when g'ma and g'pa come down, though. They can sure fill a fridge when they stay! So, for that reason alone, it is nice to reclaim our fridge (even though we'd rather have a full fridge instead of less pugs).
Sandra B, the story behind the boys in the hockey net is a short but humorous one. This was taken at the first pug only event we ever attended. It was indeed at a skating rink in Maryland. It wasn't actually ice at the time. It was a roller rink during summer months. This is where the event was held, was on the rink. There were probably 50-100 pugs there. This is the first and last time we ever lost our pugs in a sea of pugs! Once they were all mingling we could not find our sweet Benny or Henry among the group! When the boys were young, people would always ask us how we could tell them apart. We were miffed by this question since to us they look nothing alike! I mean they had common pug features, but beyond that did not even resemble one another! But after this event, we could see why someone would ask us that. When you had an over flow of fawn pugs then even your own beloved pug begins to melt into the pile of beige. It was some craziness. With all that aside, since the goalie nets were still up, we thought it would be funny to pose them there and take a snapshot. We wanted to have them dress in hockey attire and make it look like Benny was taking a shot against the defending Henry but that was a bit much even for us to pull off. Good question, Sandra! Sorry there is not really a better story behind that photo, but that's what it was.
Last question goes to Sleighbelle. And thanks to others for chiming in on this since Sleighbelle put it out there. We are answering it, too, but yet not answering at the same time. No one can say if getting a dog (pug or not pug) is right for you. So, you will have to go with your gut and insert some logic, too. I will follow this by thanking everyone by not asking us what will happen when Henry goes. We get this question so often that while it is no longer literally every day, it sure feels like it is every day. Even days after Benny and Luna passed, we would hear, "so, are you going to get more?" as though "more" would replace the ones we lost. I have my own rant about that but keeping it positive, I will leave it with a thank you to you all for not asking that question. We do not know what we will do when that day comes. We cannot predict what we will do when we ultimately do lose Henry, the last pug standing. We can only say that that day and the days (and maybe weeks and months to follow) will be impossibly hard. And we honestly are not sure if we will ever be ready to go down the sad road of loss like that again no matter how much joy they brought us before that. It is something we talk about often and dread regularly. And only the person looking to get a dog can say if he/she is ready, willing and able to undertake such an important feat of giving a fur baby a forever home.
Sidenote: the other question that we hate to hear when we are on our walks, is "what's the matter with him?" as though Henry is broken. He may be slow, but hey, at least he's out here giving it his all and that we, as his people, are still celebrating him and giving him opportunities to enjoy life. So, really, the question we want to ask the asker is "nothing, what is the matter with YOU?" HA! Other than those 2 questions, we are good. If someone is genuinely wondering about him, they ask "why did he lose an eye?" or "why does he have that shaved spot" or some other question expressing actual wonderment or concern. I guess the "what's the matter with him?" could be asked from a loving heart but given the tone it is typically asked in, it does not convey a message of concern but often an expression of disgust or disdain. So, again, with much appreciation that no one has asked our 2 most dreaded questions. Keep asking and we will keep answering!
Stay tuned and next week will answer Christie's question about our favorite Halloween costumes. We typically recap Halloweens of past when it gets a tad closer to Halloween. But I have sensed that there are some folks out there who are as excited for Halloween! Very funny! We are excited, too, though. It is just around the corner!
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