We went to the bookstore this weekend and no trip to the bookstore would be complete without a stop in the Pet section. As we made our way over, I noticed a clearance table and I saw the book Test Your Dog The Dog IQ Test. I had seen this book before and flipped through it quickly, but now that it was "bargain priced" I couldn't resist getting it and taking the quiz for each one of the pugs.
When I got home, I flipped to the first question and it reads, "Does your dog recognize the signs that indicate you are preparing his or her food?" My choices were Always, Sometimes or Never. However, I didn't feel those answers were emphatic enough. Perhaps a YES with five exclamation points would be a better choice. Or "They can read my mind and know when I am going to feed them before I even make a move towards the kitchen" would be more accurate.
The second question is "Does your dog have different reactions to different foods (e.g. is especially eager for a piece of salami vs. the same old dry dog food)? Hello! Can you say PUGKIN BREAD!
At this point, I slammed the book closed, looked at the pugs and told them that if we stop at question number two all four of you are geniuses!
Yesterday I tweeted about a quirk of Benjamin's that had previously gone unnoticed by me.
I was in the kitchen giving the pugs a treat. I told them to sit and I noticed that Benny nonchalantly backed up to the rug and then sat, rather than just plopping his bottom down on the tile floor. This of course made me laugh and then I wondered does he always do this and I just never notice or was this just a fluke. So I made sure to give the pugs a few extra treats yesterday and sure enough Benny always moved over the rug before sitting. Here is a short video of Mr. Particular making sure his bottom stays warm.
I have been trying for awhile to get a few shots of the pugs catching treats that are tossed to them. To make it possible we had to change from Cheerios to a larger treat that would show up a bit better in mid air. So we opted for blueberry flavored dog biscuits. Something a bit bigger would have worked even better, but if you look close you can see the treats flying through the air.
The pictures of the treats the boys caught were OK, but the interesting shots were their near misses. First up is Benjamin taking one on the chin.
The toss is up. Benjamin is intently focused on the treat which is the light brown spot highlighted by the green tree background and just above the white bar.
But something went awry. Did Luna's wiggling tail cause Benny to take his eye of the treat? It doesn't much matter, the treat bounces of Benny's chin. You can see the treat as it falls to the ground.
The treat takes a couple of bounces and ends up between Luna's hind legs. Watch out little girl you are about to be up ended.
Next up is Henry and his miss was quite amusing.
The toss is good and it looks like Henry is in a good position to make the catch.
But wait, what happened! The treat bounces out of Henry's mouth at the last minute and you can see it falling to the ground.
Nooooo! Come here tasty treat!
And then the worst possible thing that could happen happens. The treat rolls into the pool. Not knowing what to do the pugs start pacing around the edge of the pool devastated that their treat has met a soggy demise.
I went to visit G-Ma & G-Pa this weekend and took the official treat transportation device with me. I'm not sure if the pugs were happier to see me or my suitcase. Looking forward to your captions in the comments.
This was a game we frequently played when Benjamin & Henry were puppies. The whole purpose of the game was to trick Benjamin & Henry into practicing their Sit, Stay & Come commands, but to do it in a fun way that allowed them to work off their puppy energy.
First the sit & stay while I move away.
Then the come command.
Looks like Benny was a little bit quicker out of the gates.
Almost up to full speed.
Still truckin'.
About halfway there and Benny has taken the lead.
Benny coming into the home stretch, completely blocking Henry from the frame.
Benny finishing strong. You can see his wrinkly skin flapping in the wind and his eyes are fixed on the prize - the treat.
Ann was gracious enough to bake a whole bag of pugkin bread pupcakes for the pugs (Ann's recipe). The pugs just loved that the pupcakes were their very own serving!
If you are wondering why Sol's napkin is further back than Benjamin, Henry & Luna's that's because two seconds earlier she pulled this stunt.
