Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Caption This #157

Another photo from the archives. Looking forward to your captions in the comments.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Swim Camp Recap

Since everyone seemed to enjoy the photos and videos from swim camp, I thought I would post a few of the pictures that didn't make it into the posts earlier in the week.

Have a great weekend!

Henry

Benjamin

Luna

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Swim Camp 2010 - Henry

Henry's swim camp is all about fetching. We have lots of toys that float, but his favorite is an orange lobster. I think he likes it because it is easy to grab out the water and easy for him to hold in his mouth.

Henry's routine is to stand on the first step and wait for someone to throw the lobster. He then jumps from the step and is off to fetch the lobster. Once he wrangles up the toy, he swims back to the step and jumps out of the pool with his catch to take a little break. Once he is rested, we throw the lobster back into the pool and Henry happily fetches it again.

Out of the 3, Henry gets in the most swimming because he actually swims up and back the whole length of the pool. Unless someone throws the lobster short

Henry has also mastered pushing off the edge of the pool to gain momentum when turning around to swim back to the step. You can get a good look at his turns in the video

Henry Swimming - Swim Camp 2010 from obp on Vimeo.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Swim Camp 2010

In our quest slim down the pugs we have brought back swim camp (more here as well). Swimming is not only great exercise for the pugs, but it is pretty much the only way they can exert themselves during the summer. The risk of them overheating is still there, but soaking their bodies in cool, pool water does a lot in helping to regulate their body temperatures.

To avoid shenanigans, we changed things up and the pugs now attend individual swim camp sessions. Which means, swim camp is a two camp counselor event. One person conducts swim camp while the other keeps the other two pugs occupied and away from the pool area.

A swim camp session lasts a total of 10 minutes. Each one of the pugs likes to spend their time doing different things, but the goal is to get in as much swimming as possible. They swim a bit, take a break, then swim a bit more. Repeat this process for ten minutes and then you have a swim camp session.

While one pug is at swim camp the other pugs do various things to pass the time. Depending on the time of day, they may go for a little walk, or they may assist in pulling weeds from the garden. Sometimes, we just sit under a tree in the front yard and enjoy the shade.

Completing 3 swim camp sessions takes about 45 minutes. Even though there is only 30 minutes of swimming, the exchange and suiting the pugs up takes time (life vests/harness). We try to do swim camp 3 times a week. That frequency seems to work well for the pugs. It keeps them from getting over exhausted.

This weekend, the pugs hosted media day at swim camp so I was able to get some pictures and take some underwater video. I was going to tell you about one of the pug's swim camp adventures each day this week, but I thought it would be more fun if I let you decide the order. So tell me, which pug would you like to hear about first? Although, I'm pretty sure I know your answer

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Lazy Days

The last few days have been extremely hot and that means the pugs have been checking in on the outside world from the comfort of the couch in the air conditioned house. Barking at all that pass seems to be quite fun for them. Of course, I would prefer if they brought the barking down a notch, but they have to fill their days with something, I guess.

Luna prefers to spy on the outside world from ground level. I caught a shot of her in mid bark. I just love how her normally bulging eyes are extra bulgy in the photo. Get 'em girl!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Between a Dog Bed and A Soft Place

We have so many dog beds that the pugs have started combining them to ensure maximum comfort. Like they are saying to themselves, "This bed does wonders for my back, but I love how this bed supports my neck. No problem, I'll just drag this bed over next to the other bed and voilà!"

And when it comes to dog beds you know I am willing to help in any way I can.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Eye on the Treat

I have been trying to work on capturing action shots of the pugs to help improve my photography skills. Well, that, and my collection of photos of the pugs sleeping or being lazy is getting out of control.

While my skills as a photographer haven't really improved, I have been getting a good laugh at some of the photos I have been taking. Today's photo is a prime example.

I have found that the best way to get the pugs to "do something" is to play our treat catching game. The game never disappoints as it always gets the pugs moving and me laughing.

In this case, we have Henry intently focused on catching a treat I just tossed in the air. The focus, and the touch of crazy in his eyes just kills me. And Henry subscribes to the theory that the pug waits for no treat. His technique is not to wait for the treat to get to him, but to jump up and snag it out of the air.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Ponies

The Preakness was just run in my home town of Baltimore, MD. The pugs saw the race and thought they would hold a contest of their own

Right out of the gates, Little Luna is in the lead, followed closely by Baby Benny and Dawdling Doody is bringing up the rear.

It was a close race, but Luna won it by half a pug length.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Green Paws

We are trying our hand at a little, container vegetable garden this summer. So far, we are having some success with our pepper plants (seen behind the pugs). We have a total of 3 plants and we have close to 10 peppers total. I have no idea what we are going to do with all those peppers, but I think that is a pretty good problem to have. At least they are in all different stages. It looks like our first pepper will be ready for picking this weekend.

We also planted a cucumber plant. We have tried cucumbers in the past without much luck, but this year's plant is looking strong. We will definitely need to be getting it a bigger pot.

The pugs enjoy checking up on the plants each evening after their walk. I water the plants and they have fun sniffing around.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Caption This #153

Hmmm...this is an odd look. Guilty or pleading for something? Looking forward to your captions in the comments.