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 recorded Sol last night as I was feeding the pugs and I think I am going to video tape all of the pug feedings from now on. At least the early morning feedings. With the camera rolling, it was like Sol knew that a video of her acting all crazy was going to end up on the Internet and so she decided to be on her best behavior. She did break down a bit in the middle, but let me tell you, those barks are nothing like what she normally does. She is usually way more passionate and the noises she makes in no way resemble barking.
While this isn’t her oscar performance, you still might want to check the sound if you are watching this while at work. Any co-worker within a 300 yard radius is going to be able to hear the squeals on this video.
It might sound odd, but one of the best ways for me to unwind after a hectic day is to toss Cheerios to the pugs. When I first started this, the pugs were kinda like the Bad News Bears. Luna can’t see, so she is pretty much out, Sol has had part of her jaw removed and the boys, well, they were surprisingly bad. Horrible actually.
So when we first started, the pugs were so funny that I would laugh so hard my stomach would hurt. The funniest thing to me was Benny. He pretty much missed every Cheerio thrown at him. So they would bounce off his mouth or his forehead and he would chase after them and eat them. Well, when he started to catch them, he would catch it and then look for one on the floor. It was like he didn’t realize that he caught it.
We would play a little bit each day and I would toss Cheerios to the pugs and hand one to each of the girls. Slowly, the boys got better. Henry progressed much faster than Ben, but now they are both to the point where they catch almost every Cheerio thrown their way.
So here is an exceptionally long, unedited video that has plenty of my annoying commentary of the pugs catching Cheerios. It gets a little boring after a while, but be sure to tune in around 3:40. At that point, I tried to see if Sol could catch a few Cheerios and what do you know, she did great! She missed the first one, but nailed the rest after that. This was the first time I had tried tossing one to Sol and you’ll be able to tell by me excitement in the video just how proud I am of her. Even with part of her jaw removed she can still do it!
In the evenings, Benjamin & Henry like to bask in the sun on the sofa and keep watch out the front door. Benny is almost always perched on the back of the sofa and Henry makes himself comfortable on the arm rest. Luna gets in on the action too, but she actually sits in front of the door, like you would expect a guard dog to do. No extra comfort for her when she is on duty.
The evenings are usually pretty busy in the neighborhood. A lot of people walking dogs, jogging or riding bikes. There is most definitely a lot more foot traffic and interesting things for the pugs to bark at. I think a huge draw for the pugs though is that they can find the rays from the setting sun in the front of the house. In the mornings they spend their time out back and in the evenings they shift to the front of the house. They are like sunflowers, they always point towards the sun.
While I was snapping pictures the other day, I got a short video of the guard pugs in action. I just love how big Henry’s eyes are in the clip.
Well it sure didn’t take Sol long to become a spoiled little girl. Here she is begging for some of the chicken I am carving. It is pretty much a Sunday ritual. We get the rotisserie chicken from Sam’s club each Sunday and carve it and use it in some form for our lunches that week. Sol has been here for at least 3 Sundays when we do this and she knows what is coming. The girl is quite fond of chicken!
Here is a nice little video of Benjamin running around the living room. A couple things to note, in the beginning you will see Sol just watching Benny acting all crazed. Look closely and you will also see the other old lady of the house, Cupid, watching and laughing at Benny. And at the end you will see Henry chewing on the cat sack / cat bed that Sol likes so much. One more thing, you might need to take some dramamine because I am all over the place in this video trying to keep at least one pug in the frame. Sound is also recommended so you can hear Benny jingling about and panting.
Luna has a very odd way of chewing. She doesn’t really chew a bone, she mainly gums it. Its hard to explain, so check out the video below. Also, we have bought small rawhide bones just for her and she refuses to chew them. She wants the kind that the boys get.
