Wrapping up

In two days, this pugsitter goes home. This is good and bad. I miss sleeping in my own bed. But I’m going to miss the pugs something awful. Their cute little snores are the best. I might not miss Buddy pouncing on my face at 4:00 AM, though.

Weekend Pictures

I took a bunch of pictures this weekend and thought I’d post a few.

Barking

I’m watching a movie, and someone is knocking on the door in the movie. Buddy thinks he should bark at whomever is knocking at that door, too. It’s kind of cute.

Early

Buddy woke me up at 6:30 this morning because he had to go out. It wasn’t much longer than that and we were on the beach.  After that, we went home and napped for a while. It’s been a low-key day for me and the logs.

Skunked

Buddy woke me up at 5:30 this morning. I thought he had to go out. So I let the boys out and I saw Brutus barking at the shrubs. That’s when I saw the skunk. I ran and grabbed Brutus and threw him in the house. Then Buddy was barking at him. I ran after Buddy (who didn’t want to be caught) and grabbed him. As I was running into the house, I saw the skunk coming toward me. Fortunately, the three of us escaped without getting skunked. That would have really sucked.

Of course, the boys were all worked up and wouldn’t go back to sleep. So we went for a walk, escaping out the front door.

Dinner on the deck

I was grilling some dinner last night and had the boys out on the deck with me. This is a cute shot of Brutus.

Of course, they had to play fight while on the deck. They always seem to do this. I can never catch it with the camera though. They seem to move too quickly.

I’m convinced that Buddy will eat anything. I gave him a piece of the onion I had grilled. He LOVED it. This is the same dog that will tear your arm off to get a carrot. I guess that it’s good that he likes his veggies. Brutus, on the other hand, will only take something just to keep it away from Buddy. He has no interest in veggies.

4 AM

Buddy woke me up this morning about 4:00 AM. He didn’t have to go out because he had just pooped on the floor. We went outside just to make sure he didn’t have to do anything else. After that, we tried to go back to sleep with minimal success.

This morning, I slipped each of the dogs a “Greenies” treat and for once got to shower in peace. Buddy was in the bathroom, but the treat was more important than playing in the water. This makes me very happy.

My boys

Every night, I make sure I set aside some time with Brutus. Buddy makes that really difficult, but I keep pushing Buddy away and allow Brutus to curl up with me and play. Brutus really is an affectionate dog, but he doesn’t always get to show that because Buddy always tries to be the center of attention.

Last night, I needed to get out of the house so I could run to Target. They wanted nothing to do with being locked in the living room. I had to resort to the puppy crack (Pupperoni treats) in order to get out of the house.

Today, Beth gave me a couple of ideas for getting an hour or so of peace. I may have to try a couple of them.

Buddy is getting much better at whining at the door when he needs to go out. That’s a good sign. Now, if he would just stop eating his own poop, I’d feel much better.

On the beach

After work tonight, I took the pugs on a nice long walk to/on the beach. It’s colder here than usual, so I wasn’t sure the beach was a great idea. But the dogs didn’t seem to mind.

Buddy…

Brutus…

When we got back, the dogs were tired and were starting to take a nap. That was until one of the dogs in the neighborhood started barking and they both went nuts. It was probably Fluffy next door who started it.  Maybe it’s time to resort to one of the greenies. I have some work to do and could use an hour of peace.

Come. Sit. Stay.

Yesterday, I mentioned the bakery that has all of the healthy doggie treats. Here is the link. It’s a really cute place.

Progress with Buddy

Buddy started getting anxious at the doorway between the kitchen and dining room tonight, and I picked up on the signal that he needed to go out. As soon as we went outside, he dropped to pee. GOOD BOY, BUDDY!

Healthy Treats

There is a dog bakery a couple of blocks from my office that sells nothing but dog treats, toys, and accessories. My co-worker Debbie and I went in today and picked up a few healthy treats for Buddy and Brutus. They’re going to love me even more!

Puppy crack

Paul had warned me that the Pupperoni treats are like puppy crack. I haven’t had to resort to those or the “greenies” yet. But I swear, Buddy goes absolutely nuts when I pull out the bag of carrots to feed the bunnies. When I’m pulling out the greens, he gets excited because he knows the carrots are coming soon.

I’ve never seen a dog go apeshit over carrots like this one does.

Tired

Both the pugs and I are very tired right now. Heck, even Buddy is lying down snoring. We just came back from a long walk to/on the beach.

Brutus insists on stopping to pee on every tree, fire hydrant, and telephone pole he encounters. Buddy is keeping him in check by making him keep moving. We now only stop at every other stationary object. Tonight, Brutus didn’t poop like he normally does. But we did spend some time in the back yard and he pooped there. For once, Buddy pooped on the walk, literally. As we were headed to the beach, he pooped on the sidewalk. Being the good dog walker, I bagged it up and tossed it in the trash.

I called my dad from the beach. He asked where I was—he could hear the noise but didn’t quite make out that it was waves. I told him where I am and what I’m doing. I had to rub it in a little. I even told him how my commute has been cut in half for this.

We’re doing fine.  Who knew that pugsitting would be this much fun?

My only concern is that Buddy keeps humping Brutus. Is that normal?

On the beach

My friends Marc and Liz came up to visit today. Buddy and Brutus loved having new people to play with. After a walk on the beach, the pugs are both sounds asleep on the couch, and Brutus is snoring.

I finally got brave enough to let the dogs loose on the beach today. They did great. I was concerned that Buddy wouldn’t come back, but he did without a chase.

Doing fine

The pugs let me sleep until 8:00 this morning. As soon as we were up, Buddy had to pee and poop. Brutus had to pee.

After that, we watched some TV. I was lying on the couch, and Brutus was at my feet. Buddy was on the top of the couch right above me. They’re so cute when they’re like this.

Buddy insisted on jumping into the shower with me this morning. I made him get out, and he pooped on the kitchen floor.  I guess he got the last word.

I cleaned the bunny litter box. It was stinky. They’re doing fine, too.

You’re doing it wrong

Have you ever seen the movie “Mr. Mom”? The kids keep looking at Jack and saying “you’re doing it wrong!” Well, I feel like Buddy and Brutus keep doing that to me. But we’re getting settled into the daily routine of pug care.

We went to bed about 11:30 last night, and sleeping with two pugs is an experience. I’m used to my dalmatian who used to sleep in my bed. But these two are completely different creatures. Once I turned out the lights, they decided that it was time to play. I had to cuddle one and hold the other away at arm’s length to get them to settle down. After that, they were fine.

Buddy woke me up about 6:30 this morning being restless. We immediately went outside and he had to pee. GOOD BUDDY! Brutus did the same. I don’t mind getting up if it means not having to clean up puppy pee. I was hoping they’d let me go back to sleep after that. No such luck. It appears that we came in too early because both pugs had to poop as well. After this, I was hoping we could go back to bed. Brutus was fine but Buddy wanted to play. I tried to lie back down, but it was no such luck. I heard Buddy starting to dig at the bed and found he was chewing on the comforter and had some little pieces of cotton. I’m going to have to sew that back up. After that, we got up and started the day.

About 8:00, we went for a walk on the beach. I wanted to take them out before it got warm outside. They did really well. I’m still not sure I’m ready to let them loose on the beach, though. I’m not so worried about Brutus. It’s Buddy that I’m afraid will run off.

One of the nice things about a long walk is that you get about an hour of peace and quiet when you come back because the dogs are exhausted.

Bunnies are doing fine. I need to clean the pen and change the litter box today or tomorrow.

Beth and Paul can relax. The aminals are doing just fine. If Buddy tears at the comforter again, they might come home to one less pug and one more rug in the house. I’m joking, of course.

Out of sight

Before Paul left, he told me that if Buddy is out of your sight, he’s probably getting into trouble. He knows what he’s talking about.

When I left Buddy out of my sight, he pooped on the kitchen floor. So the next time I saw him jump off the couch, I followed him into the kitchen. I took that as a hint. We went outside and both pugs pee’d.

All is well.  I’ll be feeding the bunnies soon and then going to bed.

Chicken Lady

We just went for a nice walk. It’s not too warm outside today, so we went earlier than usual.

Right out of the gate, they both pee’d on the first telephone pole they could find. As usual, Brutus continued to pee as frequently as he could.

On the way back, we stopped at the bakery to see the Chicken Lady. She didn’t give them too much love because she was a little busy. But she did allow me to buy some cookies.

On the way back from the bakery, Brutus finally pooped.

I’m seeing that Buddy is becoming more aggressive when they walk. Brutus will want to stop to pee on a tree, but Buddy insists they keep walking.

I know I’ve been blogging a lot today. But I want the pugs’ parents to know that they’re doing well.

The bunnies have been fed, and now the house is really quiet.

Trash

I’m learning that Brutus will stand in the pantry and bark at the trash can if I leave the pantry door open.

Puggy poop

I came home from work today and immediately let the dogs out to take care of nature’s business. Brutus had to pee, but Buddy didn’t do anything. It turns out that Buddy pooped on the floor while I was at work.  We’ll go for a walk a little later and make sure they fully relieve themselves.

They both kept looking at me like I had forgotten something. So I gave them each a scoop of food, which has been promptly ignored. But they kept following me, acting like I had neglected to do something. So we went back outside and ran around the yard some. When we came back in, they both did nothing but nibble at the kibble—nothing substantial. Maybe it’s just too early. I’m home from work way earlier than Paul and Beth come home. I just happened to have an afternoon off because of a doctor’s appointment.  I bet they’ll eat if we go visit the chicken lady.

When I came home, I gave each of the bunnies a yogurt treat. I’ll feed them momentarily.

As I started typing this, Brutus started whining at the back door. I thought he just wanted to bark at Fluffy next door. It turns out he had to poop too. Not to be outdone by Brutus, Buddy decided he had to poop too. After the first piece dropped down, he spun around to see what had just happened before dropping the next one.

We’ll get this figured out.

First morning

I woke up at 4:30 with kisses from Buddy. This is going to be a fun two weeks.

These pictures are from last night.

Warming up

When I started spending time with the pugs, I was a little worried about Brutus. He’s Beth’s dog. Brutus never had time for me.  Buddy, on the other hand, is an attention whore, and we get along just great.

Tonight, Brutus started to show me some love.

Pugsitter

Dear Beth,

Your pugsitter has arrived. Brutus has warmed up to me finally. As soon as I walked in the door, they greeted me warmly.  I got all kinds of love.

Love,

Mike

Pug Patrol

It won’t be too long before I start Pug Patrol. I’m pretty excited about this. As you can probably tell, I’ve grown rather attached to Buddy and Brutus. I thought this would be a good way for me to keep the parents informed that all four animals are doing fine. I’m not worried about the bunnies. They’re fairly low maintenance. It’s the pugs that are going to be more work.

remiss

I’ve been remiss posting here ... the guys are totally fine

Either way, I wanted to post that I’m handing the blog over to our pal Mike for a couple of weeks. Diosa is in England, and I’m going over there too for two weeks. Mike will be looking after both the guys and the buns while we’re gone, and we’re hugely greatfull to him for it!

Over to you Mike