Merrylog

There are certain days, certain expressions, that just make me want to SMOOSH that face and cover it with kisses (while puggy legs pinwheel backwards madly trying to get away).

Merry setting up to lick something. Air, usually. :) But I loved the capture of the little tongue all curled up and down in this shot.

I love their little leathery noses. Merry’s always reminded me of a teeny, tiny version of King Kong’s. :)

Merry looked in need of some attention this afternoon, so I grabbed a few of her “puppy crack” treats from my girlfriend Megan and my camera and headed over to the princess’s Chinese Box Bed. We did a very fun photo shoot of sweet portraits and even sweeter closeups (which you’ll see tomorrow and Thursday), the princess got her fill of yummy treats, and then we played fetch for a few minutes.

Nan recently asked us about Merry and collars. Merry handles collars very well these days, but she didn’t always, especially as a puppy.

When I first got Merry, no one told me pugs could be such determined little buggers that they could strangle themselves, literally into seizures, by pulling against a collar. Merry actually had a few seizures her first month with me, and I had no idea why. She was tested for everything from liver shunts to pug encephalitis, and still we weren’t any closer to a clue, until we ran into another pug owner on the street, got to talking, and she told me about harnesses. My vet was astounded.

Merry was in a harness the next day, and for more than a year after that. No more seizures – go figure!

But once she calmed down a bit, post-puppy time, I started trying collars on her again and she was fine with them. Yes, occasionally she pulls, but I don’t let her out to the end of the leash tugging all the time. If she tugs too hard, she gets brought behind me where she has to walk (and she toddles back there, following me, quite happily). That helps. Of course, it also helps that we’re city girls and walk a lot, so she also learned early on not to balk and throw her head down.

It seems to me though that most of the “head down, slipping out of the collar” thing is because most owners I see on our walks don’t have the collar snugly enough around their necks. If you have several inches of clearance – sure, the dog’s going to get out from under the collar just with normal use. But that’s too loose. I was taught that you should be able to slide your fingers – all four – underneath the fastened collar easily, but that’s it, and it’s worked well for us.

Hope that helps, Nan!

Merry’s Grandma got her this big, spiky, pink, squishy, thing to play with for Christmas. The princess loves the darned thing and every time we turn around, she’s licking it (we think she likes the feel of the spikes). Funniest thing ever. And yes, it does look like an alien…

The princess and I had a big weekend. I was out of town for a romantic weekend but managed to get hit with a nasty bout of stomach flu within hours of arriving. The princess, on the other hand, stayed with friends of ours (thanks again guys!) who have three pugs, so she essentially played all weekend.

The net result: both the princess and I have been sleeping and one of us has been on a nearly liquid diet since getting home. Luckily her sleep means she had fun! We’ll post more soon, promise.

The front side of the princess in pink on our walk the other morning. Tell me she’s not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. Seriously! :)

Tail end of a princess all in pink, out for a walk. Aren’t the boots a hoot? We reviewed them this month.

Merry loves TV. She watches it when I’m out of the house or working. Her favorite channels: Food Network, Fine Living, and (shh – only when Mom’s not home) the country music video channel. Movie networks, anything with too many commercials, or the pet/animal-related channels are out, unless I’m beside her to monitor (and mute barking dog scenes). She just goes barky nuts at the television when these channels are on. Also out: anything animated. Drives the bugger nuts. You should have seen her watching Madagascar!