Merrylog

Years ago while snacking on pretzels while watching a movie, I discovered that the puglet not only loves pretzels (duh… they’re food) but that she eats them in the most hilarious way. Most food – even yummy meat – she wolfs down like she hasn’t been fed in years. But pretzels – well, those she holds between her paws and delicately breaks off piece by piece until the whole thing is done. Kid you not; takes her four minutes (yeah, I timed her) to eat an entire pretzel. It’s the cutest thing, like, ever – like puppy teatime, with raised pinkies and all. :)

Thanks to everyone who posted about the rottie, for injecting common sense (talk to the owner) and humor (put the pug in camo gear) into my little mid-week freakout!

Ugh. Normally I’m the most level-headed of ladies; I rarely succumb to fear with a big F – thieves, rapists, muggers, terrorists… these are just not things I’m willing to go crazy on. I know the odds, I know what dangers are likely to befall me (or not), and I’m not about to live my life in fear over things that are less likely to happen to me than winning the lottery. :)

But… (and you knew there was a but) we recently found out about a new pooch on our small street, a Rottie rescue. (Before you Rottie lovers jump in, let me say I don’t discriminate on breed – there’s a pitbull on the street too, but she’s just the sweetest thing ever and she runs over and bumps up against me until I give her a good rubdown, always frustrated that she can’t lick me because of her by-law muzzle.) The Rottie, though, is apparently quite vicious – leashed, but walked by a female owner who can’t really control him. He snarls and goes after kids and other pooches alike. At least one pooch has been bitten, and at least one kid was lunged at. Animal Control was called, but, so far as anyone on the street knows, the dog is still in his home. No, I’m not sure why.

I spent a bit of time this morning researching how to defend you (and your pooch) from a dog attack, as a result. And what I found – or rather, didn’t find – didn’t reassure me greatly. :) Lots of different suggestions, but many that seem that they’d either be questionably effective (ammonia spray) OR further enrage the pooch in question so it turns on you (yelling at it, throwing things at it, pulling its back legs). It’s silly, I suppose, that I was hoping for a “here’s THE way to deal with it, that will keep you – and your pooch – safe” type of answer. :)

Sigh.

If any of you have ideas or, even better, links to professional advice on the subject, please feel free to share in the comments below. For now, we’ll just stay on the alert and give said Rottie a wiiiide berth. :)

This happy go lucky pug photo, with ears flying up and what could possibly be termed the cutest pug face ever, was exactly the antidote I needed this morning. The pooch and I are both feeling draggy and slothy and far more enamored of the idea of going back to bed for a nap than doing work.

Nothing like a pug playing to get you out of sloth mode and into “yay! Let’s get the work done so we can play!” mode. :)

Merry was not in a mood for a walk this morning, and even less so when she saw it was a “work morning” (a.k.a I brought my camera). She would have preferred to sleep. Till noon. And then spent a good hour or so licking my toes before actually, you know, getting up and having a purpose and moving the old body around.

Luckily we ran into 5 different people who made their entire purpose in life for the morning giving tummy rubbings and chin rubbings and ear scratches and head pats to the suckiest of all dogs, ever. This went a long way towards pacifying the quiet and sleepy miss muffin.

Good thing. Because I’ve been trying to shoot the pug in this outfit (which is so so so cute – the little 60′s go-go dress reviewed here and the brown rhinestone collar and leash here) for three days and I wasn’t going to give up this morning until we got something cute and good. I walked her over to the jungle in our neighbourhood alley and hooked her to the fence and then sat back and tried to get her to do something interesting. Look at me. Cock her head. Something. But she just sat and yawned. So I gave up. :)

Hence, the picture we share with you for your weekend enjoyment… the sleepy 60′s jungle dog.

Merry had a great time last weekend at the beach again. We played for a while by the surf, but because it was a Saturday and much more crowded, we spent a lot more time playing in the sand. The princess had a blast, as you can see. I don’t think she cares about the surface, so long as there’s a ball involved. :)

I was very lucky when photographing Lola a few weeks ago, and got to meet her more “senior” puggy friend, Gracie. I fell in love love love with the sweet gray muzzle and the adorable pug squat. See her photos here.

Oh, the pug was so hard to coax out of bed this morning. We’d put her in her Diva t-shirt (and yes, both the tee and the review are ooooold – 5 years old, in fact, check out the before-I-learned-to-shoot photography skillz) to sleep last night, since it was a little chilly in the bedroom. All she wanted to do this morning is cuddle up with the blankets and her red t-shirt and look sad and sleepy and cute. So you know what I did; snagged the camera!

Merry and I were tooling around one of the favorite parts of our neighbourhood – the back alleys which folks who have street-facing homes use to get to their garages or parking spots – and realized that some of the graffiti perfectly matched Merry’s collar and leash. :)

A month or two ago, I posted a notice about wanting to broaden my “doggy photography” repertoire. Anyone from the Toronto area was welcome. Well, the first of those shoots happened a few weeks ago with a lovely and tiny black pug named Lola, and I’ve finally finished uploading all of the photos for her “Mom” to see. You can see my photos of the lovely Lola here.

Live in Toronto? Offer’s still open. ;) Shoot me an email or leave a comment including your email address below, and I’ll get back to you.

Merry and I have both been fighting a case of “da blues” this week – combination of cooler weather, an overloaded inbox, and who knows what else. :) But when the blues hit, you know what a princess pug does… she straps on some rhinestone jewelry to make herself feel better!

Lovin’ the totally pink blingness? Check out the review of this necklace from 2006.

Yes, folks, you’re seeing correctly – Merry playing at the park photos! The secret to our success is the ball combination you’re seeing hanging from the wee pug’s mouth.

We have been using the smaller Boingo balls for a few months now (just a little bigger than a cat toy, but far sturdier) and they’ve really helped Merry to continue to “find” the ball as we play. But it never occurred to us to try to put a small Boingo inside of Merry’s larger, easier-to-find fetch balls until my brilliant stepdaughter suggested it the other day. At which point we looked at each other like: “Duh. Now why didn’t we think of that?” :)

Bingo! Now we have larger, noisy balls that are still light enough for the princess to find, but have the benefit of ring-a-linging so she can find them with her failing eyesight. I took the ball(s) to the park with the princess this morning and so far, so good – it was almost as good as the old days! Merry really enjoyed playing fetch, as you can see. And I was almost in tears realizing that we can start going to the park again!

(Yes, I’m a silly mutt.)

Oh, vacations are lovely, aren’t they? We had a lovely week full of drive-in movies (SO retro) and trips to Niagara Falls and the beach and the farmers market and introducing our two favorite teenagers to the wonder that is Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series, not the movie… ugh). The pug sadly missed the Falls trip but came with us to the drive-in and had a great time cuddled in one of her fave beds at my feet, and managed to plead a handful of popcorn from me with those adorable little eyes. Adventure and popcorn; what could be more fun!

So… how was your week? :)