Merrylog

I love how her little face flattens down when she scratches behind her ear. And am always totally amazed at the flexibility of this little pug who, while not quite as stocky as others of her breed is still far more square-ish than many dog breeds. How on earth does she get her back foot all the way up to her ear?

I wish I knew why she loves to shove her little head into the ball, into toys, into beds, couches, legs… it’s not just biting it’s actually pushing her face into those things. Is this a behavior they’d do in the wild? (Can you imagine a wild pug? Snort. Snicker. Who would carry them around and feed them carrots?) Crazy pug!

Many of you have asked, and now I’m sharing: this is Merry’s outfit for the wedding. It wasn’t planned, actually – I had been thinking something else entirely. But I received this dress a few months ago for review from Doggie Couture Shop. We’d already chosen black and white as the wedding colors – a damask print, to be exact – when this arrived and I fell in love head over heels and declared that we had to add turquoise to the wedding colors. :)

Merry will also be wearing a turquoise rhinestone collar (from this review; sadly this company is no longer in business) with a rhinestone dangle.

Sadly, she can’t be in the ceremony as we’re wedded-blissing at City Hall, but she will be there for the entire reception to charm guests and entertain small children. :)

For me – I found a truly fabulous dress. This is my second marriage and I had already gone the white princess ball gown route; this time I wanted something sleeker and more elegant (think more Oscars than wedding). So, I found a strapless floor length black gown; it has a wide black satin bow over the chest, then falls with a black jersey in soft draped lines all the way to the floor. The hubbytobe will be decked in a black suit, black shirt, turquoise tie. “Our” kids will also be in the wedding colors – my stepdaughter has a turquoise dress, and my stepson has black pants, black shirt, and a thin turquoise tie. And then miss Merry… in white and turquoise.

My touch of turquoise, you ask? Feathers, darling – my small bouquet is made of black ostrich feathers and black & turquoise guinea feathers wrapped in a turquoise ribbon.

Three weeks tomorrow!

The cataract in her left eye is pretty much fully developed by now. It’s very shiny and reflective – which is complicated when I want to photograph her, because one eye reflects SO much more light than the other that it can look odd. :)

It’s really odd having a blind dog. You don’t realize how different it is in your home until someone else tries interacting with her. Then, it’s obvious: so much of what I do every day makes allowances for her blindness, from wearing jingly anklets, snapping my fingers or clapping my hands to help her find me, all the voice commands, etc. It’s become so much a part of our daily routine that we don’t even think twice about it.

But you know when you do think twice about it? When you want to go on a honeymoon. Because realistically, most boarding places just wouldn’t know what to do with a blind dog. And her maintenance – three walks a day, three sets of eye drops a day, voice commands for going up and down risers, etc. – means she’s rather a handful to dump on a family member or a friend.

As a result, the hubbytobe and I have rented a cottage for a week for the honeymoon so we can take the princess with us. Yes, that’s right – our pooch is going on our honeymoon. *laughs* Which I never thought you’d hear me say eight years ago, but I feel much better knowing she’ll be well cared for without being a burden on anyone – we’re so used to managing her, it’s not nearly the work it would represent to someone new to her!

Shake it up baby – twist and shout. C’mon, c’mon, c’mon baby – c’mon and work it all out. Woo! *laughs*

Yes, princess girl, you’re adorable. It was finally cool enough this morning after the stinky-hot humid muckiness of the past week to put her in a sundress for her walk. She likes looking pretty (more accurately, she likes all the attention she gets when she looks pretty).

Her sundress is discontinued but we’ve got tons of pink sundresses for sale in the Shop.

Love it? See it bigger on Flickr.

Yes, folks, the princess found the ball after her hunt in yesterday’s photo, and she gave it a good shaking so it could understand to never, never hide from her again. (Of course, balls don’t really listen… but then, neither do pugs. Ah, the affinity between the two now makes sense!)

It’s four weeks today till my wedding (we marry on September 18th). I picked up my dress today from being altered and I am getting very excited to marry that man of mine. :)

That’s what we call those tiny scrawny adorably cute back legs. Here, the princess is folding herself down to fit under the bed to retrieve something that has rolled under it. Are you surprised, shocked, shaken to find it’s a ball? Would it be anything else, really?

Everybody should get a pug. They not only make you laugh every day but they also laugh with you. Crazy girl, your momma loves you.

Merry and I visited some friends with a pug last week and had a grand old time. The pugs mostly circled each other – the princess pug LOVES being around other dogs and other people but doesn’t really know how to play any more, since she can’t chase or be chased and never really learned to “tug” between two dogs. But as you can see, Merry was happy all the same.