Merrylog

Miss Merry and I went to our first pugalug in years over the weekend. I’m not sure how many pugs there were in total there – 50? More? But it sure seemed like a lot!

It was a great deal of fun! I have to admit, I was playing the worried pug Mommy card a lot – I didn’t know how a totally blind pooch would handle being thrown into a room full of people and tables and a gazillion other pugs. I kept her on leash and pretty close for the first ten minutes or so, but then it became clear she just wanted to explore, so I took her off leash and let her go.

She had a blast! She wasn’t exactly running full bore like she did at her last pugalug (when she was still sighted) but she wandered around, got lots of pats, sniffed lots of other dogs and was very, very happy – as you can see from the final photo in the series.

For me, I had a blast – both watching Merry have fun and also sitting on the floor and being attacked by half a dozen pugs at any given time. Snorting, sniffling, crazy pug goodness. Sigh. Better than a bubble bath for your troubles.

And yes, in case you were wondering – it did make me want to get Merry a little sister. I miss having a young crazy pug in the house. When you go through those first two years, it’s insane and you think you can’t wait for them to calm down. But once you’ve lived with a laid back older pug for a while, you miss the crazies. Or at least, I do. :)

Because it’s the weekend, and because we love you, we saved the cutest Merry picture of the week for last. She’s so docile, such an easy going model that I just lifted her up into the swing and she just kind of perched herself there, hanging out.

I know this kind of shot is becoming a cliche (gosh knows you can find jillions of them online) but I couldn’t resist. She’s just too cute.

Also, a few of you asked about her outfit. It’s by her all-time (and mine) fave designer, Wooflink. Here’s the review of the outfit.

(Do you read Merry’s product reviews every month? She reviews 5 new products every single month (367 products reviewed so far!). If you don’t, and you’d like to sign up to get the new reviews in your inbox each month, sign up here.)

This is what the princess looks like when she cleans her feet. I have NO idea why she must do this, particularly in the spring more than any other time, when there is mud waiting just 1/4 inch under the surface of any leaves or grass. Does she want to punish us with mud? Does she feel the house is too clean? Does she miss being a “real dog” and want to wallow in mud for just a short time?

Drives me nuts. She’s cute, but drives me nuts.

Does your dog do this or is it just my pug? Merry’s a crazy girl about eating, always has been. No matter how you serve her food to her (eg how large the bowl you put it in), she always takes a mouthful, backs up a step or two, drops half of it on the floor, eats, cleans the floor, steps forward again for another mouthful.

Messy? No, she’s very good at cleaning up after herself. I’d call it fastidious (goes with the Princess persona) but truth be told she’s a pug, which means she’s greedy, which means she’d lick our entire floors from one end of the house to the other in hopes of getting just three more crumbs of food. And has done so. We call her our “Swiffer Wet”. *laughs*

Thanks to all for your kind comments yesterday. Made me feel a little less “loser-ish” about the whole thing.

I stand abashed. So many of you shared your thoughts over the weekend in response to my query: What would you have done? that it made me feel very humbled.

Thank you guys, all of you, for sharing suggestions and ideas. I wish I was as good at this as so many of you are, but I clearly froze up and that didn’t do the pooch any favors. I will be keeping an eye out going forward to see if I can find the owner again and will keep you all up to date when I do.

In case you haven’t already figured it out, I’m kind of “do-it” type of person. My least favorite answer is “there’s nothing you can do”, which is why I had such a hard time with things like my mom’s cancer, my dad’s heart attack, etc. I am the original can-do girl and feel better if I can personally make a difference. I believe that all the difference in the world starts with one person.

So today, I’m walking the princess when I run across another pug. My response – as usual – was to cry “Puggy!” and walk the princess over because, come on, pug lover here. Except this time on closer inspection, the owner wasn’t necessarily one I’d have sought out to speak to – slightly glazed eyes, reddened cheeks, and with a stench that I’d normally associate with the homeless. I’m not saying she was, I have no idea. But she had that look. And yet somehow was walking a purebred pug. So who knows.

What I do know is that she was either mentally challenged, drunk, high, or operating with an IQ that wouldn’t place her in the category of suitable pet owner, in my opinion. When I asked her how old her dog was she said “a few weeks, I think”. The pup was clearly 6-8 months old, going by size – thereabouts. Far from a few weeks, at least. Later she mentioned she’d “just got him so he could be even younger”. When I mentioned that he likely hadn’t been fixed yet, because he was all over Merry like butter on popcorn, she repeated that story “He probably hasn’t been fixed yet, that’s why he likes girls” – twelve times – while following along beside us. Like a chant. Or like she was trying to make sense of the words. Finally, she got the sense that I wasn’t up to strolling together and began to walk away from us.

She yanked at his collar to pull him in the opposite direction, twice nearly breaking the pup’s arm as it was tangled in the leash – he whined, twice, and each time she finally clued and untangled him. I was freaking out inside but had no idea what I could do. I had no proof. I had no NOTHING except someone who seemed high as a kite, who didn’t seem to know diddly about her dog or how to care for it, walking around my favorite breed on a leash and all I could do was sit there and watch them walk away and wish to God I was brave enough or legally entitled enough to take him away from her and get him to a shelter or rescue or, hell, my house for now would have looked better than his current situation.

But I didn’t do any of those things. Instead I watched him walk away and sniffed back a few tears and took my own, very cherished pug home and gave her extra hugs and tried not to feel like a bad person for letting that poor pooch walk away.

What would you have done?

I swear some days it’s like she took a class on how to be the cutest ever. I just want to kiss that little forehead. Go on. I know it’s not just me! I know you’re melting into a little puddle right there in your chair. It’s okay. We’re all in this together. :)

See it bigger on Flickr.

Pink coat: Wonderful. Pink booties: oh so cute. Pink tongue: totally makes the shot.

Despite the photo, the snow *is* melting, and given that it’s supposed to be above zero temps right through till at least next Monday, I’m secretly hoping that the snow is on its way out and we can get back to lovely temps and long walks and MORE SUNSHINE! :)

Is it just me? Or is this winter so much worse for lack of sunshine than last?