spacepug

A couple of weekends ago, we had an idea. An idea to go to the beach. Not just any beach, mind you, a private one in Malibu. And of course, since she’s had all of her shots, the baby pug went with us.

And she loved it. Even though the water was freezing, the weather was beautiful. She ran around, chewed on things she wasn’t supposed to, buried her face in the sand, and fell asleep in the sun. The other night, she told us that she wanted to move to Malibu. She’d even found a place to live, right on the beach. We explained to her that we were days from moving but not to Malibu, and so after about 15 seconds of pouting, Sally made us promise that the next place we live will be on the beach. We told her we’d try. It’s not like she’d help with the rent or anything.

There have been many “firsts” in Sally’s 16 weeks of life, but none so important as this “first” last weekend. After weeks and weeks of counting down, Sally has gone a week (well, a couple now) since her last set of baby shots, insuring her immune system will be able to fight anything that comes her way. How, you ask, did we celebrate?

Her first walk in the park.

Now, we call it a walk because technically, that’s what it was. But she didn’t really walk. She just sat. And flopped around. We weren’t expecting a whole lot, since out of the apartment Sally shows an extraordinary sedentary side, but she did manage about 10 feet of actual walking. And she looked fabulous doing it.

*note her fancy new harness

Sally’s been having a bit of a skin problem, so into the bath she went. Even though we got her the most expensive, therapeutic shampoo we could find, she wasn’t at all grateful. In fact, after we took her out, she pouted for a full 15 seconds before realizing how wonderful it felt to be really clean! She did several pugtonas to celebrate.

Okay, so it’s a little late. Blame it on the hours we spent (obviously!) in Photoshop breaking our backs over this amazing photo creation. Anyway, with 25 minutes still left of this festive day, Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Due to a minor skin problem, Sally visited the good ol’ vet this weekend. At 14 weeks, she weighed in at 6.1 lbs. Now, 6.1 lbs doesn’t seem too small (though she is extremely portable!) but it seemed a little small to me, so I did some research. Turns out, there are pugs all over this green earth weighing as much as 12, even 14 lbs at Sally’s current age. Some are her same size, very few are less, but at 14 weeks, our little girl is looking mighty small. With a fat little belly.

And that’s just fine with us.

Recently, Joey got bitten by the activity bug and was diagnosed with the most expensive form of Bike Fever known to date. A collective $700.00 later, he and I both have pretty decent bikes and pretty decent places to ride, as well. Griffith Park, the largest municipal park in the nation, is within riding distance. “Why post this in Spacepug?” you ask, and the answer is this: we want Sally to bike with us!

Since her legs are too short to reach any pedals, we decided against getting Sally her very own tiny bike. Thus, we decided on a bike basket with a doggie seatbelt. And don’t worry, we won’t be trekking down any mountains. Just the street for us. And Sally.

When everything’s quiet, and the puppy barely stirs, we revel in taking pictures of her. This is when we get her best shots, of course, but this night, she was feeling a little fancier than usual. Glamour shots were requested, and what the baby asks for, the baby gets. We think she looks quite beautiful.

This Saturday, Sally had her third set of shots. I’m a bit of a wuss while she’s being injected, and I’m even worse with my 6000 “are these safe?” type-questions before, but she’s my little professional. While being poked and prodded everywhere, she stayed quiet and calm and perfect. However, what seemed like her casual indifference didn’t make us feel any less guilty, so we bought her more toys…one toy for each shot she received (I believe having a vet’s office inside Petsmart is both an evil and brillant plan). Sally loves each and every toy, and we’re sure she can’t wait for her next trip to the vet.

This post is awfully late, and it’s awfully late for a reason: not much has been going on, except for plenty of sickness. Since the last post, Sally had to go to the vet and was diagnosed with Giardiasis. After we were rid of that gem (a week and not much sleep later), she started coughing and sneezing. A lot. And now, in the midst of her antibiotics for the puppy version of a human chest cold, she’s doing fine, but sounds about 80 and emphasemic. We chalk this up to her extreme puppy vulnerability, but we can’t help but wonder if we’re being good parents. I mean, sure, we’re doing fine, but we’re looking forward to a healthy week. A healthy year. A healthy 15.

Sally is 10 weeks old today, and in our quest to document any and all Sally moments, we decided to take some 10 week birthday shots. Miss Forlorn didn’t feel like celebrating the way we did. Ignore the less than glamorous backdrop; she’s too little to pose anywhere else.

Congratulations to my perfect little pug, who won 7th place (pretty good considering there were 1000+ entries!) in the Pampered Puppy Photo Contest! Her prize for being the cutest pug in existence (besides our undying love) is the Beach Blanket Bingo Gift Basket. Perfect for our upcoming beach-bum excursions.

Joey and I decided that with no family in town, we’d take Sally to the Long Beach Haute Dog Easter parade on Easter Sunday. About 400 people were there, many in awe at the cuteness we carried around. Sally endured petting from thousands of hands, and was exhausted after only about an hour and a half. Unable to handle any more of the holiday, she later slept through our Easter meal of burritos.

Sally’s home, and she’s 3.2 pounds of love and sweetness. She’s technically been home for about 6 days, but those 6 days have been filled with puppy chaos and thus I was left with no time for updates. However, it’s only fair to post today (and yes, regularly from today on) because the internet could use some more pug, and I have 3.2 pounds to share!

I went to go pick her up from the airport on March 19th, 2005, and she attracted most everyone she saw. A couple of nice women at the airport dubbed themselves her “aunts” and helped me with her until my last flight of the day took off. Everyone was so amazed at the tiny pug in the bag, they didn’t ask me to buy a ticket for her, so Sally flew for free.

In the 6 days we’ve had her, we’ve learned she loves attention, cheese, and every single toy we bought for her (she’s easy to please). We’ve also, in these 6 days, managed to potty train her about 80%. A natural trick she came with: barking when the humans bark at her. It’s pretty cute. Probably the cutest thing anyone’s ever seen. At least we think so!

Isn’t she a tiny, fluffy angel? She’s fluffy because she’s double coated. 2 coats = 2x the pug. And who doesn’t want more pug?

Just eleven more days…

created by uncle tony, for his niece.

After a rather dissappointing trip to PetSmart last weekend, Joey and I decided to get all of Sally’s puppy stuff online, and boy, did we clean out the online store!

I’d take a picture of everything, but it’d be way too boring a shot. Just know she’s equipped. It’s no Louis Vuitton, but she’ll be riding in this until she gets too chunky to carry…which we predict will be soon. Just kidding! We got the large.

Update: No cargo rides for this pug.

Thanks to Joey’s dad, Sally will be riding with me, in the cabin, snuggled safely under my feet (and in my lap, if I hide her well). We’ll have an hour layover in the Eugene airport, however, and I’m not sure what to do with a baby pug in an airport. When crossword puzzles lose their fun, what’s next?

I’m afraid of her touching the airport floor, and I’m terrified of people touching her. Yes, I realize she’s cute, but just look, please. She hasn’t had all of her shots and her puppy vulnerability is at its highest. Am I being irrational? Probably.

This weekend marks the 4 week period before Sally comes home. Comes home, that is, from Oregon. Usually a new pug parent, during this period, would be thrilled and impatient and although I am all of these things and more, I’m mostly worried. You see, Sally is Brachycephalic, so traveling in the cargo section of a plane can prove to be difficult, and they won’t let her travel in her own seat (despite my pleading) without someone “accompanying” her. She wouldn’t even need drinks and peanuts! Okay, maybe peanuts.

Just one more thing to worry about, I guess.

Well, the breeder came through, and as you can see, here is the first candid of baby Sally. I almost can’t handle the amount of sweetness oozing from this picture. In keeping with the website theme (or, rather, the reason for the theme) we’ve named her after Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. We’re hoping she’ll have similar aspirations.

A little less than 6 weeks until our puglet gets here. I’m assuming it’ll be around March 19th, or soon after.

The breeder said she’d have pics up today (tentatively), which I’ll post if and when I get them. She’s 12 days old today!