A weekend away

Hubby and I are going away for 2 days leaving tomorrow; we'll be heading down to Austin for an SCA event. We decided to forego decorating for Halloween this year as we won't be home for it and I have to say I have really missed out little graveyard that we build in the front yard usually.

The pugs will be staying home on their own as they always do when we go out of town. Rather than take them to a kennel I found a great dog walking service a few years ago when we first moved into our home in 2005. We've used them countless times since then and have yet to have a problem and I much prefer the furkids staying at home rather than a kennel. The only thing bad about them staying home is they don't have supervision the whole time so I stress about things that could happen in between the multiple visits I book per day.

Usually when the pugs are left home alone they go into 'the dog room' which serves as their kennel for the day. Ickis still has the bad habit of marking when he is not watched so while I'd much rather them have the run of the house and use of the doggie door and backyard while I am at work they get 'kenneled' during the day. They sleep pretty much the whole time; waking only to shift positions or move around on the three oversized doggie beds in there. I know this because when we first started kenneling them I set up a webcam to make sure they were doing alright. ;)

When we go away we put a gate around the couch and loveseat, bring the doggie beds out of the doggie room and let the pugs come and go as they please outside as I wouldn't allow them to be locked up for a whole weekend. Still, even though our back gate is reinforced and padlocked after it was opened for the pugs to escape in November of 2005 (I'll share my blog entries somedtime from that horrible day) I still worry that they will get out.

I sometimes take Pearl with me to SCA events but she will be staying home with her brothers this time; she is not pleased with this at all. here is a pic of her from a previous event relaxing in my arms.

What do you all do when you have to leave your puglettes behind?

Mornings

Getting up in the mornings just gets harder and harder as the year progresses. Who wants to get out of a nice, warm bed with two pugs snuggled up against you (Ickis likes to sleep on the doggie bed on the floor right next to the bed) while it's still dark outside? Not me I tell you! I forgot to set the alarm last night but still woke up at the right time but since the alarm didn't go off Pearl didn't want to get up. Once the alarm goes off she is UP and licking Mom to wake up me up if I like it or not. Today though she seemed as reluctant to leave the warmth of the covers as I was.

Tank is not a morning puggie. At all. Once the alarm goes off he will grunt his annoyance at his sisters moving around and if he isn't already there come up the bed to flop down on my pillow and snuggle with me. Once I get up he scoots a little further to center himself on the pillow and makes a puggie loaf of himself by tucking his feet underneath him. There he will stay until I coax him into the living room with promises of breakfast; he'll jump down from the bed only to go to another bed in the living room to wait until I start making breakfast. Once breakfast is done he makes a short trip out into the backyard before coming and getting cozy on one of the beds to sleep again.

Ickis is sort of in between his brother and sister; some days he hopes right out of his bed to follow me for breakfast, some days (like today) he lingers; taking a looooong stretch before slowly making his way to the kitchen to wait for breakfast.

Hubby is MUCH more of a morning person than I am; he is on vacation this week and while I grudgingly got ready for work he was already up, making himself breakfast and looking over his 'To Do' list for the day. On the weekends he lets me sleep late and gets up with the furkids in the morning and takes care of their breakfast. *sigh* If only every day was a weekend! :p

Carmy and Pearl pics

I didn't get any pics of them playing; wish I had the video camera on too but I thought I would share these two pics.

Carmy sitting in one of his favorite spots

Pearl being such a little lady. ;)

Fall Weather

It really starting to get cold down here in Texas; there was a freeze warning last night and this morning when I went to work it was 37 degrees out! Brr! The pugs are loving the weather though; they still pant for a bit during and after we finish their afternoon walk but not frighteningly so anymore. Pearl was even feeling so good that after dinner when we went out in the backyard she played chase with one of our cats; Carmy! It was extreemly cute; she is very fast but Carmy is a master dodger so they went round quite a few times before stopping.

Ickis stood by and growled at the activity while Tank barked and watched as well. The boys aren't much for chase; Ickis prefers Tug or Fetch and will want to play till long after the Humans have tired of it. Tank on the otherhand is alot more laid back and would rather just snuggle than play games. Pearl loves to snuggle with me but still has her puppy energy and often tries to engage Tank to play with her without much success so she usually ends up playing 'Keep Away' with a toy and Ickis.

Ickis

People often ask where I came up with the name 'Ickis' and alot of the time want to call him 'Icarus' instead. His name actually comes from an old cartoon that used to be on Nickelodeon called 'Ahhh Real Monsters!'. Ickis was a crazy bug eyed little monster that immediately became my favorite on the show. He was always the one getting everyone else (and himself!) in trouble. I have since heard that you should never use a name that you don't want that person / pet to live up to and it certainly turned out to be the case with Ick. He is our crazy little monster! See the resemblace? ;)

Pug-O-Ween!

What a busy day! Today Pearl, Tank and I headed out to DFW Pug Rescue's Pug-O-Ween in Arlington! Ickis stayed home with Dad as he has a bit of a marking problem in new situations. :p Anyways, we headed out to Arlington around 1:30 to get there by 2 when everything was going to get started. None of is had ever been to a full pug event so we were all very excited!

We got there just before two and Tank hoped right out of the truck and actually gave Mom a rope burn on her hand from pulling the leash through it he was so excited. Ouch! Pearl, who is a shy wallflower took a bit of convincing to get out of the truck but eventually she came out to play. There were already a TON of pugs around and Tank was very excited to meet them all. Pearl stuck close to her brother and was on the reserved side but happily wasn't freaking out or anything.

Not sure what to expect I had dressed the pugs in their Men in Black suits for the costume contest and they looked quite spiffy. We went in and the place was already PACKED with pugs and their people. We found where we were supposed to sign up, did so and then went and sat down to wait for our turn.

The costumes were GREAT! I think my favorite was Morticia from The Addams Family; her owner was dressed as Gomez and they had a whole diorama of the house they lived in, a cauldron flled with dry ice and black roses everywhere. Heehee, the pug even had fake eyelashes on; it was too cute.

We were in the group category; the last group to go. Our thunder was kinda stolen as there was a 'Men in Black' agent in the second group before us who ended up winning second place in that group. Darn it, I wish we would have gone before them! Ah well, it was fun. As soon as the winners of our category were announced I took the pugs out of their costumes; they were pretty warm in them. We hung around for a little while and then headed back outside to head home.

Wouldn't you know it; as Tank was leaving his 'pee-mail' for the day before we left Mom stepped in a HUGE pile of doggie doo; very obviously NOT pug related (it was a BIG as some of the smaller pugs! Ugh!). I can't STAND when people don't clean up after their dogs!

I brought my camera to the event but wouldn't you know it I was so busy wrangling the pugs that I didn't take even one picture? There were a bunch of photographers there though and they said the pics will be up online very shortly so we shall see.

Anyways, the pugs are now passed out as I type this; well Pearl and Tank are while Ickis is in the backyard barking at something or other. Ah, Ick just came back in through the doggie door and is getting comfy on one of the beds nearby. Hubby is home all this week on vacation so the pugs are going to love that; I wish I could stay home with them all. Weekends need to be longer.

More pics

Pearl

Tank

Ickis

Yes that's me (Mom) with Ickis. :)

Introduction

Well hello! Welcome to the blog of Ickis, Tank and Pearl written by their Mom! Lets start off with introductions.

Ickis

Ickis was my 'firstborn', he came home with me in September of 2001. His birthday is on August 18. The second I saw him I was in love, he was so cute! The story behind Ickis is a little problematic; he was supposed to be a pure bred pug. As you can see, hes not. I think he is half Chihuahua. You can read about how I was mis-led by his evil breeder here: http://www.crimsonvision.net/badbreeder.htm

Ickis is a big baby, I believe because of the Chihuahua in him. He's also a big mama's boy, always running to me for the slightest thing. He loves to have me pick him up and he wraps his front legs around my neck almost like he's hugging me. He's extremely smart, almost too smart for me sometimes. His best trick is to 'dance' and even spin around in a circle while on his hind legs. But probably the most adorable thing Ick does is 'smile'. As you can see from the pics above he really looks like he is grinning. This always seems to get him out of alot of trouble, lucky for him as he still marks after all this time no matter how much time and training I've put into him. But I still love him.

Tank

Born on February 8th, 2002, Tank was my second little man. Well, he's not so little anymore, he has certainly grown into his name! I had alot better luck with my experience in bringing Tank home, his breeder was wonderful. Tank is fully registered with the AKC and I have wanted to see how he would do in the show ring. We started going to classes but alas I had to stop due to money restraints. Ah well, he still is the most perfect pug in my mind!

Tank is a sweetheart. He loves to cuddle and is very much a lap dog but because of his bulk he doesn't like to actually be picked up. He has a bit of a girlish bark, most people comment he barks like a girl. He's not afraid of anything, will always go charging up to someone almost demanding to be loved. He sleeps in the bed next to me, his head on a pillow just like mine. And he snores, oh man does he snore! He practically shakes the bed with his snores!

On July 6th of 2007, Tank and Ickis got into an argument over breakfast, mainly Tank wanted to eat Ickis'. They scuffled and Tank ended up with a proptosed right eye. I hysterically rushed him to the emergency vet where we decided we would try and save the eye even though it looked like he wouldn't have use of it. Two weeks went by of eye drops and ointment every 4 hours, poor Tank was miserable. We went back to have the stitches removed (as the eye was stitched shut to try and let it heal) and within 24 hours of it opening it was obvious the eye could not be saved and we had it removed the next morning. I was devastated to say the least.

After the operation though Tank was immediately more comfortable and soon returned to his normal happy self. He does not seem to miss his right eye at all and we affectionaltely call him our little 'Pirate Pug'.

Pearl

Born on July 5th, 2006, Pearl came home to live with us on December 8th, 2006. I've always wanted a little black girl pug so Pearl was my dream come true. She is the sweetest little girl and is *very* attached to me, even moreso than the boys. I can't make a move without Pearl coming with me or lay down somewhere without Pearl snuggling up to me. I love it.

Pearl has the softest fur of any pug I have ever touched and trust me, I've touched pretty much every pug I've ever seen. Currently she is a little overweight but we are working on correcting that, much to her dismay. She is extreemly food driven, so much so I had to buy her a special bowl to get her to slow down her eating and have to monitor mealtimes now to make sure she doesn't steal any of the boys leftover food.

Its almost 2 years now that Pearl has been with us and I fall in love with her more each day.

Mom

A little about me; I'm 32 but really never grew up. Originally from Boston, the boys and I packed up and moved to Texas in 2003. I sew an awful lot, mostly costumes; you can see my website here: http://www.crimsonvision.net/ . I am a member of the medieval reenactment group called the SCA which is also where I met my Husband. We got married on November 11th, 2006 and we now live just north of Dallas with our three pugs and two cats.

So thats all I can think of for now! Hopefully I'll update this blog often; next up pics of the pugsketeers!