Hey all GentlePugs and LadyPugs out there – I learned something new today.

If your human gets injured, you get extra carrots!

Um, hang on. I don’t think I explained that well enough. Let me start over. See, my dad injured his foot over the weekend and now he can’t walk very well. This mean he can’t go on long walks with me, so my brief walks have been supplemented by indoor activities including – my favorite – Baby Carrot Catch!

You all know about my OBSESSION with baby carrots (I mean, just look at my masthead). And you are probably also aware of my other passion which is catching objects in mid-air. Potatoes, tiny frogs, raw squeakers, you name it. I can catch ’em all. So this is, by definition, my FAVORITE ACTIVITY OF ALL TIME.

Actually if peanut butter were somehow involved…hmmm.

Anyway, so now, while my dad is in one-leg mode, I have a B.C.C. session at least once a day!

Here’s a little video demonstration so you can gaze upon the awesomeness.

It’s still technically Birthday Week here at Pug Slope as Sid’s 7th Birthday was just last Thursday.

About a week before the BIG DAY, he gave us a list of potential gifts he would like (and I quote):

1. Giftcard from MrChewy.com

2. Baby Carrots (like 10 bags min.)

3. Another batch of Plush Potatoes (yellow is my favorite color)

4. Jar of Peanut Butter (left on floor with lid removed)

5. Framed black-and-white portrait of T-Buttz and I looking all romantic and stuff

(NOTE: Puhleeez do not get me any more CONFIDENCE SHIRTS. I have like 2000 already and also I’ve already got enough confidence without  them – remember how I scaled Mount Couch sans shirt?!)

Much to his surprise, we actually appealed to requests #2 and #4 (though not is the requested quantities) via his Birthday cake,  which consisted of a cored & peeled apple topped with peanut butter, a crunchy venison treat, and 7 baby carrot “candles”.

Sid was even more shocked when something large and billowy was pulled out from its hiding spot and placed on the floor in front of him.

Being a gentle-pug of leisure, he knew exactly what this item was and what he was supposed to do.

This is mine.

While he was occupied with fluffing-up his new bed, we were able to covertly slip in and purloin his old, crusty, stinky bed (complete with peanut butter remains mashed into the fabric). We’re hoping he doesn’t notice.

And he’ll keep on CHOMPIN’ til the end!

Sid is the CHOMPion!  SID IS THE CHOMPION!

No time for CHEWERS ’cause SID is the CHOMPion…OF THE WORLD!!

This past weekend, NYC’s heatwave broke and the temps finally sank below the pug-melting range. To celebrate, Sid, Jenn, and I headed to Prospect Park for the morning off-leash hours.

After a bit of strolling (Jenn and I) and sniffing (Sid), we ran into Sid’s buddy, Eddie (not to be confused with Sid’s OTHER pug pal named Eddie who lives in San Francisco).

“I’m Eddie. From Brooklyn. What’s a San Francisco?”

Once Sid and Eddie got together, it became “Dude Time”. There was no Lola, no Miss Timothy Buttons, no LADY-PUGS. PERIOD.

D O O O D Z Z Z ! ! !

Dude Time basically consists of sniffing various tall blades of grass and/or low branches and marking them. Based on what I’ve gleamed from Sid, Dude Time works even if you don’t have any pee left; the leg-lift motion alone is apparently enough.

The Dudes, locating the absolute BEST spot.

After Dude Time, Carrot Time logically followed (logically from a pug’s point of view). As soon as the plastic bag of carrots was revealed, Sid hit the deck into “Deep Jimmy” mode.

Eddie preferred a more dignified posture (he is half-British after all).

Sid gulped down carrots left and right but Eddie was a bit more apprehensive. Compared to a bully stick, a carrot seemed a bit “blah”.

 Sid had no trouble with this arrangement and quickly scooped up Eddie’s scraps.

“You’re definitely right, Eddie, Carrots (MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH) are gross, I don’t think you should eat any of them (CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH).”

And then, smack dab in the middle of Carrot Time, the most amazing creature The Dudes had ever seen approached. They were utterly perplexed as to what sort of animal was standing before them.

“Yo! I’m Faye. Yeah, I got a big bushy mustache. SO WHAT?! You pugs gonna do anything about it?”

“Um, no, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am. Have a good day!”

Sid has just informed me that today is “Baby Carrot Wednesday“.

Part of what makes this Wednesday different than any other Wednesday is that, according to Sid, we’re supposed to feed baby carrots to “the creature with the, um, flattest face” until “the whole bag is, like, TOTALLY empty“. We are then supposed to go to the grocery store and buy a SECOND bag of baby carrots. The second bag is then supposed to be “left unattended in the smallest bed in the house” or else we’ll get “like, lots of years of bad luck and stuff“.

He says this is “a totally legit holiday that EVERYONE ON PLANET EARTH does“, but I’m not exactly buying it.

Is this “Baby Carrot Wednesday” a hoax???

Okay, after yesterday’s public freak-out (Thank you, everybody, for your kind and supportive comments!  What would we do without you??), I’m going to focus today on the good aspects of Sid’s allergy treatment thus far, while Sid focuses on Jimmy-ing for carrots:

The no-nonsense Jimmy

First, it’s been almost a month and a half since Sid has had any prednisone, and it’s been almost a month since the Carls Jr wart colony was removed from his face.  The only wart that the vet didn’t remove was a wart that we nicknamed “Petra” – Petra was a majestic structure growing on the surface of Sid’s tongue (If you don’t recognize the actual Petra just for being an amazing wonder of the world located in Jordan, then you may recognize it from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” – I like to imagine that there’s a wart version of the holy grail stashed inside the Petra on Sid’s tongue…)  Well, guess, what.  Not only has Sid developed no new warts since the last bunch were removed, but Petra has disappeared!!!  PROGRESS, PEOPLE!!! 

The “How YOU doin'” Jimmy

Secondly, for not being on prednisone, Sid’s skin looks fantastic and he really isn’t scratching too much.  I think that the discovery of the yeast allergy during his skin allergen test really solved a HUGE source of his discomfort.  He’s just wrapping up a 28-day regimen of Fluconazole, and will now go into a maintenance dosage.  Also, we’ve gotten anti-yeast ear drops, face / skin wipes, and shampoo, so we can attack the yeast topically as well.  There are still some obvious spots that are irritating him, and he still gets some scratch-attacks, but he seems pretty comfortable throughout 80% of the day.

The too close for comfort Jimmy

Next, after administering the first two doses of the allergy shots, Sid’s had no severe side effects.  In fact, I don’t think he’s had any side effects at all.  Considering what a weirdo Sid’s immune system is, we’re amazed.  The vet gave us a print-out with all of the signs of severe side effects to look out for, so I was pretty much expecting him to swell up like Violet in Willy Wonka within minutes of receiving the first injection.  (No, becoming a gigantic blueberry is not listed as one of the side effects, but I wouldn’t put it past Sid to come up with some new and horrible reaction to the shots).  In fact, I don’t even know if he’s noticed what we’re doing – all he cares about is the fact that he gets a treat when we’re done.

Oh, and speaking of things that are good – PUG NECK SCRUFF!!  I can’t imagine doing these shots on dogs that don’t have a spare tire of neck fat to grab onto.

The Post-Jimmy-Success Smile and Sit!

So, yes, it’s going to take time to get used to this new routine, and to get used to jabbing a syringe into the neck of my beloved boy (?!?!), but when we focus on the positive, and focus on the minor successes we’ve had so far, it’s clear that in the end it’ll all be worth it.

Sid had a great weekend with his extended family in Massachusetts (more on that tomorrow) and to reward him for his good behavior while he was there we got him a treat. Not just any treat – this was something entirely new. Sid has had his fair share of baby carrots – rather than chew them he prefers to just swallow them whole making us wonder if he evens realizes when he has just eaten one. We decided it was time to up the ante…

“Ladies and gentlemen, on the left side of the ring/bed, hailing from Brooklyn, New York, weighing in at 21 lbs, and wearing the striped collar – Siddddddddhartha Lamonnnnnnt!”

“And on the right, hailing from Cohasset, Massachusetts, weighing in at 2 and a half ounces, and wearing orange – the Carrrrrrrrrrot!”

The crowd waited with anticipation for the bell to start round one…

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