This week, with all the thunderstorms passing through the Midwest, we seem to stuck in the “April Showers” part of Spring. However, this past weekend, Sid and I were able to enjoy a rain-free, clear, sunny day at River Park – named as such because it is adjacent to a stretch of the Chicago river.

Sid was super excited because I had brought the bag of baby carrots along so we could do some Spring training. He’d gotten a little rusty being cooped up most of the winter. We began the training session with some of the basic moves – like “down“.

When I don’t have a treat in hand, Sid will eventually lie down, but he does so very begrudgingly – or sometimes he’ll just sit and dip his head really low (it’s actually extremely adorable). But today, when presented with a b.c. as a reward, Sid fully descended tout de suite.

Next we tried “stay” and “come“.

Here I come! Now where’s my treat?

Finally we worked on the “jimmy” – the adorable move made famous by Puglet.

You’re almost there, Sid, just get your head a tiny bit lower.

There we go! Don’t forget to turn those bright eyes up…

Perfect! I think a look that cute deserves FIVE b.c.’s!

P.S. Thank you all for advice / suggestions re: Sid’s “barking problem“. The DAP Diffuser arrived a couple days ago and it’s been plugged in ever since. I also have put some soft classical music on the radio whenever I go out for a while. So far, things have been good!

Ermagersh, guys.  So, I’ve been sitting up here at the new PLANET COOL SID / Pug Slope Headquarters, and it’s been fine and everything, but I’m way too far away from Timothy Buttons’ house now for daily play dates, and it’s been too hot and mugg-tastic to meet her in the park, so I’ve had to be content with just visiting her Tumblr once a day and reminiscing about our days in the South Slope.

I mean, she came up here to the new HQ that one day, and I showed off my couch climbing skillz and I didn’t even need a confidence shirt (hey, Weasley – lookin’ good, little man!), but I’m so mad at myself because I didn’t even, like, pay attention to her or listen to her while she was blabberin’ away about whatever ladies blab about because I just wanted to show off my mad skillz and pose for pictures.  At the old HQ, she used to come over all the time, so I guess I may have taken her presence for granted.

Wearing my inner confidence shirt.  Oh, and Timothy’s there on the right.

BUT THEN I FOUND SOMETHING OUT THAT MADE ME VERY CONFUSED.

I went to go look at Timothy’s Tumblr today on Mom’s computer, and Mom had left her iPhoto open, and there were all of these NEW photos with Timothy Buttons and I don’t remember being at any of these photo sessions which means MY MOM has been hanging out with MY LADY without MY KNOWLEDGE!!

Apparently she walks all the way down to T-Buttzville WITHOUT ME three (3!) times a week, and they talk about me or look at pictures of me or make fun of me or plan pranks they’re going to play on me or WHATEVER.  I mean, maybe they don’t even talk about me at all, but that’s too horrible to even think about, because if they’re not talking about me, then who or what are they talking about??!  WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITHOUT ME?!

Here’s what I can gather from the photos:

THEY GO SNIFFING IN THE PARK!?@!

THEY HAVE JIMMY CONTESTS!!?@#!

THEY DRESS UP LIKE EDGAR WINTER!!!?@!

THEY FEED EACH OTHER BACON!!!@?@#

Ahem…I apologize for raising my voice…it’s just…BACON?!?!!!!!!?!REALLY?!!?!

I mean, I guess it’s good that my mom and my lady get along, but I’m not sure how I feel about this…

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.