OHMYGOSH – I don’t even know where to begin. Well, how about at the beginning.

This past Sunday, my normal late-morning snooze was interrupted by the sound of my travel bag tumbling from the closet shelf to the floor. My dad was flying around the apartment gathering up a bunch of things including a beach towel, sunscreen, my portable water dish, and a bag of treats. I figured we were heading out to the Foster dog beach. But then we got on the El train which was weird because we usually would walk or take the bus to get to the dog beach. Where the heck were we going?

After about 45 minutes of traveling (which I don’t mind at all since I was the recipient of a pretty steady stream of venison jerky treats the whole time), we arrived at a place called the Pet Care Plus “K-9 Oasis”. I have to say, it looked pretty amazing.

The Oasis had two huge sections: one where dogs could romp around on various platforms and beds, and another which was pretty much just one ENORMOUS DOG POOL!!!

It was a hot and sunny day so I dove right in to cool off. Boy did that cool water feel great! As I started walking I noticed the water getting deeper – turns out the pool starts off shallow but gradually slopes down to a deep end.

I enjoyed wading around the shallow end and sometimes venturing a little deeper so I could float a bit. My dad tried to encourage me to go into the deep end to try some swimming but I adamantly refused.

“DEEP END? Um, no way, dude – unless you’re prepared with handfuls of treats.”

Soon, I started to notice I was not alone. There was another pug hanging out in the pool.

And then ANOTHER. A pug pool party was forming before my very eyes! SWEET!

My dad explained that the Chicago Pug Meetup group had rented out the K-9 Oasis that day. So I guess he knew about this pug party all along but wanted it to be a surprise for me. Well, I certainly was pleased to meet so many cool pugs and have pug-obsessed humans fawning all over me.

One of the other humans brought this awesome pink ball and I was totally smitten with it. I couldn’t stop batting it around with my paws or trying to catch it in my jaws.

For some reason my dad couldn’t stop laughing at my ball-catching technique. He even recorded a video of it. I don’t think there was anything funny about it – I mean it works for sharks, right? And of course I made my dad go retrieve the ball when it started floating towards the deep end. I was not going to let my ears wet!

Sometimes I’d lose track of the ball and another pug would play with it for a while. That little pink ball was a hit, that’s for sure.

“Yo, anyone see a ball? Pink. Floaty. Perhaps with some pug teeth marks in it…”

I played in the water non-stop for over two hours, so by the end of the party I was starting to fade.

I had so much fun. Thank you to the Chicago Pug Meetup group for planning such a fun afternoon. I can’t wait to to do it again! And to all you other pugs out there – if you have a dog pool in your town, BY ALL MEANS get your curly-tailed butt down there pronto! It’s the best thing ever!

Sid is still talking about the ice cream he ate this past weekend and his fun visit with Christy, Tim, Donald, Daisy, Gammy, and Gampy. In addition to taking Sid out for some amazing ice cream, they also gave him a gift bag with some awesome plush toys in it. There was an ample supply of plush potatoes, which, as you probably already know, are one of his all-time favorites, and an extra-large and extra-floppy plush lion.

Sid has become smitten with the lion and now he carries it around with him when moving from one room to another. He also likes to bring it onto the bed at night and hike it through his back legs REPEATEDLY. I guess we all got to have our bedtime rituals, right?

Thank you guys for such great toys! You certainly know what Sid likes!

Sid and I have been avoiding the computer as much as possible in an attempt to take advantage of the pleasant weather we’ve been having lately. After enduring this past winter, which seemed to go on forever, we have been savoring the sunshine as often as possible.

I’m still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that it’s already June. It seems like just a few weeks ago we were donning the puffy coats and fleece and bracing for a walk in the polar vortex. Well, anyway – I hope that helps explain why we’ve been a bit absent on the blog lately (and have been a bit lax visiting other blogs).

…

This weekend, Sid went on a rampage. It all started with the arrival of an enormous box with his name on it.

Yep, the UPS delivery person arrived with a gargantuan package from Sid’s favorite online vendor, Mr. Chewy. I’m pretty sure Sid doesn’t know how to read (he does know some basic spelling though, like T-R-E-A-T, S-N-A-C-K, and V-E-T) so I’m always impressed how he can instantly detect a cardboard box that contains dog food, treats, and nylabones. I suspect Mr. Chewy sprays their boxes with some kind of scent that drives dogs wild (Eau d’ Beggin’ Strips?). Or perhaps the shape and/or color of the logo on the side of the box was designed to stimulate the dog brain. Who knows. In any event as soon as the box was opened, he leapt inside and starting going nuts.

Stand back, people, I’m goin’ in…

The rampage continued on over to his toy bin where he extracted every plush toy and distributed them around the entire apartment. It’s kind of like how Disneyland is intentionally laid out so there is always a garbage can within reach. Sid applied that same concept to Pug Slope HQ, only that at any given moment he wanted to assure he’d be only a paws-length away from a plush toy.

At least he decided to have a little rest after his rampage – while I was left to clean up the war path.

Hi Everyone!

Sid reporting here today.

Winter hit us full swing this week and it’s been absolutely frigid outside. My Pop has been keeping the duration of my walks to a minimum, which I’m cool with because it means I get my post-walk treat that much sooner.

But being cooped up inside can drive a pug a little stir crazy. I’ve already completely emptied out my toy box, checked to make sure the fridge door wasn’t left open (twice), barked wildly at the garbage truck in the alley, rubbed my face on all the piles of clean clothes or pillows I could find, tried to hike my bed through my legs, and killed about six squeakers. I’m running out of ideas, people.

Anyone wanna come over and play squirrel fetch?

Hi there all you adorable Pug Slopers –

I’m totally knackered after a full week of partying for my 8th Birthday (which was technically on Friday). So this week I plan to SLEEP, EAT, and then SLEEP SOME MORE in order to recuperate. But first, I wanted to share some photos from all the B-Day festivities.

First, was my TOWERING Birthday cake that dad “baked” for me.

The cake consisted of alternating layers of sliced apple and peanut butter topped with a FULL-SIZE CARROT (a significant upgrade to the baby c’s I am known to devour). To “fancy it up”, he placed some raspberries around the perimeter. He knows I’m not 6 years old, but said he ran out of raspberries (I’ll forgive him). I couldn’t wait to eat the cake. I stared goggle-eyed at the creation as it was being built on the kitchen counter. I may have even whined like a puppy the whole time.

Next was a fresh new toy – a skinny squirrel with squeakers at both ends. I take pride in my ability to crustify any new toy no matter how soft and fluffy it initially is. After a couple days of intense chewing and hiking it through my legs, the squirrel now has crispy saliva-spiked fur and both squeakers have been silenced. I’m a professional, kids, don’t try this at home.

As a grand finale to Birthday week (which technically extended into this week because Dad took the day off on Monday), we went to the Foster Dog Beach! I got to run around like a maniac on the sand and also swam some laps in Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, I was too exhausted to edit together a sequel to PUGWATCH, so you’ll have to use your imagination with these still photo highlights:

All in all, it was a total blast and I can’t wait for my next Birthday! I hope you all got to celebrate along with me and get some EXTRA TREATS!

Poor Sid.

When he got up from his bed to follow me into the kitchen (ever hopeful that I’m going to give him something to snack on) one of his toys got hooked onto his tail.

As one would expect, hilarity ensued. I was able to grab the camera to catch a few action shots of him wildly spinning in a futile attempt to get his jaws on his green alligator. He did eventually get the gator in the end.

I guess there is perhaps a downside to having a curly tail…

P.S. There’s still time to enter the “BE COOL LIKE SID” give-away. Just visit this past Friday’s post (click here) and leave a comment with your favorite way to stay cool during the summer. We’ll be picking the winner tomorrow!

After months of barely even touching his deer antler, this weekend Sid finally decided it was time to get down to some serious chewin’.

Anyone else out there a fan of the deer antlers?