Thank you all for the suggestions for Sid’s upcoming 10th Birthday! There will DEFINITELY be baby carrots involved, as many of you recommended. There are also a few surprises in store this month and the first one will be taking place this weekend (his actual Birthday is on Sunday the 4th).

I’ve been busy packing up the suitcase, backpack, and for this trip, some pug supplies and accessories.

Like most dogs, he seems to know that when the suitcase comes out, something is going on. He’s been by my side every moment and has been trotting from room to room attached to my ankles. Even though he has witnessed me packing up some of his t-shirts & bandanas, bags of his food, and his spare food and water bowls, I don’t think he understands yet that HE’S COMING WITH THIS TIME.

I think once I get his travel bag down he’ll put two and two together. This will be Sid’s first time camping! Well, technically we’re staying in a primitive camping cabin rather than a tent, but still it will be an adventure! We’ll be sure to take lots of photos and will provide a full report once we get back to civilization!

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend and be sure to snack on a b.c. or two on Sunday to celebrate with Sid!

The lack of recent posts is due to the fact that I was out of town for bit. While Sid was stuck at home, I was on the West Coast to visit some friends in Los Angeles and Oakland. This trip provided a welcome departure from the endless days of below-zero windchill temps that were bombarding the midwest and keeping Sid and I cooped up like hermits.

When I crashed through the apartment door, with my suitcase and carry-on bag flailing behind me, I expected to be bowled over by an ecstatic pug, overjoyed that his master had finally returned. Well, this was the “Welcome Home” face I was greeted with:

I think Sid may have actually been rotating his head slowly back and forth, muttering “tsk tsk tsk” under his breath. In other words, I was presented with the infamous PUG GUILT TRIP. I’m sure many of you are familiar with this move. Sid claimed that during the past week he received NO TREATS, NO BELLY-RUBS, and was subjected to EPIC WALKS through various snowstorms and blizzards without even a meager confidence shirt to protect him from the elements. Well (for once) I actually knew better as I had been in communication with his pug-sitters the whole time I was gone. He even got DOUBLE DINNER one night! COME ON! Talk about SPOILED!

I was really happy to see him, though, so I played along with his story and gave him a bunch of baby carrots and chest rubs. Whatever works, right?

Well, I don’t mean the whole world – actually quite a small bit. Specifically the policy that doesn’t allow pets in small carriers on the Metra commuter trains that connect Chicago to its suburbs.

The photo above is of Sid was getting ready to hop inside his travel bag while at the airport last year. Most airlines allow small pets in the cabin as long as they stay inside an approved carrier during the flight. Same goes for all the buses and subterranean & elevated CTA train lines in the Chicagoland area. Somehow the Metra commuter trains, which connect the suburbs to the city, opted for a no pets period policy. Plegh. That’s a lot of P’s.

All of my family live in the suburbs and most of them are within walking distance from a Metra train stop. So if Sid and I want to visit them we have to rent a car, which for one is expensive, and, more importantly, defeats the purpose of living in a city with a great public transit system. We don’t want to contribute to auto traffic congestion – we want to ride the trains!

After doing a little research, I came across an online petition that had been created earlier this year by a like-minded individual who was looking for the exact same thing that Sid and I were looking for: a change to Metra’s pet policy to allow small pets in carriers (like everyone else!).

I know many of you do not live in Chicago, but if this issue hits home at all – perhaps the same type of policy exists in your city – please sign the petition. The more places we can bring our furry companions the better, right? THANK YOU!

Sid did extremely well on his flight from NYC to Chicago. It actually wasn’t nearly as stressful as the first time he went on a plane. This time I was prepared! He was getting smiles left and right as he strolled through both airports and a few people even asked to get a picture of him (without even being aware of his internet fame! LOL).

Since I didn’t have room to bring the entire Sid Accessory Kit™ with me on the plane, he even managed to obtain ANOTHER brand new bed, despite just getting one for his Birthday in October. As you can see in the photo below, he approves of the new bed.

Hey everyone!

Sorry we’ve been a bit absent from the blog-o-sphere lately. There’s been a lot going on at the PugSlope HQ and Sid has been doing his best to unwind amidst all the commotion.

As you can plainly see, he’s having no trouble doing so.

We’re actually getting ready for a trip to Chicago so he can visit his grand-pug-rents, fur-cousins, and other relations for the holidays. This will be his SECOND trip via air, so of course I’m a little on edge. Luckily, “Mr. Cool” seems plenty confident due to the wings he received from Suki on the occasion of his first flight last year. Plus, I think he remembers last year that while on the plane in his travel bag he received a stready stream of treats.

“Uh, did someone say the ‘T’ word?”

First, a little back story:

When we flew Southwest over the holiday, we neglected to get Sid his first pair of wings. This was unfortunate but strategic.  Our Sherpa bag was slightly larger than the official airline-approved model, and as we were stepping onto the plane an eagle-eyed flight attendent said, “That dog bag is too big.  Have you flown with it before?”  Without hesitation I said, “yes” – we’d made it onto the plane at that point, and there was no way we were turning back!  My involuntary lie, though, meant that we felt funny about asking for Sid’s official Southwest wings to commemorate his first flight.

Cut to last week, when Sid received ANOTHER package in the mail. (I think the pug gets more mail than us, these days!)

This one came from the amazing Suki, and Sid couldn’t wait to open it.  Inside was a photo and a note from Suki, along with a fancy lil’ box.

Inside the box?

SID’S WINGS!

Apparently Sid left a comment on Suki’s blog about how we bozos neglected to get him his wings, and Suki set out to correct this egregious error. She must have connections in high places, because they are OFFICIAL wings from Southwest Airlines!

Sid could barely contain his excitement!

Get this pug behind the wheel of a jumbo jet!  He’s earned his wings!

 Thank you, Suki, for such an amazing and thoughtful gift!

The time has come!  In just a few short hours Sid will be AIRBORNE.  We’re going to do our best to live-tweet this fiasco – check out our Twitter feed at the bottom-right corner of the blog for pics and witty observations on the day’s events.