Puglette Ponders

Pug Stuff

2010-09-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you are having a great weekend. We are keeping things quiet this weekend. Charlie has a cough and cold! She started coughing Thursday morning. We didn't think too much about it, just something to keep an eye on. She started getting worse throughout the day and by the time she and hubby came home from work she sounded horrible! She coughed through the night, waking us up about every half hour. Hubby brought her to our vet first thing in the morning. The vet said is was a minor cough, similar to kennel cough. She is on antibiotics and a cough suppressant. She is not coughing at all and is breathing easily. What a scare, the noise she was making was so frightening!

I wanted to show you the recent pug stuff we acquired. We bought t-shirts from Go Pug Go on Zazzle.com. And boy are these cute designs!! Hubby and I both got a shirt in each of the two designs. We have the Rescue Pug on black and the single pug on white. The artist is Amie Chan and you can see more of her work at her website Art of Amie.

We wore them out to breakfast this morning, hubby in black and me in white. We received so many compliments at the restaurant. Everyone just loved these shirts. We love them too!

The best part is that the seller, Go Pug Go, has offered to donate to pug rescue for each item purchased. I placed the order on Tuesday night and we received the shirts by Thursday. Pretty nice!

Have fun this weekend. Hug someone!

hugs,
puglette
:o)

Stupid Human Tricks

2010-09-07T11:14:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend! We just relaxed at home for most of the three day weekend.

Hubby and I did take all of the pup dogs to the off leash park on Sunday afternoon. We had a great time as usual. The spontaneous pug meet up happened again. There are some other regular park visitors with multiple pugs and we seem to meet them on most of our visits. We love our off leash park, everyone is so friendly!

Hi, I'm Penny! Remember me? I'm the cute one!

Getting five rambunctious dogs leashed up and out of the car is quite an undertaking. They are all excited and barking and wiggling! We keep trying different ideas about how to get this done with the least amount of frustration.

This time we decided to leash up at the back end of the SUV by opening the hatch window only. This was my idea, I thought we could contain them better with no one sneaking out. It all sounds good in theory, but five wiggling dogs, backing up and shoving others aside makes it tough. We also bring our own water and water bowl as the park water has a strong smell and our dogs won't drink it.

We got all the dogs leashed and out and then we were passing leashes back and forth as well as reaching in for the water jug. I ended up giving all the dogs to hubby and telling him to go ahead to the gate without me. I would get the dish and water. Hubby handed me the keys and headed off with all of the dogs.

I reached in and pulled out the water jug and reached in again for the bowl. I remembered that I had put some dead batteries from our camera in the bowl when I picked up the rescue pug. I decided this would be a great time to throw these away so the dogs wouldn't chew the loose batteries on the way home. I also picked up the empty wrapper from the new batteries I had put in the camera. I had my hands full and disorganized. I was also kind of huffy about the dogs and hubby. The wild dogs routine does not make me happy. :o(

Finally I was off to the park, dropping my trash in the poop can by the entrance gate. Yay! Now to have some fun and visit with the other dog people. Pugs are so friendly, they instantly walk around greeting everyone and sniffing out the other dogs. We had a lovely visit to the park, the weather was cool and mostly cloudy but still pleasant.

Time to go home! Leashing up in the park is much easier than in the car. The dogs are relatively worn out and are ready to get their leashes on to head home. We say our good byes to our park friends and head to the car. Then begins the he said, she said...I gave you the keys, no, I gave you the keys!! Back and forth. I finally remembered that yes, I did have the keys last as I was the one locking the car after getting out the water. But where did I put them?

I patted my pockets, nope, no keys. I headed back to the picnic table where we had plopped all of our junk, water, leashes. Nope, no keys. By now I am starting to get anxious. How would we get home? Who would give us a ride with five wild monkeys? How would we get into the locked house to get hubby's keys? Where were my keys!!! I really wanted them back as I have a small pug charm on the key ring made by a friend. Also, this is our only working electronic key fob!

All of a sudden I remembered what I had done when I entered the park. I dropped trash into the dog poop garbage can as I was walking through the gate. Yes...the poop can. Ugh!!! I was going to have to reach in and look for my keys amongst all the dog poop! Double ugh! What a stinky garbage can! Luckily our park provides litter bags for picking up after the dogs. I just moved about the top layer of warm and stinky poop bags and there they were!! Along with my dead batteries. No poop leakage, boy was I relieved.

Hooray!! We could go home!! All I could think about on the drive home was washing my hands as soon as I got in the door. And that is just what I did!

Hubby and I are now researching seat belt harnesses for everyone. Contained dogs would be wonderful!

take care everyone, talk to you soon!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Ollie's Ear Whorls

2010-09-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

A few post back I mentioned that Ollie has the cutest little whorls in his fur right before his ears. Well, this is a tough spot to photo!! But I finally got a few that show this cute little spot. So here is a dose of Ollie cuteness for the Holiday weekend!

Have a great weekend everybody!

hugs,
puglette
:o)

(please excuse my tummy in the bottom of the photos, Ollie was sitting on my lap and he would not move any further from my belleh!)

My First Pug Rescue Transport!

2010-09-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all well and happy. Nothing exciting or new over here. Summer is just about over, as soon as it really started here in the Pacific Northwest. I'm hoping we will have a few more weeks of fairly decent weather in September. Gosh...September already! Can you believe it? I know a lot of you love fall, but it's just one more dreary season to me. :o(

Today I got to help out the Seattle Pug Rescue. I was thrilled to help! The Seattle Pug Rescue is a wonderful group that helps rescue pugs get healthy and happy and new forever homes. Hubby and I signed up to help as transport drivers back in May. And today I finally got to help!

I picked up an older gentleman pug in Olympia at the animal shelter and drove him about 75 miles north to Norton's Ark. They are the wonderful people that take care of these pugs while they are evaluated and see the vet.

Here is my little passenger. He was not too thrilled to be in the kennel, he barked and wheezed for the first half of the trip. I talked and sang to him, hoping he would settle down. Since I am not a very good singer, I guess I just annoyed the poor guy. I turned up the radio and he finally relaxed. I guess Robert Plant is more soothing than me! I would have to agree. ;o)

This is one poor, sad old boy. He looks like he had been left outside for a very long time. His skin is black from the sun and his fur is all puffy. His eyes were filled with pus and goo.

You can see from this photo that he has some horrible attachments, they are not his boy parts, they are untreated tumors. You can also see the scabs and wear and tear on his poor back legs. It looks like he spent a lot of time in one spot.

I will not tell you all of the horrible thought I have about his former "family". Let's just say they are horrible people and do not deserve to have any animals. And that I believe in karma, what goes around, comes around. People that mistreat animals are vile.

I would shed tears for this little pug, but I brought him to some wonderful people today. They will care for all of his health issues. They will give him all of the love and affection that he so deserves. Even if this poor old boy is so ill that he just has a short time left, I know it will be in comfort and love.

I am honored and privileged to help the Seattle Pug Rescue. I look forward to transporting more pugs to the way station to their forever homes.

Hug your pugs and all of your pets and family. Thank you for being kind people and taking proper care of your pets.

hugs and love to you all!!

puglette

:o)

Awards and Internet Funnies

2010-08-16T11:19:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!

Phew! The heat has arrived in the Pacific Northwest. We are all sweating away and trying to stay cool. We ran out early Saturday morning to the off leash park, but it was already too hot to play for long.

I have been enjoying my iced coffees and iced tea. I was buying iced coffee at Starbucks, but that was too expensive. I discovered cold brewed coffee and now I make my own at home!! I also use instant coffee when I don't want to make the brewed. ;o) My next project is to try sweet tea made with Splenda instead of sugar. If you have any good tea recipes, please let me know!

We have been awarded a very awesome award from our friends Wilma the Pug, and Sluggo and Brigitte too! This is the Versatile Blogger Award! We are proud and honored to receive this award. Thank you very much Wilma, Sluggo and Brigitte!

We need to share seven things you don't know about us. Hmmmmm....we try not to keep secrets, it's too hard to remember them. OK, here goes!

1. Charlie does not like Honey puppy. If you give Honey any attention, Charlie will come over and glare at you. If Honey puppy does not come to bed with everyone else, Charlie just can't lie still until Honey gets to bed.

2. Ollie has the cutest little whorls in his fur. He has one on each side at his shoulders and one under each ear. The ear ones are so sweet!! It looks like he has buttons!

3. Dodger has the loudest snore of all. When he starts to sleep, he lets out this really loud gurgling snore! He doesn't make the other puggy noises, just a big snore.

4. Penny has the cutest under bite. She has teeny, tiny teeth and with her under bite, well, it just melts your heart.

5. Honey pretends to not like any of the other dogs. But when we all snuggle up in bed, she will snuggle with Ollie. Shhhh...it's a secret and she would be embarrassed if she knew I had shared.

6. If we stop at a store or someplace with the dogs in the car, either hubby or I will stay in the car with them. When I go in to the store, everyone is happy and quiet. When dad goes in to the store, they all whine and cry and jump at the windows! Talk about favoritism!

7. All of the dogs go around to all of their food dishes and eat. It's a rotating buffet for them every meal time. We started with Charlie, Ollie and Honey eating in the same location every time. Now everyone just wanders around and I assume they all get enough food. Otherwise you have to stand in the kitchen with them until they finish eating to referee.

Thanks again Wilma, we just love awards!!

I wanted to share something about Wilma and the gang with you. Wilma and I are members of the Pets Blogroll. It is a great way to meet other bloggers and find lots of information about dogs and all kinds of pets. I have really noticed an increase in readership since I joined. So check them out! We hope to see you there!

Lastly, here are a couple of recent pug related internet funnies I found. They are so cute and funny. Click on this link to see a cute Sheldon Comic about pugs. If you are checking after 8/16, please check the archives for this days comic.

Have a great week!!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Happy Birthday Charlie!

2010-08-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Today is Charlie's third birthday! Charlie is such a great little pug! She is full of life and personality.

Charlie is truly the life of the party in our house. She spent the weekend with her grandma running agility trials. The house felt so quiet without our little Chuck Monster. It's not like she is constantly running around or anything, we have two puppies for that. Charlie is just such a personable girl. You just feel her presence louder than the other dogs.

Here is a little photo montage of our sweet girl, Charlie.

Happy Birthday, Charlie Girl! We love you very much!

It's been a busy week for birthdays, Emmitt and Brigitte and I think there were more too. I hope everydog's dreams come true!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Dog Park Story

2010-07-22T12:32:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

We sure have been having fun at our local off leash park. Fort Steilacoom Dog Park is a wonderful place and is well taken care of by the park maintenance workers. The park is 22 acres, all fenced in for the dogs and their people to roam. The entire park is 340 acres and is just beautiful. If you are in the Puget Sound you should definitely stop by.

Lately I have been showing you all of the fun of our park adventures. Today I want to share a little story of an adventure gone wrong.

Last year around this same time Hubby and I thought a trip to the dog park would be fun. We packed up the puppies and headed out. We decided that a picnic would be fun and stopped at Subway for sandwiches and sodas. We were on our way!

We arrived at the park and got all the leashes on the dogs, always an exciting time. They all get so excited to be at the park and see their leashes that they just hop back and forth from the back seat to the front until we get them all sorted out. We finally got out of the car and walked to the gate, dog leashes and picnic in hand.

There is a nice spot in the back area of the park with a bench that we set our sights on. It looked like a great spot for a picnic. Out in the open with plenty of room for the dogs to wander. We started to walk towards this bench having a good time looking around at all of the cute doggies, saying hello as we went. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw a Labrador sized dog heading to us at a pretty fast run. They next thing I knew was that dog was slamming into my legs, right at knee level. His shoulder hit the side and back of my knee so hard that I just toppled over.

I went over like a tree. Whump!! Face forward, arms akimbo. Dogs were surrounding me along with their people. I fell so hard I literally lost my breath. I have fallen a lot over the years, but this was the hardest landing ever.

I got myself up, dusted myself off and took stock of the situation. I was pretty shook up but I still had my lunch. I took a look around at all of the dogs clamouring for my sandwich and decided that maybe a picnic in a dog park wasn't such a great idea after all. I looked at Hubby and said "I'm going to eat in the car". I walked back to our car, turned it on so I could have some air conditioning and music and had my picnic in the car.

When we got home I looked for any damage to myself from the fall. I hit the ground so hard with my chest that I had bruised my boobies!! The top of my breasts and my chest were a lovely shade of purple that lasted over a week.

Lately I have noticed some new signs in the dog park. They are really big with a long list of Do's and Don't's. And one of the Don't's, right in the middle of the huge sign "Do Not Bring Food into the Dog Park". I think they should put my picture on the sign as a grim reminder of what can happen if you don't follow this rule. Take it from me, it's not worth it, have your picnic outside the off leash area!!

take care everyone!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Impromptu Pug Party!

2010-07-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven't been around much lately, we have been busy with family in from other countries and other states. I hope you are all enjoying your summer days.

Visiting with family is great! Since hubby has been off work for his hernia surgery recovery we have been able to spend more time with everyone. We had a lovely picnic at a pretty park with this little cutie, Ashley. This was one the first days that we got to meet Ashley as she live abroad with her family. We brought the dogs along and they were very popular. Here's Ashley's big brother, Zach, watching the dogs. They both have a big sister named Abby, but we unfortunately we missed her in our photos!

We also spent some great afternoons at the dog park. It is so much fun to see all of the other dogs and meeting such nice people. And if we are lucky, we get to have an impromptu pug meet up!

This happened yesterday. We spotted one pug and visited for a few minutes and when we looked up there were six pugs coming up to us! Another two joined in a bit later. We sere surrounded by a sea of pugs and pug bottoms! There were a total of twelve pugs milling around. We also had a few Westies, Chihuahuas and mixed breed pups too.

There was a little bit of pug humpy and lots of panting. Penny was quite popular, even having her photo taken with some of the other pug parents. But poor Penny was yesterday's news as soon as this little boy showed up. This is Cruiser, he's three months old and his family includes two sweet little girls.

This cute little Chihuahua walking in front of Penny was there with her sister. They are about 7 or 8 years old and had been found wandering alone in the woods on a local island. When the woman that found them opened her car door they just hopped right in. Her vet said they were two breeding ladies who just got abandoned when they were too old. That story makes me angry and sad. :o( But they are now getting all of the pampering they deserve.

We love our dog park. We have so much fun every time we go. Dog watching and people watching are great things to do on a nice sunny afternoon!

take care!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

In Loving Remembrance of Skippy-Wu

2010-07-13T19:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I was saddened to hear the news that Miss Skippy-Wu from Peace Love and Pugs has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. Skippy-Wu was the beloved pug of Joan, her daughter McKenna and their family. Joan has written a lovely tribute to Skippy-Wu on her blog, Peace Love and Pugs. Please stop by to read this well written tribute and to feel the love for this adorable puggy lady.

Joan is one of my first blog friends online. When I first started blogging, Joan would stop by with kind words. Joan is the first fellow pug blogger that I have met in person. We first traded some hand made items and then were able to meet in person at the first pug event we attended. Joan asked for a crocheted mushroom and in return I received two lovely hand made collars for Ollie and Charlie. Please stop by Linden Line Designs to see her beautiful collection.

Joan, thank you for welcoming me into the blogging world. I am so very sorry for the loss of your sweet Skippy-Wu.

hugs to you all,

puglette

:o)

Dog Day Afternoons

2010-07-05T19:03:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend. We just spent a quiet weekend at home. Hubby had hernia surgery on Friday and is recovering nicely. All of the noise and excitement was outside! I think every house around us was setting off fireworks. I didn't even have to go outside to see them, I just had to look out my kitchen window. The dogs were a bit rattled by all of the noise, especially the extra loud booms. I went outside to take a look at the pretty colors and thought I had lost Dodger! He fell off the porch steps and started to run away from me. In the dark I couldn't see where he went. Luckily he ran back through the doggie door onto daddy's lap.

I have a bunch of pictures to share with you from adventures with Dad and back yard fun and games. I hope you enjoy them, hubby has been taking some great shots lately!

Best friends!

Penny says "I'm cuter! I'm fluffy!" (Dodgie, you are still momma's baby boy!)

Playdog pose.

Farmer Ollie surveying the back 40.

Still cute and fluffy!

Quit bugging me Dad!

I have a very pretty tail, don't you agree???

I love you dad, let's go for a ride!!

Have a great week everybody!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

bite bite bite!

More from Around the Interwebs!

2010-06-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for the kind words for our daughter and the loss of her little corgi. She read all of your comments and really appreciates the support and kindness.

I think we can all use a little smile for the day, so here are more fun photos from the internet.

I knew it!! :o)

Take care!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Prayers for Einstein

2010-06-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

**** Dear Friends, We have just learned of little Einstein's passing. Our hearts are breaking for our daughter and her boyfriend. We know they loved this sweet little puppy with all of their hearts. They were only able to spend a few short weeks with this sweet puppy and they were so happy and delighted to be dog owners.

Hi everyone,

I just got word from our daughter that her little puppy, Einstein was in an accident and is in critical status at the emergency vet hospital. We don't have a lot of details, we just know that Einstein was crushed and has bruised ribs.

Our daughter is heartbroken and so are we. We all love our pets so much.

Please keep little Einstein and our daughter, Destiny in your thoughts and prayers. This is a lot to go through for a young girl.
hugs,
puglette

The New, The Naughty and The Cell Phone

2010-06-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Here we are, ready for another weekend. We are finally getting some warmer weather in the Seattle area. The weather men have been all a-buzz about finally reaching 75 degrees for the first time since last September. I may get to wear my new sandals this summer after all!!

I have lots to share with you today. First off, a couple of introductions are due.

Here is our Dear Daughter with her new puppy, Einstein! Einstein is a pure bred corgi and she is adorable! Little Einstein is a lucky pup to have daughter for her mommy. We can't wait to meet Einstein in person!

Isn't she a cute little corgi puppy?

Next up, here's Penny!! Penny is our newest little acquisition. She is a three month old Pug - Pekingese mix. She is sooooo cute on her little stubby legs. Penny is a talker, she will bark and howl at us when it's dinner time or just for the fun of it. Penny and Dodger are best friends, tumbling about in the yard and running through the house. Penny is taking the pressure off of Ollie as Dodger was constantly chewing on Ollie trying to get him to play. Ollie likes to play, but a mature gentleman also likes to lounge about without being pestered by a youngster.

Speaking of Dodger, here is the naughty story.

Most of you know that Hubby is a truck driver and he sometimes travels too far to come home every night. When I am home alone I like to bring my cell phone into the bedroom and keep it next to me. Sometimes hubby will call after I have gone to bed and snuggled up with the doggies. It's a bit like a security blanket for me.

A few nights ago I was snuggled into bed, ready to sleep when Dodger got up and started walking around looking like he was going to jump off. This usually means the dog has to go potty so I tell Dodger to be a "good boy and go potty outside" Unfortunately, Dodger had already decided to go potty...right on the bed! As soon as I told him to go outside I noticed a familiar odor. I reached out to where he had been curled up next to me and found a huge wet spot, soaking the sheets and getting ready to get to the mattress pad. Then I noticed my cell phone sitting in the middle of this lovely puddle. Yikes!!!

Crap! This was the only phone I had! Several years ago we decided to get rid of our land line and have only cell phones. So now have a pee soaked bed and a pee soaked cell phone and it's 2:00 am. Great, just great. I was afraid to rinse my phone in water just in case it could possible work. I tried to get the back off and the battery out but I was unable to open the phone. So for the rest of the night I saw it flash on and off until it finally died.

I knew I had insurance on the phone and was happy to know that I could walk right into the Sprint store and secure a replacement at no charge. I mean what had I been paying $7.00 per month for the past two years for, if not replacement!! Yeah! No problem!

I walked into the local Sprint store and was informed that I had a $50.00 deductible and I had to send that and the broken phone off to the insurance company for a replacement phone. I was told that it could take several weeks to complete the claims process. Well, isn't that just fine and dandy!! Sure, I can wait two or three weeks before having a phone again, no worries! GRRRR!!!! I asked if the insurance company would still help me if I bought a new phone and was told yes, the deductible would still have to be paid, but I could get my money back.

The only way to get phone service that day was to buy a new phone. As if I had the money to buy a new phone! I told the clerk I wanted the cheapest phone possible, I did not want to put out any money that day. I was directed to the phones that were on sale, free!! Free if you send in the rebate request for $50.00 cash back. So I spent the money and came home with a new phone.

I called the insurance company to negotiate a settlement next. I was then informed that they only offered a replacement phone. I could not get cash value for my peed on phone. I could, however, for the additional $50.00 deductible and my old phone, get a new phone...or a refurbished phone similar to my old one. Well since I had already paid $50.00 that day and I had a new phone I declined their generous offer. I promptly canceled the monthly insurance payment.

So there we go. Two beautiful new girls added to the family, one naughty boy and a stupid cell phone company.

I hope you all have a great weekend! We plan on getting some sunshine and fresh air this weekend. Of course I will share photos!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

From the Interwebs

2010-06-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Nothing much going on around here so I thought I would share some cute photos I found on the internet.

I will be back soon!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Little Miss Pearl's Ponderings

2010-06-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I will be answering Little Miss Pearl's quiz today. Pearl is such a cutie pie and her Momma came up with this fun idea. So, here we go!!

THE BASICS

1.) Name and Age:
Honey Puppy, 11 years
Charlie, 2 1/2 years
Ollie, 4 years approximately
Dodger, 5 months today!

2.) Breed:
Honey Puppy - corgi pomeranian mix
everyone else - pug!

3.) Nickname(s):
Honey - Honey Puppy, HP, Puppy Ann, crabby girl, old lady, Pointy Head
Charlie - chuck, chucklehead, chuckie monkey, Chuckie, Charlie Barley Bear
Ollie - Ollie Wog, Wogster, Woggie, Mr. Wogerston
Dodger - Rogie Dodgie, Dodgie, Dodger Roo, Roo Roo

4.) Where'd ya come from?
Honey Puppy - a pet store. We got Honey to keep me company because my hubby was going to start working nights. We already had two outside dogs, a malamute and an australian shepard. But I wanted a little lap dog. I love her so very much.

Charlie - Charlie is a pure bred pug with a long pedigree filled with champions. She came from SuLen's Pug in Olympia, WA. We went to a fancy schmancy breeder for Charlie because we lost our first pug to Pug Encephalitis. We learned about this awful disease and how it's more common in back yard breeder dogs. We were devastated when our little Daisy died and wanted to make sure our next pug would be healthy. We got to visit her before she came home at 12 weeks. She was our breeder's pick of the litter for a stud service fee.

Ollie - Ollie came from the Seattle Animal Shelter. He was at the Pug Gala the day before I found him on Petfinders. As soon as I saw him, I called the shelter and then called my husband to go get him!! Hubby picked him up from the shelter and Ollie has loved him ever since, he is Ollie's hero.

Dodger - We occasionally look at ads on Craigslists for pugs. I saw an ad for a puppy and immediately called about him. I told the woman all about Charlie and Ollie and how much we loved pugs and all of our dogs. I told her we could come and get him as soon as they needed us to. We drove two hours that very same evening to pick up little Dodger. His name was Barker when we met him. We didn't really like that name and changed it. His first family loved him very much but had found out that their apartment complex did not allow dogs under one year old. What a stupid rule!

FAVORITES

1.) Toy:
Honey is a toy destroyer. She tears them up and we have to pick up the fluff and toss them out. Honey used to really love toys when she was younger, she would squeak them until she fell asleep with the toy in her mouth. When we got the pugs, she started her path of destruction.

Ollie loves toys and will run around with them in his mouth. He has them until Honey kills them. Fortunately Honey leaves his tiny toys alone. They must not be worth the effort for her to kill them. It is really cute to see Ollie play with them

Charlie will play with toys if the others start. Dodger is a puppy, everything is a toy!

2.) Snack:
Anything. Cheese, peanut butter. Ollie loves oranges. Charlie likes nuts. Dodger didn't know about treats and snacks at first. He is catching on very quickly. They all like banana chips.

3.) Human person:
Honey - I think she is pretty even about her affections. She loves both of us. She really loves our daughter and will sit next to her when she visits.

Charlie - Daddy during the day, she squeals and gets ready to go to work by sitting on the arm of the sofa. She waits there until he comes to pick her up. She rides in his truck with him just about every day. In the evening Charlie is a momma's girl. She sleeps on my pillow at night.

Ollie - Daddy!!!!! Ollie LOVES his daddy. Ollie sits with my husband every evening and will look up at him all gooey eyed. Ollie snuggles up to hubby at night, he has to be touching dad. I'm ok if dad is not home, but as soon as hubby gets home from work I am left in the dust.

Dodger - Momma's baby. I claimed Dodger and told hubby I was going to make him a momma's boy, and I did! He loves both of us, but he is my little klingon. He is always on my lap and follows me everywhere.

FUNNY STUFF

1.) Worst habit:
Ollie poops in our bedroom, right in front of the master bathroom door. It's really annoying!! We have a doggie door and they all come and go as they please, but if we leave our bedroom door open he will poop right there.

Charlie will not let you pet her until she is ready for it. She plays hard to get and will also play keep away when we want to go somewhere. Everyone else jumps in the car and then we have to chase Charlie around. I try to make hubby put her leash on or at least carry her out to the car.

Honey is a crabby girl. She is very possessive of her food. We can't have nylabone or rawhide treats because she will hide them and then sit and guard them. She growls and snaps at us if we get near her. She barks and lunges at the other dogs. Many years ago I had made sandwiches for us all when hubby got called out to work. He was an on call tow truck driver at the time. Hubby and daughter took their sandwiches with them on the road and I stayed home. I brought my sandwich out to the living room and set it on a side table next to the sofa. I went back to the kitchen to get a drink and when I had returned Honey had grabbed my whole sandwich and was scarfing it down. She had half of it in her mouth and was inhaling it, I reached down to get the other half away from her and she bit my big toe!! I screamed so loud, Hubby and daughter heard it outside as they were driving away. She can be a little beast!!

Dodger is still being house broken but so far he is a really good boy. He is kind of obnoxious when we feed them. He seems to think all the food bowls are for him.

2.) Most embarrassing moment:
When Charlie was just starting out in agility she would run away from her grandma when it was time to leave the ring. One day she ran away and while trying to catch her, grandma set a hotdog bit down on the leash table. The next dog up could smell the hot dog and ran off the course to gobble it up, earning him a disqualifying run. The owner was really mad at us.

Ollie is a piddler, he has piddled in grandma's house, on vendor booths at dog shows, everywhere!

3.) Family dynamic (this is a question for those of you with more than one animal in the house. i.e. who is alpha? who is the cuddler? who is the naughty one? etc. I just want to know how you fit into the family!)

I am the alpha. Oh...you mean which dog? Honey is the current alpha dog but I think Charlie is trying to usurp her throne. Honey is the naughty one, she picks fights and starts trouble. Charlie will start them all barking at nothing. She thinks she hears something and starts off with little barks until she gets them all going. Then she dashes off the chair, leaving holes in your belly, to race outside. They all follow her outside to bark at nothing.

Ollie is the best cuddler. He is chubby and squishy and loves to cuddle. Dodger is learning to be a good cuddler too. When he is really sleepy he will climb up on my chest and curl up. I don't know what I will do when he gets bigger!

4.) Your humans' FAVORITE thing about you!:
I love animals of all kinds. But these dogs are something special. They are all so happy to see us and give love unconditionally. They make us laugh, they make us cry. I can't imagine life without pets. I have only lived a few years without an animal of some sort. I grew up with cats and now have dogs. Their constant companionship is a blessing indeed.

So there you go, Miss Pearl! This was very fun to complete. These dogs are so much a part of our lives that we just want to share everything with them. We love them all so much.
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Puppy Love

2010-06-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I found this video on 9Gag.com and just had to share it with all my friends. It is so cute!! Mango, I think it's time mom got you a pug!

Hugs,
puglette
:o)

Wedding Post over on What Happened?

2010-05-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I wrote a very long post on my other blog, What Happened? about my wedding. Complete with photos!! Please come on over and take a look. More pug fun and adventures to follow soon!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

We are looking forward to the three day weekend. Hubby has been traveling a lot this week and has had to spend three nights away from home.

We will be staying home watching movies and hubby will catch up on his sleep. He will have lots of company while napping!

We have two movies from Netflix ready to go for this weekend. Up in the Air and The Lovely Bones.

Our weather report is for cool and wet the entire holiday weekend. Perfect for napping and movie watching! We hope you have a great weekend.

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Second Annual Ollie Day!

2010-05-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Today is the Second Annual Ollie Day, also known as Ollie's Got'cha Day. Please consider this a holiday, I am sorry but it will not be a paid holiday, but go ahead...take the day off. ;o)

In honor of Ollie Day I will share with you some of the terms of endearment we shower upon Ollie.

Ollie Wog
Woggie
The Wogster
Mr. Wogerston
My Boyfriend
Lump of Love
Lumpy

Mr. Woggie

Daddy's Boyfriend (they have a bromance)

Buddy

Love Bug

Ollie is a well loved pug boy. He is sweet and gentle. He loves his Dad so much he stares up at him adoringly. Ollie will be my buddy during the day but as soon as Dad gets home I am only useful as a place to jump to Dad's arm chair. If Hubby talks to Ollie too much, you know that silly love talk, Ollie gets excited and licks hubby under his chin, all over his face.

Ollie is a shelter Rescue and could not be a better dog. I don't know how or why he came to be in a shelter, but we were lucky and blessed to have found him. Ollie is well mannered, gentle and loving. He will let Dodger chew on him and chase him around with out any snapping. And Ollie is the best dancer we know.

Thanks for sharing Ollie Day with us! I hope you have a great Ollie Day!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Pug Party Video!

2010-05-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I was looking at the Pug Village forum and found a link to a video from the Pug Gala we attended. It is really sweet and a great sample of how fun the party was. Also...Charlie is in the video! She is about halfway through the video running through an agility tunnel. She is also at the end doing the weave poles.

You can also see Tweedles and her mom Georgie trying out the agility jump. They are just before Charlie runs through the tunnel. You can see a cute black puggie in one of Melissa's adorable sweater vests and then Georgie helping Tweedles over the jump.

Isn't Tweedles just the cutest little pug? She is so small and dainty. Please keep Tweedles in your prayers, she had something in her belly that had to be removed. Her family is waiting to hear what the something is. I am sure they are on pins and needles waiting to hear test results. We love you Tweedles!!

2010 Seattle Pug Rescue Pug Gala from PNW Pleasures on Vimeo.

Take care everyone!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

After the Pug Party

2010-05-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a nice weekend. Charlie went to agility with her grandma and came home with some new ribbons. She did not qualify in any runs but she had fun. Hubby and I stayed at home and played with the other pups.

As promised, here is part 2 of our Pug Gala adventure. :o)

After we left the pug party we walked over the the nearby off leash park. And to our surprise (not) the park was full of pugs! This park was not as nice as our local park, it was rather small and just a dirt lot. But we did have fun watching all the pugs run loose.

Mom

Dad

Hubby took a lot of great pictures at the dog park. There was even a white pug! She was very cute.

After the dog park hubby took us on a nice drive through Seattle as we headed home. People were out everywhere having a great time and enjoying the sunshine. We stopped at a restaurant and got some take out fish and chips and headed to a small park to eat our late lunch. This is an historic park in Seattle with a Giant! cowboy hat and a pair of cowboy boots. They have been recently repainted and looked great in the sunshine.

After the fun in the park we headed home with three tuckered out puggies. Little Dodger was pooped!! He closed his eyes and slept through out the evening and even slept in until 9: the next morning. This was his first pug party and first trip to an off leash park. A big day for our little puppy boy.

Stop taking my picture, dad! I'm too tired to pose.

Oh Ollie!! You are too cute!

Hi Dad!! Can you get me a cold drink!?! And some shade?!?

We had great day at the Pug Gala and are already looking forward to the next one.

Thank you all for the sweet comments about Dear Daughter and her birthday cake. She read them all and really enjoyed them. Take care everyone!

hugs,

puglette
:o)

Best Cake Ever!

2010-05-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I know I promised more puggie goodness or today, but I need to show you this awesome cake instead. Puggies will follow soon!

Our daughter is a very creative young woman. She is currently a bakery department manager in a grocery store in the San Diego area. Her birthday is coming up on Sunday, May 16th. She will be 24. She posted the following photos on her facebook page.

Dear Daughter told me that she did not trust anyone else to make a cake for her. She made this awesome mushroom cake for herself. :o) The cake is white cake with a layer of chocolate frosting, strawberries and bananas. It is covered in butter cream frosting and then painted with an airbrush. I wish we were in San Diego to have a piece of this cake!!

Daughter has had an affection for mushrooms for quite some time. I have bought many mushroom items for her over the years. However, she will not eat them. I tried to trick her when she was young, and I succeeded for sometime. I used to make a yummy gravy out of cream of mushroom soup and put it over hamburger patties. She would gobble this up and really seemed to like it. She did ask about the little brown specks in the gravy but I would just tell her they were the little bits of meat and caramelized goodness from the bottom of the pan. This worked until I forgot to hide the empty can of soup in the garbage quickly enough. No amount of cajoling would get her to eat this again.

I love you very much, honey!! I would not trade a minute of my life with you for anything. You are brave and adventurous, funny and kind, thoughtful and sweet, beautiful and amazing. Happy Birthday!!

hugs,
puglette
:o)

Pug Party!

2010-05-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and Mother's Day. We had lovely weather both days and had lots of fun.

Saturday was the 15th Annual Seattle Pug Rescue's Pug Gala! I think there were a million cute pugs running around the park that day. The sun was shining and there was a lovely breeze, what a great day to party with friends and pugs.

I was really excited to attend this party as I was going to see Melissa and Melanie again and I was going to meet Tweedles and her moms. I quickly spotted Melissa as she was looking at the other vendors and taking pug photos. I gave her a big hug and told her I would be over at her booth to visit.

We stopped by the Seattle Pug Rescue table to meet and visit with a nice woman named Sandi who has approved us to be rescue volunteers. We are really excited about this and hope to help out soon. Since we have four doggies at home already we have decided to be short term, emercency foster parents and transport drivers. Hubby travels all across the state frequently and I can help with shorter trips and vet visits. We are ready to help puggies in need.

Next, off to see Melissa and Melanie and see their wonderful array of items for sale. I love all of Melissa's items. She has hand made items like stuffies and her well known sweater vests. The sweaters are so soft and bright in all the yummy colors. Melanie had a big basket of her hand made treasures as well. Her little bears are so soft and cuddly.

While stopping at Melissa's booth I noticed a cute little puggie girl in one of Melissa's sweater vests. I immediately knew who that sweet baby was...Tweedles!!! Tweedles is so tiny and petite. She is just as adorable in person as she is on her blog. I got to meet her family and friends. Her moms are so sweet and warm. I felt the instant friendship that comes from reading blogs. What a pleasure to finally meet some of my favorite bloggers and to have a face to remember when reading the fabulous poems and stories.

Charlie's Grandma attended the party as well. She took off with Charlie and we did not see them for hours! It is understandable, if you have a pug at a pug party you just get absorbed in the fun. Grandma hung out near the agility display area and chatted with the people she knew.

This was a great party as we met new and old friends and surrounded ourselves in puggie goodness. I can honestly say I don't know of any other dog breed that can have a huge party like this without having dog fights and growling and barking from the attendees. The pugs and their people are all happy and friendly.

After the pug party the fun continued. I will have to save that for another post. See you back here on Thursday!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Shameless Self Promotion, Again

2010-05-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I wanted to let you all know that I have started a new blog. This blog, What Happened?, is more about just me. Of course I will still write about the doggies on Puglette Ponders because I love this blog with all of my heart. I am Puglette. Puglette is my online identity and I love it.

My new blog is more adult, I may let a naughty word or two slip out. But this is where I will share more personal thoughts. I really hope my blog-land friends will visit me there as well. Because I would not be the blogger or writer I am today without all the love and support I receive from all of my bloggie friends.

And here's a cute pug photo just because we all love them so.

hugs,
puglette
:o)

Dodger Goes to Work

2010-04-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

We have been having a lot of fun with Dodger and all the dogs. Everyone is getting along nicely and Dodger is learning how to go outside for potty breaks just like the big kids. He's a very smart boy, I worked with him for about 20 minutes and he learned the command for sit!

Dodger even got to go to work with Dad. Here are some photos of his first day on the job. Be prepared, lots of cuteness coming your way!

Ready Dad!

Working is exhausting!

I got chilly.

Can you see me?

Rest Stop! Potty outside like a good boy!

Back to business.

Come on Dad, let's go home!

We are looking forward to next weekend as the Seattle Pug Rescue's Pug Mania event is coming up on May 8th. We are excited to see Melissa from Pug Notes and her sister Melanie from Shop Moe Moe again with all of their wonderful crafts and products. We have also heard a small whisper that Tweedles may bring her moms up to the event. We would love to meet them! If you are in the great Pacific Northwest you should definitely come to Pug Mania. This will be our third year attending this fun event. Hope to see you there!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

And Dodger Is His Name-O!

2010-04-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but we are just having too much fun with our puggies!!

We named the puppy Dodger. We are not baseball fans so I am not really sure why we decided on Dodger, we just like it. Most of the time I call him Dodgie. He is doing well, got an A+ at the vet's office for being a good boy and a healthy pug. He has learned how to use the doggie door already and can go romp in the yard whenever he wants. The accidents are nearly down to none! He is such a sweet boy, very low key.

Dodger just loves Ollie! I think Ollie looks like his mommy so he just adores Ollie. Ollie likes Dodger too. It is so cute to see the boys running around together.

We have so many cute photos to share with you. I will break them into a few posts, but will share a bunch today. The rest of the post will be photos, so here we go!! These were all taken at an agility trial over the April 10-11th weekend. Enjoy!

Three on their leashes!

Ollie is watching Dad give Dodger a pawdicure. Ollie is afraid he will be next!

Hanging out in their kennel.

Pop-up puggies.

Awww! Get me out of here! I am too cute to stay in a kennel!

Our boys.

Three pugs waiting for hugs.

Hanging out with Dad.

Yes, I'm cute. You may adore me.

Still cute!

Hey, what about me?!? I'm cute too!

It's all about me...forget about those boys!

Way too cute! I win!

Ollie is checking out the puppy. He wants to lay like that with Dad.

Fine, I'll go take a nap with my piggie.

Sleepy boys.

Something smells really good!

Pooped! That's enough agility for this weekend!

More to follow! Including Dodger going to work with Dad. So cute!
talk to you soon!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Who's This??

2010-04-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all well and happy. We are just fine, Charlie is racking up the ribbons in agility. Ollie is snoozing up a storm and has actually been seen snuggling with Honey!

We had a very nice Easter dinner / lunch with family. We played a new game called 4-11. It was very fun and the whole family played.

Yesterday while I was surfing the internet, a few things caught my eye. First is this cute puggie LOL Dog.

Next was this little guy.

Isn't he cute?

But wait...why is he in Dad's chair? What? Is this our new puppy!?!?

Yes!! We have a new puppy! He is about three months old and is the sweetest little guy. I was looking at Craigslist and found an ad from a nice family that was unable to keep their new puppy. After a few conversations back and forth, it was decided that we should at least meet this little boy.

It was love at first sight. And at first puppy kiss, I love that puppy breath. The family he was with were unable to keep him due to apartment rules, no puppies under a year old. This breaks my heart for this nice family. They really love this little boy and have been great parents to him. He is well socialized and sweet and loving. They have been terrific parents and I know the right time for another puggy will come their way.

So now we have a busy household again with all the fun and excitement of a new puppy. We are both ready to take on the extra work that a puppy brings along with those puppy kisses and snuggles. Ollie and Charlie are getting used to the idea and have started to play a bit. Honey is still a bit cranky about the whole idea, but everyone will work out their places in the family.

We'll keep you updated on everyone. We have a busy agility weekend coming up so more photos to come.

take care everyone!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Charlie's Road Trip

2010-03-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all well and happy. I have been on my own for a few days with just Ollie and Honey. Hubby and Charlie went on a long road trip and just got home. Hubby took a few pictures on his trip and I thought you would like to see them.

This was a working road trip so Charlie and Hubby were in his big truck. Charlie does not really like to ride on the dash board like Ollie. She is a lady and she sits on the passenger seat. Here she is giving her dad the "no flashies!" look.

Here's an Ollie-Wog reminder of how cute he is on the dashboard. :o)

Charlie likes to keep an eye on her dad at all times. The rests her little elbows on the truck window and makes sure he is doing the job in a timely manner. "We got a long way to go, step it up dad!"

Hubby drove all the way to Los Angeles from Washington. That is a long, dull ride. If you have ever driven down I-5 down the middle of California, you know what I mean. But at the end of this long road Hubby got to visit with Daughter!! She is living in San Diego now and we really miss her. Isn't she beautiful!?! She is doing well and has a good job and is making lots of new friends. We are very proud of her. :o)

Daughter took this cute picture of her dad and Charlie.

After dropping off the vehicles he towed down to CA and visiting with the lovely Daughter it was time to turn the truck around and head for home. On the way home, Hubby and Charlie got to stop and visit Auntie Marilyn. Auntie Mare is the best aunt you could ask for. She is a ton of fun and is always ready for an adventure.

Charlie had fun watching Auntie's kitties. They were more concerned about Charlie than she was with them.

We are looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend now that Hubby and Charlie have safely returned. I am so glad to have them back home!

Take care everyone!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

So Many Doggies!

2010-03-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Well, here we are again close to the weekend. Woohoo! Charlie is going on a road trip with Grandma to an out of state agility trial. Hopefully she won't be so stubborn. No one will be holding their breath. :o)

I talked about all of the cute dogs we saw at last weekend's dog show. Here are just some of the wonderful pooches we saw. So many interesting and cute breeds that we had not seen along with the usual breeds. It was amazing that there were no growls or barks to be heard except the ones in the agility ring.

Malamute - we had one named Juneau. He was so sweet but so destructive!

Puggie Condo!

Hubby with a pug puppy. We tried to steal her, but her people were keeping a close eye on her!

Who are these cuties?!?

Mango, we saw some lovely mastiffs, but none with your beautiful brindle coat.

Grandma always finds the westie's!

This guy's bib said "Have slobber, will travel". It made me think of Mango.

We had a wonderful time at this years Seattle Kennel Club Dog Show and look forward to next year.
have a great weekend everyone!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

No More Weave Poles!

2010-03-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

We had a lot of fun this past Saturday at the Seattle Kennel Club show. This is a big event with vendors, show dogs and agility all held in a convention center.

Here are some pictures of the event floor. The first floor held the vendors, show dog rings and the agility ring. The second floor was a "Meet the Breed" and support for shelter groups area. There were about a million people and dogs there!! Ok, maybe just a few hundred or so, but still, lots of doggies and their humans.

Charlie was not in the mood for agility this weekend. She would sort of do Ok on the jumps and tunnels but would absolutely refuse to do the weave poles. And when Charlie does not want to do something she just plants her little feet and looks up at you with her big brown eyes. There is no way to coax her into completing the weave poles. On her second and final fun of the day her Grandma had had enough and just scooped her up and carried her off the field.

We all made up excuses for her - "too much walking around" "too much noise" "too much stimulation" "too many adoring fans". Nope, just stubbornness. The next day Charlie went with her Grandma to a smaller agility event and did the same thing, "No More Weave Poles Grandma!".

Oh well, some days are like that.

I will have more pictures of the dogs to share with you on the next post. We saw lots of great dogs and took a lot of pictures.
Talk to you soon!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Ollie on the Job!

2010-03-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Now that Charlie is getting back into agility trials she needs to practice. So one day a week hubby takes Ollie to work instead of Charlie!

Ollie is a good worker, he sits on the dashboard and helps dad keep an eye on traffic. Here he is looking stylish in his plaid jacket, plaid is so "in" this year.

This is the view of Ollie that all the lucky folks on the road get to see. He gets lots of honks and waves.

The dashboard spot is pretty comfy. A nice quilt and a heated tushy make for a pretty sweet ride.

I should have photos from Charlie's agility trial this weekend. She is running with the AKC puppies in Seattle. That is a fun event as there are lots of vendors to visit and a dog show to watch.

Talk to you soon!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

From Around the Interwebs!

2010-02-14T09:52:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone!

I have not fallen off the face of the earth, just hiding under one of the rocks. :o)

Nothing new or exciting at the Puglette household. We are all just waiting for spring to arrive. While waiting, I have been surfing the internet. Here are some of the recent pug / dog related items that have made me smile.

From Loldogs:

From Cute Overload:

And a couple of comics:

Please click to biggify on the Sheldon website.

Have a great weekend everyone! i am going back under my rock to snuggle with the puppies and hubby.
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Meet the Neighbors!

2010-02-08T14:53:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

We have new neighbors! And guess what??? They have a pug! We had a little pug meet up in our driveway on Sunday. The neighbors are a really nice family with three young boys. Two of the boys were out walking their pug while hubby was out working on his new truck. Please meet Rex the pug! Isn't he a cutie?

Rex seemed to prefer Ollie and was so excited to play with our dogs. As you can see in these photos, lots of sniffing and tail wagging was going on. Rex has more wrinkles on his face than our two do. His face is a really cute brown color. He just turned one so he has plenty of puggy energy.

In other news, Hubby is driving a different truck. This is a bigger, semi sized tow truck. This truck has a sleeper cabin. Hubby will be driving longer distances and may have to spend the night in his truck. We got his bed all set up and will be working on getting some other homey touches set up. Charlie has a new perch in the big truck. Hubby put a blanket up on the dashboard for her. She can sit up there and watch the the scenery fly by. The defroster will keep her little booty warm! She's his real, live bobble head!

Hubby celebrated his birthday last Friday and we had a nice party for him at his mom's house. She made jambalaya and I bought a carrot cake. We had a nice time and a really yummy dinner!

That's all the news on from our house. What about you guys? Anything exciting or new happening in your house? Talk to you all soon!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Monday Road Trip

2010-01-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a good weekend. We went to a pug meetup at our local off leash park on Sunday morning. It was raining steadily and only two other families showed up. We all had a fawn and black pug, so there were six pugs and Honey Puppy. We stayed for about twenty minutes and went home to dry off.

On Monday I rode along with Hubby while he drove some cars to eastern Washington. We took all the doggies along too. We woke up at 4:00 in the morning and were on the road by 5:30. Yikes! While it was dark all the dogs slept together in their kennel. Hubby and I had coffee and cinnamon raisin bagels with cream cheese. Yummm!!

We had to cross over the Cascade mountains and drove through the snow covered passes. The sun started to come up while we drove through the snowy hills. It was so pretty, all the trees were covered in fresh snow that had fallen during the night.

We started seeing a lot of road flares and finally came across this accident. A huge truck had jack knifed. That would be a frightening experience! Hubby is a very safe driver and has never crashed. At least not accidentally.

We took our first bathroom break at a dam along the way. They had a really nice rest area and some beautiful views of the river and the fruit packaging plants.

Eastern Washington is well known for apples and cherries. Chances are if you have ever had fruit from Washington, it came from here. All the orchards were snow covered. Here are the fruit boxes all lined up waiting for the next harvest.

We drove along the Columbia River and saw some magnificent scenery. The river is really wide, it looks more like a lake in some places. The water was so calm and smooth, the reflections were stunning. You can see how I was taking the pictures in one of these photos. I use the zoom feature on the camera to avoid the window and mirrors. But sometimes I can't zoom fast enough to get the shot as we are moving along at sixty miles per hour!

The pups had a nice ride and really enjoyed being with us. As the day went on, they came out of the kennel and slept on the top. Pug Pile!! Honey preferred to sleep on her own at my feet.

Ollie also got in some quality time with dad. Lots of ear rubbing and head scritching. This love fest includes a lot of adoring looks and puggy kisses from Ollie. I tried to get a shot of that too, but they are all blurry.

It was a long day, but we all had a good time. Hubby is on his own today with his charming assistant, Charlie. Honey, Ollie and I are just lounging at home.

I will be posting our Mango Minster 2010 entries soon. I am counting on you all for your support and votes in the People's Choice awards!
talk to you soon!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Fun in the Oregon Dunes

2010-01-18T21:42:00.002-08:00

Hi everyone!

I hope your week is getting off to a good start. We had dinner with hubby's mom on Saturday. We brought Charlie along since grandma has been out of the country since the end of November. Little Charlie was so excited to see her grandma, she piddled! We were excited to see hubby's mom too, but did not piddle. ;o)

I have another family story to share with you today. This happened during the same vacation that daughter went over Rainbow Falls. This is about one of our adventures on the way up the Pacific Coast from California.

The Oregon Coast is a beautiful place. There are miles of beaches, old growth forests and lovely small towns to see. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is a beautiful portion of the coast. The sand dunes are huge and stretch for miles. There are many ATV and dune buggy rental and tour shops.

We decided to stop at one of the dune buggy tour locations for a fun tour of the dunes. Yay!! Family fun!! HA!

There are many choices of vehicles at these places. Large, multi person open air buses and smaller sand rails. We chose a four seater, the three of us and a tour guide. The weather was warm and sunny so we had on shorts and sandals. The tour folks recommended closed toe shoes so we all changed into our tennis shoes. We get securely buckled in and handed a helmet. Good so far, lots of safety precautions.

Off we went, driving along the lovely dunes. Up hill and down, through small patches of trees and along the water's edge. It was lovely! It was about this time that the driver started to speed up. And it was also when my loving husband told him "go faster, don't worry if my wife starts screaming...it just means she is having fun!"

The driver took off like a shot! We started zooming across the sand. Retracing our tracks, we went back to the water's edge and this time we had a spray of water behind us. We were going so fast that my head was whipping around. And boy howdy, was I screaming! The weight of the helmet along with the speed was giving me a huge headache.

But the worst was yet to come. Instead of going up and down the hills like on a normal road, we began spiraling down hill as if in a vortex. I was on the side closest to the center or bottom of the vortex. I was petrified! I was sure that the heavy helmet was going to pull my head down and hit the sand. I could not believe the pull of gravity! I was in non-stop scream mode!

I was finally able to release my death grip on the cross bar in front of me to smack my husband on the knee to signal my distress. He let the driver know we ( I ) had had enough and were ready to stop. We finally headed back to the parking lot and were able to stop and get off that crazy ride.

I was literally shaking. I was a combination of frightened and furious. I had a mouthful of sand from screaming. My mouth and chin were coated, yuck! I stood up and dropped at least ten pounds of sand out of my shorts. Needless to say, I stalked off and headed to our camper to cool down. What an ordeal!

I can still imagine that feeling of trying to keep my head off the sand. I was sure I was going to end up like Isadora Duncan. I finally stopped being angry and hubby and daughter stopped laughing at me...well at least not so boisterously. I am not ashamed to say I am the wimp of the family.

I would love to go back to the Oregon Sand Dunes. It is a beautiful part of our great nation. I would even take another tour of the dunes. But next time I will be in the big bus, with all the other chicken old ladies!

until next time!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

The Little Green Boat

2010-01-15T10:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Happy Friday! WooHoo! I hope you all have some fun weekend plans.

As promised, today I will share another Puglette and Hubby adventure tale. This is another story about our little green boat. I first introduced you to our boat in this post. Today I thought I would tell you about our very first exciting adventure in the little green boat.

Hubby bought the boat from a former co-worker many years ago. It was exciting to have a boat, we have many small lakes around us. At that time hubby was really into fishing so the little boat would be a great addition.

He brought the little boat home and we decided to try it out on a local lake. Now I am not sure why we did not go to the lake that is about three blocks away from home, but we didn't. We went to a lake about ten miles away. It may have been because we needed to visit his mom...but I digress.

The boat was small enough to shove into the back of our SUV. It stuck out a bit, but was definitely manageable. Off we went to test out our boat! We were so excited!

It was a lovely summer evening. We are fortunate to have daylight until late into the evening during our summers. We were happily drifting along, just put putting slowly with our one horsepower, electric motor. It was so nice, quietly sailing along with the sunset turning Mount Rainier pink.

As we were calmly cruising the lake, we suddenly hear a boat engine in the distance. No big deal, there was enough room on the lake for everyone. Until we see the motor boat speeding along...straight for us! And the motor boat driver was not looking our way, he didn't see us!

We were sitting ducks. There was no way we could out run a large, expensive motor boat. I started screaming and waving my arms, hoping to catch the driver's eye. Hubby started moving us out of the way as fast as possible. But let me tell you...one horsepower versus 300 horsepower, well you know who was on the losing end of that equation.

The motorboat driver did not see us, he was still looking away from us. We both thought we were about to crash and started to stand up, ready to jump overboard. But phew! the motorboat turned away from us just enough at the last moment. We were almost swamped but just rode out the swells from his passing.

As soon as we knew we would be safe, I said these infamous words to my husband "Get a bigger motor"! He could not believe his ears! I was actually telling him to make our boat go faster! Me, the woman that squealed every time he went over the speed limit! Go Faster!! Well, that's what being a sitting duck does to you. You say goofy things.

We did get a bigger motor, five horsepower! And we continued to have lots and lots of fun in that little boat. But we did have a few more exciting adventures...but those will have to wait for another blog post.

Have a great weekend, my friends!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Yummy Treats!

2010-01-14T11:24:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I have been asked by DogTime Media to review three dog treat samples from VitaLife. And I have to say that these are wonderful!

We received three different treats to sample. VitaLife Duck and Sweet Potato Twists, VitaLife Chicken and Banana Wraps and VitaLife Healthy Hips and Joints. We were sent full size packages.

VitaLife Duck and Sweet Potatoes were just that. A piece of dried duck wrapped around a real sweet potato stick. The three dogs were each given one treat after their regular dinner. I knew the pugs would gobble these down as they love fruits and vegetables. Honey is not a huge fan of either. However, they all loved these!

Later in the evening after performing some easy obedience work we tried the VitaLife Chicken and Banana Wraps. Again, the ingredients were easily identifiable. A piece of dried chicken wrapped around a banana chip. All of our dogs like banana chips so these were quickly eaten up.

Just before bed we gave everyone the VitaLife Healthy Hips and Joints treat. These are strips of chicken that have been supplemented with glucosamine and chondroitin. These treats look like chicken jerky, fairly large and flat. I am really happy to try these treats as both Honey and Ollie have joint pain. I have personally used a glucosamine and chondroitin supplement and felt some joint improvement.

(This is the image I was sent, but the product received was the Healthy Hips and Joints. The chicken strips look the same.)

All three of the products we tried are free of added salt, glycerin and preservatives. You can really identify the ingredients. They all looked like something we could eat. Good quality ingredients.

Our three doggies loved each of these treats. Their review is three wags up out of a possible three wags. :o)

I have not received any compensation to write this review other than the free samples. DogTime Media asked me to review the product and I agreed. I looked at the VitaLife website before I agreed and what I read impressed me. I would definitely buy these treats for our dogs again.

If you would like more information, including where to buy these yummy treats please check out http://www.vitalifemadewithlove.com/.

Thank you for taking the time to read my product review. Tomorrow more true tales taken from the adventures of puglette and hubby!!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Vicious Pug Attack!!

2010-01-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Happy Friday! I hope you all have wonderful weekend plans. My plan is to stay home and recover from a wild pug attack!

Yes, I was attacked by a pug! And it was my pug, Charlie, the sweet innocent puggie you see in the header photo. HA! Looks can be deceiving.

Last night after dinner I was sitting in my comfy leather recliner playing a computer game on my laptop. Ollie jumped up to join me and we snuggled up together. I was playing a hidden object game and sometimes I need to use my reading glasses and hold my laptop kind of close to my face. So there's the setup, me and Ollie all snugly and my laptop on my chest / lap, all warm and cozy. So cozy, I started to doze a bit.

The next thing I know Charlie had jumped on my lap and starts zooming up my chest and shoulder to sit on the top of my chair. And she needs a nail trim! Owwie! Now remember, Charlie is an agility dog, so when she wants to jump and run she can really pour it on.

Charlie made it to the top of the back of my chair, but with her full speed momentum she caused the chair to get out of balance. The recliner started to lay back and just kept going. Ollie is flying, my laptop is flying and worst of all, I am flying backwards! Charlie jumped off the chair when it started to go over but Ollie landed on my tummy...Ooff! My laptop landed on my face, with the corner going right into my eye socket.

I screamed and hubby jumped up to help right my world. I handed him my laptop while hollering "My eye!" "My eye!" "My computer poked my eye out!" Poor hubby was trying to calm me down and get the chair back on its feet. I was flat on my back with my feet up in the air. I was looking up at my pink slippers thinking "How the heck am I going to get back up!?" Do I roll over and off the chair? But my sweet hubby had other ideas and started pulling on the arms of the chair and got it and me back up.

Back to my eye, I was still freaked out that I really had hurt my eye. It was all blurry and sore. Hubby informed me that the blurriness was due to the blood running out of a nick and a blood blister. (Sorry if this is too gross!) After cleaning up the blood and a good look at the damage, all I had was a small cut and the blister. By the time I woke up it had calmed down to a lovely bruise in the outside corner of my eye. It looks like I went a bit heavy on the dark purple eye liner.

Charlie and I made up later in the evening and even resumed our normal night time snuggling. However, when she tried to jump up on the back of the chair again, she was soundly told NO! Hmmm...now that I think about it, I think she tried to attack me again while I was trying to fall asleep! I remember she stuck out her paw and tried to poke me in the eye...again! She sleeps on my pillow every night. Maybe she is hatching an evil plot???

Have a great weekend everyone. And don't turn you back on your pugs!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

The Terrible Tale of Rainbow Falls

2010-01-04T15:56:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

As you all know, I really enjoy Lolcats and Loldogs. I love the animal pictures and some people are so very clever with their jokes. This one today reminded me of a family vacation. And in this story I am not the one that falls!

About ten years ago we bought a very old motor home. We had so much fun with that old thing. We went camping and fishing all over Washington and Oregon. One year we drove down to California to see my family. We drove up the coast towards home, stopping to camp along the way.

The last place we stopped was fairly close to home. We still had some time left on our vacation so we stayed out one more night. We stopped at Rainbow Falls State Park. Rainbow Falls is a fairly small state park but it is in a lovely old growth forest. This picture is from the park web page, but is several years old. Last year we had severe flooding in this area and the bridge was washed away.

So, here we were, parked in a nice state park, just two hours from home. The weather was exceptional for Washington, nice and hot. The river was slow and looked inviting. Daughter wanted to go swimming so I sent hubby to keep an eye on her. I stayed behind at the campsite to read so the rest of this story is hearsay.

Daughter got down to the river and started splashing about. She was thirteen at the time. Hubby was walking along the bank and joking around with daughter. He asked her if there were any fish in the water and should he get his fishing pole. She started looking around and was swimming and floating and joking with her Daddy. She was having so much fun that she did not notice the approaching waterfall.

And you guessed it, swoosh! over the falls she goes. Now remember, this is the middle of summer and the water level is low. And Rainbow Falls is not a very tall waterfall. It's really just some large boulders in the river. But is surprised daughter and bumped her around a bit as she was not prepared for her trip. Her dad was watching her and did not feel alarmed by her trip over the falls. Poor daughter, however was frightened by the event.

The next thing I know is here comes daughter, bawling at the top of her lungs and her Daddy following behind laughing. Pandemonium ensued. Accusations flew. "Daddy let me go over the waterfall!" "I nearly died!" She was furious and shocked. (It was really kind of funny.) Of course I had to settle her down and listen sympathetically. I put a bandage on her scuffed elbow and we sat and had a cool drink. Hubby explained that he didn't think the waterfall was too high and that he thought she intentionally went over. It was something he would have done at her age.

Now you may think this was the end of the story. That after calming down and relaxing that daughter could laugh about the experience. That she and daddy could share a chuckle over this misadventure. Well, you would be wrong.

This is the one family story that is sure to get Dear Daughter sputtering and twitching in anger to this day! She still holds a grudge that her daddy did not stop her from going over the waterfall and that even worse, he does not feel sorry for her. So of course, when I saw this Loldog today, it reminded me of this tragic tale. And of course, being the loving mother that I am, I sent it to Dear Daughter with a note asking her if it made her twitchy. :o)

Talk to you soon!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Happy 2010!

2010-01-01T23:10:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. We just stayed at home and had a quiet day. It is so nice when the holidays give us a three day weekend.

I have some old photos to share with you, but I need hubby's help with scanning them. Just wait until you see these! I look so funny!

Take care everyone!

Hugs,

puglette

:o)

Ho Ho Ho!!

2009-12-24T13:17:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

May all your wishes come true!

<}:o)

Another True Tale

2009-12-14T11:05:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Phew! I am finally getting over this darn cold / flu that I have had since Thanksgiving. Just down to a little congestion and cough. I hope you all have been able to avoid getting sick this year.

This funny pug photo caught my eye this morning. The Elvis suit is just too cute.

see more dog and puppy pictures

I have another story to tell you today. I was reading two of my favorite humor blogs, I Do Things and The Junk Drawer the other day and they reminded me of a recent episode in my life. My tale is sort of a combination of these two fine ladies blogs. JD dropped her computer and Kathy fell up a flight of stairs.

A few months ago my mother in law was having computer troubles. Her computer was old and tired and getting slower and slower. She had asked for some advice from her family and no one was able to help this tired computer anymore. The decision was made, time for a new computer for Mom.

I had the pleasure of accompanying Mom on the computer shopping trip. We had fun! We shopped, she bought and then we had a lovely lunch together. A great day. Since hubby and I are relatively computer savvy, Mom asked me to help her set up her new computer. Piece of cake! Computers are pretty much plug in and go to town these days.

But first...we have to take down the old computer and put it away. There was a lot of valuable information on the hard drive of this old machine that would need to be accessed later. We began untangling all of the cords and cables, unplugging the old tower. The old monitor and keyboard were carefully set aside. Mom was clearing out the boxes under her desk to make it easier to get to the outlets. We were really cooking with gas! The old stuff was clearing out and the new computer was unpacked and waiting.

Finally it's time to move the old tower off the desk and start plugging in the new one. Now this is an old desktop computer in the large tower style box. I heft this up, Mom asking if I was OK, did I need any help. "Oh no" I said, "I have it, I'm fine!" I turned and started to walk over to where the other parts of the old computer were waiting...and CRASH!! Down I went, throwing the computer in front of me. We both hit the ground hard. I had dropped the computer tower so hard the corner dented in and the front popped off. I landed hard on my knee, skinning it pretty good and bruising the knee cap. Apparently I tripped on a box that had been under the desk and had been moved out.

Oh my gosh!! Was I embarrassed! Here I am supposed to be helping and I tossed that computer like a hot brick. I think I shook it so hard that it will be impossible to retrieve any of the old information. My mother in law, bless her, has kindly not spoken about this incident. We'll just keep this to ourselves, Mom!! ;o)

Thank you for sticking with me and getting to the end of this sad tale of woe. I could go on and on about falling down. I am quite clumsy and have had so many skinned knees that they are pink from scarring. Someday I will share the time I fell in San Francisco. Or the time I slid down a hill. Or the time I slipped and landed on my butt tossing milkshakes into the air...and, and, and. Really, I can go on forever!

Hugs to you all!! Stay on your feet!
puglette
:o)

Welcome to the Family Ashley!

2009-12-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Our family has been blessed by another baby! Hubby's youngest sister has had another baby. We are excited to present the newest addition to our family, Ashley Jordan.

Ashley was born on Dec. 8th, 2009 at 4:30am in Jakarta, Indonesia. She's a cutie! Ashley joins big sister Abigail and big brother Zachariah. We are sure she will be just as cute and adorable as Abby and Zach.

Big hugs to our Jakarta family!!

By the way, this little girl is part of the reason why we had Christmas early this year. Both of Ashley's grandma's were in Jakarta to welcome her to the family.

Hugs to you all!

auntie puglette

:o)

Ho Ho Ho!!

2009-12-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I have been having a little fun with Picnik. If you haven't tried this fun photo editing website yet, you should! It is a lot of fun and very easy. They have a lot cute frames and stickers for free.

Nothing exciting here, just coughing and playing with photos. Have a great day!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Movie Review!

2009-12-05T15:29:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We sure did! We had a yummy dinner and visited with family. We also had our Christmas gift giving on the same night. As I mentioned in the previous post, we had a drawing to choose a charity for our group donation. The charity that was chosen was our pick!

We are giving the money to a local food bank, B.A.S.H. That stands for Bikers Against Statewide Hunger. This food bank is in the same business park that I used to work in. They are a local food bank and have been in operation for at least ten years. The family that runs the bank is so nice, they all work there and most have regular full time jobs too. They deliver food as well as letting people pick up food. Every year they hand out 500 Thanksgiving dinners. People line up for their box of food hours before they open. Working next to this generous organization for several years really made an impression on me. Their generosity and dedication to helping others is admirable.

So...movie review time!! As you know, I am a member of Dog Time Media. They have my blog on their website and they help me with the advertising. They asked some of their members if they were interested in reviewing the DVD "Santa Buddies, The Legend of Santa Paws". I was sent a DVD of the movie by Dog Time Media as compensation for this review. :o)

We watched this cute movie as a family today. The story is about Santa Claus and his dog, Santa Paws. Of course, there is a trouble maker, played by a cute pup named Puppy Paws. Puppy Paws and lots of folks have forgotten about the true meaning of Christmas. Fortunately, the Buddies come to the rescue!!

This is a pretty standard Christmas movie, the dog catcher, the sick little boy, and of course a change of heart. This is definitely a children's movie. But that said, it is genuinely cute and it does have a few laughs. There are lots of cute doggies, they work in the North Pole with Santa's elves and there is the scruffy bunch in the dog pound.

I don't know about your dogs, but Charlie and Ollie really watch TV. They are always barking at animals, especially other dogs. We have to keep an eye on Ollie as he will rush the TV and try to bite those bad dogs. This movie did not affect them at all...we think it's because the dogs did not bark, they talked. The only time our dogs were alerted was when the pound dogs were barking.

I give "Santa Buddies, the Legend of Santa Paws" two paws up. Great for kids and a good positive message. :o) You can see the trailer here!

Well, that's all for today. I am still coughing and stuff from the cold I caught after turkey day. Hugs to you all!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T17:36:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Can you believe it? November is almost over and Thanksgiving is this week! Where has the time gone?

We are getting ready for a yummy family feast at my Mother in Law's home. We are having a potluck dinner and I am bringing the stuffing. I hope it turns out OK as I usually just make Stovetop for Hubby and I.

This year we are combining Christmas with our Thanksgiving. Mom in law is going to Jakarta, Indonesia for the month of December. Hubby's youngest sister is expecting her third child any day now and the grandma's will be there to welcome this little one into the family.

We are also changing the gift giving. As finances are tight for everyone we all decided to give $50.00 per family to a charity. Each family will put the name of their charity of choice into a hat and we will have a drawing to decide which charity gets all the money. We will have a bit of gift giving...we will play the white elephant game! I think this is a great change for our gift giving. Being charitable is always good for the soul. And having only one gift to open and the fun game of swapping and sharing will make this a family activity. Usually we are all off in our separate area ripping open gifts and not really sharing in the moment and the gift of giving. Family is the gift to be shared.

Here are some cute photos of mom in law's dogs performing their Christmas routine. Annie is dressed in a Santa suit and Archie is in a reindeer coat. Annie pushes Archie in the little sleigh. It's very cute. These photos were taken at the last agility trials we were at. They also have a summer version of this routine with Annie in a dress and Archie has a sailor hat. The sleigh is actually a doll buggy.

Have you seen the new item Punchy is making over at Pug Possessed? She is making puggy pajamas! I am definitely ordering a pair for Charlie and Ollie. I would get some for Honey but she is not a clothes wearing puppy dog. She will wear blanket style coats, but nothing with real sleeves. She bites!! So pugs will be measured and pj's will be ordered.

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Count your blessings and give thanks for all of them. I have counted all of you and I am really thankful for the blessings we share.

hugs,

puglette

:o)

The Secret is Out

2009-11-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

Just a Little Fun

2009-11-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all well and happy. Nothing new or exciting at our house. We are heading into the wet season here in Western Washington. :o(

I have talked about my love of comics before on the old bloggy. Many of you also know about Sheldon, the boy genius and his pug Oso. The artist that creates this fun comic, Dave Kellett is very approachable. He actually replies to emails quickly and he appreciates photos that silly fans send him.

Just before Halloween the Sheldon comics focused on costume rejects. The pugs rejects are shown and linked here:

Well, having two cute spider pugs of my own, I took a slight offense to the rejected spider costume. So I emailed Dave and sent him a photo of the cutest spider pugs ever!

This morning when I was reading my comics who do I see...my own two cute puggies on the comic blog! Check this out!!

There we have it, our two seconds of minor fame. ;o)

hugs to you all!

puglette

:o)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

We had so much fun at the Seattle Pug O Ween last Sunday! We didn't win any prizes but we sure had a good time.

There were so many cute pugs in fabulous costumes. As usual in a pug gathering, the photos are blurry. So, here we go...blurry pug photos!

Shark!!

Ollie and Dad's feet.

Little puggy princess.

Pugs! And their people.

First Place Costume Contest - The Jackson Five

Saint Bernard, Ollie really liked this guy.

This little cow was so cute! He was in a herd of six cows but I couldn't get them all together.

Banana Pug!

Two little angels.

Chillin' Charlie

Spider Pug! I like how the blurry face makes it look more spooky.

Shy little lady bug pug.

Pumpkins and Pirates! Oh my!

The end(s)

More Agility Fun!

2009-10-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. We had a beautiful, sunny Saturday. The fall leaves are at their peak and the hills look beautiful. Sunday was cold and wet, and today is too. This usually means the end of the pretty leaves. :o(

We spent Saturday at an Agility Trial. The facility was a very cool place, The Trails End Arena in Olympia WA. This is usually a horse arena but there were lots of doggies for this AKC agility event. The arena building was a huge old building that has been added on to over the years. Parts were old log cabin type walls and then they slapped on a new section when they needed more space.

This was a nice place inside as there were seats! Most of the agility trials are in barns with no seating and outdoor portable potties. The theater style seats were very old wooden chairs. They had beautiful old iron fixtures holding them all together. I really love old architecture and this place was full of quirky odds and ends.

We didn't have enough room for our usual pen so we just brought in our portable dog kennel and set it up in the front row of the seats. We each sat on one side of the dogs and watched the fun.

There were so many people at this trial. We have never seen so many people for just one level of dogs. The excellent group was huge! There were so many people out walking the course that they were bumping into each other.

Charlie was not really in the mood for running agility on Saturday. She liked the jumps but she was not in the mood for the weave poles! Here is a little movie of how we spent the day.

As you can see, the puggies can pop up their heads and look around while they are in the kennel. You can play a fun game of "Whack a Pug" when they are contained like this. ;o)

The next day we went to Pug O Ween!! But I am going to save that fun for another post. I hope you will come back, I have lots of photos to share.

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Agility Fun

2009-10-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a nice weekend. We went to the Top Dog Agility Trial at the Elma, WA fairgrounds. It was a very wet Saturday and thankfully the trial was held inside the rodeo barn. This is a nice big building with a snack stand and nice bathrooms (important!). It was a very long day, we arrived at 8:00am and left at 8:00pm.

Since it was raining, we decided the pugs should be wearing their rain gear. Ollie was stylin' his camo hoodie. He was feeling good and he looked good! Charlie was wearing the latest high tech rain gear from ZenTek. This space age fabric kept her dry and at the optimum temperature at all times. Plus, the fluorescent yellow made her stand out and shine like the super star we all know she is!

Charlie's ZenTek jacket was a gift from one of Grandma's friends. This nice woman thought of our Charlie when she won this coat in a drawing. We love it! Thanks June!! We love you too!

We have some movies from Saturday's action to share with you. Our first film is Charlie and Grandma. Charlie still need to work on the "Go" ability. Near the end of this run she is supposed to go do the obstacles on the other side of the pink tape. Grandma cannot step over the line. As you can see, Charlie is all about sticking close to Grandma...you never know when she may hand out some yummy chicken!

Here is Grandma with her dog Archie. He is a sweet little Bichon. He is so cute! Archie was feeling good and he was really working it. There was a little "whoopsie" near the end. That's all I'm saying.

Here is Grandma with her dog Annie. Annie is an adorable Westie. She likes to gnaw on your hand as a greeting. She won't bite, she just likes to make sure you taste good before you can come in. Annie was a good girl and ran well.

While we waited in between runs Ollie just chilled.

Sometimes he chilled a bit more...

We have more agility trials to come in the near future. And we are excited about Pug O Ween next weekend. Take care everyone!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Hello from Puglette and Family!

2009-10-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Nothing new or exciting here at the Puglette household. I have not found a new job yet. Hubby has not been feeling well. He is starting to get better but it took over three weeks! Flu shots for both of us in the very near future!

We are going to an agility trial tomorrow with Charlie. We will try to remember the camera. :o)

We are looking forward to Pug O Ween! It is coming up on the 25th and we will definitely bring the camera. The pugs have their costumes ready and will be so cute together.

I just wanted to pop in and say "Hello" to you all. I will see you all in the blogosphere!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Cupcakes

2009-09-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

They really do. :o)

It's a Party!

2009-09-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Today is our Blog - O - versary! Can you believe it, we have been blogging for a year!

I am so grateful to you all for continuing to follow along on my blogging adventures. I have made great friends, both in person and over the interwebs. Blogging is a wonderful way to meet people all over the world. Thank you so much for making me feel welcome in your lives.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, the doggies had a little party. As you can see in these snapshots, fun was had by all. Some had a bit too much fun...ahem...Charlie!

Ollie was dancing up a storm!

Honey was watching a having a good giggle at Ollie's dance moves.

Charlie got ahold of the camera and, well, you can see the results.

Charlie finally gave the camera back and I was able to get this shot of her relaxing.

Thank you so much for sticking with us! Talk to you soon!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

A Learning Experience

2009-09-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a very nice weekend. We had a quiet weekend at home. Well, it was mostly quiet. On Sunday we had some thunder storms roll through our area. It was quite cool and very rainy, we had our first hint of fall.

I want to share an experience with you and hope that you will learn from my mistake. This is another lesson learned on our little green boat.

On my previous post I shared a story about fishing in the Puget Sound. While we did take the little green boat out into the Sound, we used it on rivers more frequently. Our area of Western Washington is blessed with many beautiful rivers. One of our favorites for a quiet day of fishing was the Cowlitz River. We loved to fish near the salmon hatchery. It is a beautiful and very popular place. The fish are plentiful and the access is easy.

We decided to spend a nice summer day fishing on the river. We were just going for the day so we packed our little boat into the SUV and brought a picnic lunch. The weather was clear and warm. Since it was so warm we decided to stay near the banks of the river in the shade of overhanging trees. The fish like to hang out in the shade too so we felt this was a good idea. It also prevents me from turning into a giant red lobster!

We had a small anchor tied to our boat that we used to keep us in place. On this day Hubby decided that it would be good to tie the anchor to one of the overhanging trees so we could just float gently in the current and also stay under the trees. Being the good wife that I am, I agreed with hubby and tossed the anchor over a large branch that was nearby. We spent several hours happily fishing and enjoying the day and our picnic lunch.

We finally decided it was time to go home and started to pack up. One of the last things to do was to retrieve the anchor. We had to pull ourselves a short distance back to the large branch and I tried to get the anchor and rope untangled from the branch. This was becoming quite troublesome! The nylon rope was catching on the bark and the weight of the anchor was working against me. What to do...what to do...

I know! Stand up and reach over the branch to get the anchor and pull it back in. Well, I am not the most graceful creature on this planet. The idea of standing up in a small green boat and pulling an anchor up should never have crossed my mind. I would have trouble doing this if we were on solid ground, much less in a boat on a river. Add to that, the overhanging trees were kind of low. I am sure that by now you can see where this is going.

I reached up and put one hand out onto the branch to steady myself and just barely started to put any weight against the branch. The next thing I knew that branch had snapped and I was flying over the edge of the boat! Splash!! Face first into the river. I still had an arm around that darn branch and I was looking down into the water. I was submerged about halfway, about to my waist, still sitting in the boat. My other arm was flailing around trying to get ahold of something to pull my self up. I grabbed onto the arm Hubby offered and he helped my up.

Up I came, spluttering and shocked. Thank goodness I came up with my glasses still on! The anchor was still around that branch so we had to untangle it and get it back into the boat. While working on the rope and anchor we finally noticed that the branch was dried and rotten.

So there is the lesson for you all...Do not drape your anchor over a dead and rotten branch. It will break and you will not be happy.

Take care! Talk to you soon,

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Skating in the Puget Sound

2009-09-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Today I thought I would share another adventure with you. Several years ago my husband and I owned a small boat and we had a lot of fun with it...and also some more exciting adventures. I know, you thought I was going to talk about roller skating, but no, it's a fishing story!

We actually still own this small, green flat bottomed boat but have not used it in years. We took this boat out fishing and down many rivers when we first owned it. It's a small but sturdy little boat and we could, with some effort, heft it into the back of our SUV and off we would go!

On this particular trip we took our little boat to Point Defiance and launched our boat into the Puget Sound. We were off for a nice sunny day of fishing and having fun on the water. I enjoyed fishing in the Sound as the salt water is full of odd and interesting sea creatures. You never knew what you would catch, a salmon, a small shark or even an octopus! We would catch and release just about all of it, except those yummy salmon!

So, off we go...just puttering around in our boat. It's only about 10 feet long and 4 feet wide. Just big enough for two and a picnic lunch. We only had a five horsepower motor on it so we didn't go very fast. We were catching the usual assortment of fish and snags, old snarled up fishing line. Unfortunately the Puget Sound is full of old fishing lines and tangled up bits of nets and junk. We were of course, hoping for that yummy salmon. Pretty soon Hubby had a hit! His fishing pole was jumping and bobbing up and down. We were pretty excited!

He started to reel in his fish but it was putting up quite a fight. Hubby was struggling to reel in this fish! We were thinking it had to be a huge salmon! They fight pretty hard. On and on this went..and pretty soon we noticed that we were being pulled away from the shore. We tried to stay near the beach so I could jump out and run to the bathroom.

Before we noticed we had been pulled by this fish quite a distance and still the fight went on! We started to move out into the deep water where the bigger boats hung around. I started to wave my arms and ask for help as Hubby was getting worn out. We kept drifting along and were totally ignored. Of course, a crazy blond woman yelling and waving her arms about was not a big deal, just another partyer out on the Sound.

I tried to talk Hubby into cutting the line and letting go of this fish but he wouldn't hear of it. He had a big fish and he wanted to land it!

On and on this went, we were being pulled along and Hubby kept working on this fish, trying to reel it in. We were being pulled from Point Defiance to Vashon Island. Once we got to Vashon Island we started to go along the outside of the island. I was sure this darn fish would pull us out to sea!

Finally after hours of drifting and reeling Hubby finally felt the fish tire and start to come up. Now, we were in deep water. The South Puget Sound has areas over 1000 feet deep! And up comes this MONSTER!

Hubby had caught a Longnose Skate. This thing was huge!! The wing span was nearly as long as our boat! We were stunned! There was no way that thing would fit into the boat. As this huge fish came up out of the water against the side of the boat, we both backed away from it. Holy Cow! Hubby shook it free and off it swam. What a thrill!

After we recovered from the shock of what Hubby had caught he finally noticed how far we had gone. We were now at least five to six miles away from where we had started. Now was the long boat ride back to the boat launch.

What an adventure! This truly is a fish tale to share with family and friends. We had many, many adventures in this boat. I will share some more of our fun and excitement another day.
Talk to you soon!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Comics

2009-08-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Nothing new or exciting over here. Charlie is recovering from her sickies and sounds much clearer every day. Ollie is snoozing and Honey puppy is still a cranky old lady.

I wanted to share one of my favorite past times. I love comics, and I read a bunch of web comics every morning. I also read some that are in newspapers online as well. I love them for their humor and the drawings. I really admire people that can draw well, my best are only stick figures.

This comic really hit home today. I have been having trouble sleeping lately and this made me laugh.

Please click on the comic if you can't read it clearly. This is Misery Loves Sherman and it's about a dysfunctional family that includes the Grim Reaper and two aliens.

Here is another comic I really enjoy, Sheldon. Sheldon is really cute, and he has a pug named Oso. The writer Dave Kellett, has a pug of his own so he has first hand experience with pug shedding and pug oddities. I recently bought this print on a t-shirt. Please click on the link or the picture to read it more clearly. It's very cute.

So that's what I do in the morning with my cup of coffee. It helps wake me up and starts the day with a smile or two. Let me know if you read any good comics online!

Hugs,

puglette

:o)

Updates

2009-08-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Here I am!! I am sorry I have been so silent for the past two weeks. I was laid off again and have been in a funk. I just haven't really felt like talking to anyone. Being laid off three times in about six months is rather demoralizing and depressing. I have just been having my own little pity party.

Charlie has been doing fabulous work at the agility trials. She has advanced in AKC and we received a lovely certificate from the American Kennel Club for our little athelete.

Charlie has been a bit under the weather. She has a sinus infection and after a costly vet visit is now on antibiotics. She may have snuffled up a fox tail into her nose. We are hoping it will clear up with the antibiotics and rot away. (icky!!) We just can't afford the surgical procedure to have the vet look further. As Charlie is still in good spirits, I am afraid we will just have to watch her and pray that this all works out.

I have been visiting all of your blogs and leaving some comments. Visiting my blogging friends offers a cheerful respite from the job hunt. I loved seeing Clover and Chewy swimming. I am keeping an eye on little Pearl recovering from her surgery.

Take good care my friends, I will talk with you soon.

Big Hugs to You All!

puglette

:o)

Charlie's Glamour Shot

2009-08-11T19:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I got the OK to share Charlie's Glamour Shot with you! This photo was taken by Nina Sage of Nina S. Photography and we just love it!

take care!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Professional Photography

2009-08-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all are enjoying your summer. We had some really hot days about a week ago but now we are back to cool and cloudy. I always feel that summer ends here with an obvious sign. This is the week we will probably start to wind up the warm days.

We have been busy with Charlie and her agility trials for the past few weekends. She is off with Grandma this weekend in Sequim, WA for a three day trial. Since hubby and I both work we let Charlie go on her own. We miss her terribly and will go to the trial tomorrow for the final runs and to pick up our little girl. Ollie seems lost without her and the house is so quiet. Without puggy wrestling matches and races, it's just lonely.

We do have some lovely new photos to look at and that helps! There is usually a professional photographer at the agility trials. Most of them have websites where we can preview the shots of our doggie. Lately the photographers have taken some really nice shots of Charlie and we have made some purchases.

These photos were taken on a very warm day and the sun was shining brightly. The photographer is Ken Kennedy. He has a lovely website with some great animal photos. We really love how vibrant these photos are. The expressions on Charlie's face are wonderful, she really looks like she is having a great time running around the field.

Please visit Ken's website Ken Kennedy Photography to see more beautiful dog photos.

The other photo we recently purchased has not arrived at home yet. I will give you a link to our cute "glamour" shot of Charlie. Nina S. Photography The action shots are not as good as Ken's because we were in a dark barn and flash photography is not allowed.

We went out to Michael's today and bought picture frames for our lovely photos and the pastel drawings I showed you in a previous post. Hubby has already framed the two pastels and they look fabulous! We selected a shadow box style frame. It's rectangular shape allowed us to put the drawings side by side. It is just perfect!

I hope you enjoyed these great photos. I really love them and they will be a great memory for us all when Charlie gets a little too old for agility.

hugs to you all!

puglette

:o)

It's Charlie's Birthday!

2009-08-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Today is Charlie's Birthday! Charlie is TWO years old today. I can hardly believe it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!

LOVE, MOM & DAD

We love Charlie so much, she is a great little puggy girl. We can't imagine our life without her. She is so much fun and such a little weirdo. She brings joy and smiles to everyone she meets.

Please enjoy some puppy pictures and the first video we took of our new puppy. The video and first two photos were all taken at the breeder's home.

The last photo is from the first day we brought Charlie home. She is with her Auntie Carmie and we were at a Halloween party. She was such a good puppy, not frightened at all and was fine being passed around and loved on all evening by total strangers.

Birthday Hugs with Frosting!

puglette

:o)

Sharing

2009-07-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I was over at JD's blog, I Do Things, and I was writing my comment when I decided it was too much to be a comment and too funny to keep to myself so here I am, sharing with all of you. Now JD has been invited to speak at the BlogHer convention next weekend in Chicago. Her latest post was about what to wear and she asked for opinions and tips.

While leaving my comment I realized that a lot of people had already left comments about what she should wear and which of her outfits would be appropriate for her speaking engagement. But no one had given her much advice about what kind of under garment she should wear...her faithful granny panties or a light girdle.

Well, I happen to have experience with just that type of girdle and I knew JD would benefit from this experience. So, JD...this is for you. :o)

My Wedding Day...a true story

For my wedding day I had purchased a really lovely dress, a light champagne color with a beaded bodice. It was so pretty, I even bought shoes dyed the same color. I too fretted about wearing proper underpants / girdle for the occasion. i am a fluffy gal, and the dress was kind of clingy around the middle.

I decided that since there were going to be many people there watching me and my sweetie get married, I would opt for the girdle. You know, for the extra slimming effect. I also decided to add control top pantyhose. i was really, really sucked in. i hiked up that girdle and the control top hose and off we went.

On the ride to the ferry dock, I started panicking and worrying (it's what I do) and sweating and feeling over heated. By the time we arrived at the wedding location, the Washington Ferry Rhododendron, my iron clad under wear had started to roll over. I discreetly tried to pull up the roll and smooth out my under garments. Since it was just hubby to be and I in the car, I felt safe to yank everything up.

We arrived at the ferry dock and went in the small waiting room that was for walk on passengers. Our guests started to arrive and my nerves were still on active duty making sure everyone was taken care of and had their ticket for the boat. Finally, the ferry arrives and we are off, about 30 people walking on to the ferry in late November...everyone in warm coats except me, the bride in a fancy dress.

With all of the walking around and standing, my undies were heading south...in a hurry. Now my panic was really on, I was about to get married in front of all these people and a bunch of strangers that were just riding the ferry and my girdle and the control top panty hose were rolling down and down, getting thicker and thicker under my dress.

At first I had a few minutes to get to the restroom and yank everything back up. But this is a very short ferry trip! Just twenty minutes each way. As soon as the boat left the dock, we were standing with the minister and the ceremony began. Throughout the ceremony all I can think about is my underwear rolling down! "Can anyone see it?" "Can I stop it without drawing attention?" "What did my husband just say? Did he yada yada yada me???" "During our wedding vows!?" (Yes, he did!)

As soon as we said our "I do's" I wanted nothing more than to race off to the bathroom to pull up my girdle and hose that had now rolled down to around my thighs and were still heading south. But since we had only a short time on the ferry with the minister we had to sign the paperwork...and then friends and family were coming up to offer their well wishes. "Yes, yes...thank you, thank you..yes, the boat is lovely...thank you, I love my dress too!" Ack! Just let me get to the bathroom!!!

At last I made it to the restroom to yank up my rolling undies, they had made it all the way down to just above my knees. I was so relieved to finally be able to pull them up and be able to move freely again. Phew!!

So, dear JD, wear your comfy panties and not the girdle...or you may be sharing more with your audience than your sparkling personality!

I hope you have enjoyed my little tale. Our wedding was definitely a memorable event and not just because of my underwear!

hugs to you all!!

puglette

:o)

Odds and Ends

2009-07-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Well, here I am! Sorry for such a long break between posts, I have been getting used to the new job and enjoying the summer weather.

I still like my new job. The people are so friendly and nice. I am getting used to my commute too. I have been listing to audio books and I have really been enjoying them. My first book on CD was The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. I am now listening to the last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I am just checking these out from my local library as they have a large selection. This gives me my reading time and helps ease the stress of the freeway. :o)

I want to share with you some pug art work I recently purchased on Etsy. Look at these beautiful pugs! The photos are courtesy of the artist's Etsy shop, Malthene. The fabulous artist is Mary Detwiler. She is very friendly and very responsive to her customers.

These are pastel crayons on acid free paper. The photos do not do them justice, the colors are so vibrant. The little puggies look like they could just jump off the paper! I ordered them with black mats and will be looking for frames soon. They are very delicate so I need to get them framed up right away. I highly recommend a visit to Malthene on Etsy and looking at Mary's artwork for yourself.

Here is an old craft that is getting a new look these days. Punchneedle looks very simple and the results are wonderful! I have not tried it yet, but plan on getting my very own set soon. Melissa at Life is Art, Art is Life has shown us her beautiful cardinal in birch trees. Another crafty friend, June at PlanetJune has just announced her first punchneedle designs and a handy e-book with instructions and tips. The Punchneedle Handbook is available from June's online shop.

June gave me a little teaser a few weeks ago about one of her punchneedle patterns. Look it's a pug!! And a corgi for Dozer! June asked if I would share her punchneedle news with my blog friends and dog lovers. I jumped at the chance, June is so sweet and talented. I am thrilled that she remembered me and my readers with her pug and other dog patterns.

So, there you have it. Another fabulous update from Puglette! I appreciate you all being out there, waiting to hear from me. I have been reading your bloggies and loving them all. I have left a few comments but some nights reading and looking at your cute faces is about all I can muster.

Thank you for being my pals!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Snug

2009-07-02T22:06:00.000-07:00

OK, who's pugs are these?

see more dog and puppy pictures

Have great day!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Agility Questions

2009-06-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I have been getting a few questions regarding Charlie and her agility training. I must admit that hubby and I are fortunate as his mother trains her. We don't do much training at all, we go to the trials to offer support and watch our little girl run.

Grandma has been running her dogs in agility for about six years. Her dogs, Archie and Annie can still do some agility but they are retiring. Annie has an illness that keeps her out of the ring. She is a very sporty girl. She is very fast and very focused. Annie has dozens of ribbons and awards. Archie has lots of ribbons too, he's just not an agility fellow. Archie is a lap dog, and he loves being a lap dog. They are both very sweet dogs. :o)

Charlie participates in three types of agility trials. They all have different scoring and leveling requirements. I can't follow them. It's all the same type of obstacles. The three Charlie is in are Canine Performance Events (CPE), Teacup Dogs Agility Association (TDAA), and American Kennel Club Agility (AKC). Lately we have been going to AKC events. We see a lot of the same people and dogs at the various events so we are getting to meet people and dogs too.

One of our new friends is a foster mom for the Seattle Pug Rescue. She has the sweetest little rescue pug right now named Lola. Lola has a liver disease that has stunted her growth. She is almost a year old but is about the size of a six month old. She is a doll and has stolen our hearts. We would gladly make room for her in our family if asked. :o)

I hope you look into agility for your dog if interested. The people are very nice and the trials are a lot of fun. You can see little yorkies all the way to big mastiffs like Mango. You can participate as much or as little as you like. It really helps socialize your dog and you meet people who love dogs as much as you do.

I have been reading bloggies as much as possible, but I am tired! My commute is much longer now and I have to get used to freeway driving again. I have loaded the CD changer with the Beatles so I can sing at the top of my voice to ease the freeway anxiety. I will be checking out some books on tape soon as my reading time has diminished. I used to have an hour for lunch now it's only a half hour. Lots of changes!

I wish you all health and happiness. I hope your summer is getting off to a good start. We have lots of babies back home for the summer. It is so much fun to meet the latest generation of the family.

hugs,

puglette

:o)

My First Days on the New Job

2009-06-20T07:10:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!

Well, I have survived three days at my new job. I was so tired the first day that I just came home and went to bed! This mortgage company is very different from where I was before. This is a credit union and is a very nice office space. I had so much fun raiding the office supply cabinet! There were new items of every variety imaginable! It was like a shopping spree, a new pair of scissors, a new stapler, a new thingy so my phone cord doesn't get tangled. Of course, I have yet to get any phone calls, but I am prepared!

The people are very nice. And for the first time in years, I am not alone! I am working with at least 20 people in the office at all times. That is so nice, I was getting very lonely at the old office. And it is so nice to have office equipment in good working order and to have a cleaning service that takes out the trash every day instead of having old broken equipment and the trash piling up outside the back door.

All in all, I am enjoying the changes. I didn't realize how ready I was for a change. :o)

In other news, Charlie did really well at agility last week...she won First Place! Of course, in her next run she skipped about half of the obstacles. Oh well, one blue ribbon is just fine with us.

My pal JD at I Do Things So You Don't Have To made a Blingee for me. Isn't it cute!?! Charlie and Ollie look good with their bling and the hearts flying around them. JD has a huge crush on Ollie, that's why he's a bit more sparkly. ;o) Thanks, JD, I love it!

Personalized Glitter Graphics

I Got It!!

2009-06-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I got the job!!

I had it before I walked in the door. As I mentioned yesterday, this job is through a temp agency. The actual employer liked my resume and experience so much they asked the agency when I was going to start. I skipped all the agency testing and everything! The pay is about a third more than my prior annual salary so that will really help! I start Monday and I will let you know how my first day goes.

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. Just having this opportunity to vent and express myself is so wonderful.

Let the Celebration begin!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

I am a Thief

2009-06-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I have a terrible confession to make. I am a thief, that's right...I stole something.

I took these two awards from Howie Pee Pugpants and I didn't ask for permission! I took them and I am proud of it...er, them!!

This first award goes to Ollie, The I Peed On It So It's Mine Award. Ollie is quite the piddler. We have to keep an eye on him when we are in public as he will try to piddle on everything. He even tried to piddle on a nice lady at the last agility trial, twice!

This next award is for Charlie. The My Mom Humiliated Me on the Internet Award. Charlie has had to hang her head in shame ever since I posted the video of her having a temper tantrum. She is pouting right now.

In other news, I have a job interview tomorrow morning. This is with a temporary agency for a temp to permanent job. Please cross your fingers with me, the pay is very good and the opportunity would be great.

More agility coming up this weekend. I will keep you posted on the interview and more. Thank you all for being there for me!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Charlie is Sporty!

2009-06-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you have had a wonderful weekend. We spent Saturday at the AKC Agility Dog Trials. Charlie did very well in her two runs and received Qualifying Ribbons and Third Place Ribbons both times! We are very proud of our little puggy girl and also her wonderful Grandma that has trained her so well and runs her around the ring. Thank you Grandma!

Here are a few pictures of Charlie and her ribbons. She wasn't really in the mood to pose for photos...can't you see her excitement? We interrupted a good game of chase and bitey face she was having with Ollie.

These are her first AKC ribbons and we hope to have more soon!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I will talk to you soon!
hugs,
puglette
:o)

Pug Meet Up

2009-06-10T14:43:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend. We went to a pug meet up in Issaquah, WA and then went to visit my sister. Hi Sister!!

The pug meet up was at an industrial park in a large building used by a dog training facility. We were a little late so we didn't get to play too much. But we did have fun and I took some pictures. Unfortunately they are dark and mostly blurry. The lighting was bad and the puggies were fast! I did get a few photos to share.

This little cutie is Lola. I tried to get her picture while she was playing but all I got was a blur. She was finally still in her momma's arms. Lola is just five months old.

Here is another silly puppy, Cooper. He is six months old and was making googly eyed faces at me.

There were a lot of adorable pugs to visit and the people were very nice. Since this was a birthday party for all the pugs, the doggies got a present as we were leaving. Our dogs are having a lot of fun with their new toys and treats. They even gave us one for Honey, even though she didn't get to play with the pugs. Here's our Charlie taking a break from all the action.

After the meet up we let the dogs stretch their legs at the park across the street. They got to explore and sniff around. These pictures are a lot clearer. :o)

After the park we went to visit my sister who lives nearby. We had a very nice visit and were treated to the best brownies ever! My sister is an awesome cook and I learned all my skills from her. We are so lucky when my sister sends us a Christmas treat. One year it was a big pan of these yummy brownies. We also had the tea cakes and rum balls another year. I'm getting hungry thinking about all these goodies!

I hope you are having a great week and I will talk to you all soon!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Friday Fun

2009-06-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I have been on the job hunt and have sent out resume's and applications. I have also signed up with a temp agency. Hopefully someone will call me in for an interview and I can dazzle them with my skills. ;o)

I have been getting in a lot of quality lap time with the pugs. They are so sweet and want to be on me all day if I let them. Unfortunately we have been having a hot spell in our neighborhood and two hot puggies plus hot flashes on a hot day can be a bit too much! The warm weather is nice but we are glad it is cooling down a few degrees this weekend. We have a pug meet up this weekend and the low 70's is much better for the flat nosed babies. And of course, we will have pictures to share!

Speaking of sharing, I put together a little video for you all! This is from our trip in April. If you recall we had put up our ex-pen in the back of our mini van for the dogs. This was very nice for us as it kept the kids contained and out from under Dad's feet while driving. Charlie, however was not happy with the new setup and let us know. Charlie is a vocal little girl so turn up the volume!

I hoped you enjoyed our little movie today! I will be back over the weekend with the pug meet up pictures. Until then, hugs to you all, my friends!

hugs,
puglette
:o)

More Changes

2009-05-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for the kind words. They really do help. :o)

As you can see, I have made some changes to the blog, I thought something cheery would be good right now. And what's cheerier than cupcakes and a smiling puggy?

I had a really positive job interview last Thursday afternoon. I would love some more positive thinking out there!

hugs to you all!

puglette

:o)

Changes

2009-05-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I hear changes are good for you. I will let you know, but right now it does not feel very good. I got fired again, from the same job...that's twice in six months. :o(

This time it's permanent. I got the boot. I am really angry and hurt that after eight years of being there through the good and the bad that as soon as it gets good again, I am tossed out.

I am not sure what to do. I am in shock right now and frightened by the financial outlook. Hubby and I were relaxing and just bought a new to us car with part of the cost financed. I just made the first payment. I am not sure how we will pay our June mortgage. We had decided we could afford a vacation, the first in years. We used our airline miles to buy two tickets to Maui for September. I just can't believe it!

So I am out on the employment trail at 51. I will be competing with kids graduating from college and other young people. Who will want to hire a fat, old woman?

I am really sorry to share my pity party with you all. Your blogs are a solace for my soul. I look to you all for some sort of hope and positive influence. I know things will turn around for us. We have a loving family and friends for support. Today looks bleak but tomorrow will look better.

In an effort to make any additional money possible, I have decided to have advertisements on my blog. I will be working with Dogtime Media and will have only dog or pet related ads. The people at Dogtime are very friendly and helpful and I feel that I will be able to advertise in a tasteful manner. I hope you won't mind too much. I promise, no pop ups, nothing racy or crass.

I will be back on Monday with a better outlook. I need to work through my anger and grief before I can get on with looking for a new job and writing about happier subjects.

Thank you all for being the best cyber-pals a woman could have.
hugs,
puglette
:o)

May Flowers

2009-05-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Did you miss me?!?

I have just been hanging out with hubby and puppies. Work is getting quite busy and stressful so when I get home I just turn my brain off. I am really happy to have an extra day off this weekend. And a big plus is that we will have some lovely late spring weather in our neighborhood! Woo Hoo! The weatherman was reporting that this is the first Memorial Day weekend in 30 years where we should have 70 - 75 degree temperatures all weekend. Yay!

I have been enjoying all the flowers in bloom everywhere. I really love wandering around older neighborhoods and looking at all the lovely established gardens. I have two lovely plants in bloom in my yard right now.

This is my Bleeding Heart bush. Usually these are kind of small and low to the ground, but ours just loves it's spot in an over grown flowerbed.

We have had this plant for about twelve years. Every year in February it starts popping up and before long it just takes over the flower bed and grows and grows. This year it has tons of these beautiful stems of flowers.

We originally had this plant and a white Bleeding Heart plant in pots on our front porch. When we built the bed and moved the plants the white one did not survive. This beauty more than makes up for the loss.

This is our lilac tree. I am standing close to it for these pictures because it borders the neighbors that burned their house and the contractor has a lovely porta-potty right at the end of the driveway. I really did not want the blue sani-can in my flower post!

This lilac tree is huge!! It is really old too. I think it was planted by the original owners of our property about 65 years ago. It is just lovely and has an amazing fragrance. In the evening the breeze carries that scent across the yard. I am so happy the weather will be good so I can open the windows to this fragrant breeze.

This has been a fruitful spring. Our little cherry tree was covered in blooms this year. I hope we get some before the birds eat them all! Here is our driveway covered in pine cones. The birds love to sit in the tree and get the seeds out and knock the pine cones out.

And of course, here is the little puggy boy, Ollie. He doesn't look very happy about me being on the outside of the fence.

I wish you all a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Please say a prayer for all the men and women who gave themselves for our freedom. Hug your family!!

hugs,

puglette

:o)

Ollie Day!

2009-05-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Today is Ollie's Gotcha Day! We have decided to make this his birthday since we don't know his actual birthdate. We decided that Ollie has just turned three today.

We love this puggy boy so much. He is so sweet and special to our family. Ollie was a shelter rescue and we are so happy that we have him in our life.

Ollie loves to spend time riding around with Charlie and Dad in the big truck.

Ollie is very helpful, here he is helping Dad drive the car.

Ollie is quite the dancer, he loves to show off his skills.

This is a special day in our house, it's Ollie Day! We will be setting Ollie Day up as a National Holiday soon, so watch your calendars!

hug your family!

puglette

:o)

Pug Gala

2009-05-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Mother's Day. We celebrated Mother's Day yesterday with hubby's mom at the Seattle Pug Gala.

We had a lot of fun and saw old friends and new ones. And of course, we saw lots of pugs!

There were little pugs, big pugs and brindle pugs.

Pugs had on sunglasses and some wore hats. We even saw the great pumpkin!

Joan from Peace Love and Pugs was there with her fabulous Linden Line Designs. I didn't get a picture of Joan...sorry Joan! But please check out her store, she makes all of the wonderful collars and harnesses herself.

And look who else was there...Melissa from Life is Art, Art is Life! She brought her sister Melanie too.

Melissa and Melanie are two of the nicest, sweetest women I have ever met. So kind and friendly. I wish we could have spent more time visiting but their booth was a busy place. Melissa had brought along a lot of her items from Pug Notes. I now have a large and small Emmitt pillow and will treasure them always. Melanie brought some of her adorable bears and animals from her Etsy Shop, ShopMoeMoe. I now have this cutie to remind me of meeting Melanie.

After our fun at the Pug Gala we went for lunch at a fish and chips place called Steamer's. This place has a spectacular view of the Puget Sound and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. I will try to get some photos from there to share because I forgot the camera this time.

We had a wonderful Mother's Day outing. I hope you have all been able to spend some time with your favorite Mom's.

Big hugs to everyone!

puglette

:o)

Funny Photos

2009-05-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I have been seeing these funny photos on lots of blogs lately and I thought we should join in the fun. Here are our three doggies in the Coneheads movie poster. I picked the Coneheads because hubby is always calling Honey Puppy pointy head. She has a pointy little snout.

This was a lot of fun to make! I will try to make more and share them with you. Thank you to Minnie Moo and everyone else who is playing. Face in the Hole is a silly website, it makes me think of egg in the hole, a yummy breakfast treat.

hugs to you all!

puglette

:o)

Velkommen 'til Poulsbo!

2009-05-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all doing well. We are experiencing a windy storm in our neighborhood. We have had some wild spring storms in the past few weeks. We have had wind, rain, lightning and thunder and I saw a wall cloud! This is a thunderstorm cloud that could turn into a tornado! That was really freaky, we do not have tornadoes in our area. I am very glad it dissipated instead of becoming a tornado.

I still have one more cute little town to share with you from our little vacation a few weeks ago. This is the town of Poulsbo. Poulsbo is a little slice of Norway right here in the Pacific Northwest. I really love Poulsbo as it makes me feel closer to my ancestors.

My family came from Denmark, Sweden and Finland. I am just a second generation American. Three of four of my grandparents came from these Scandinavian countries in the early 1900's. The fourth one was born in San Francisco from parents who came from Denmark. I was told that we are related to the Danish royalty and a pirate named Black Peter. The story in the family is that the pirate loot was donated to a church in San Francisco as my great grandmother did not want the "blood money". I have no idea if either story is true, but it's a fun bit of family trivia.

Poulsbo has a cute downtown area that is decorated in a Norwegian manner. Well, it's our version of Norway I am sure. ;o) The shops are very nice and sell all kinds of souvenirs.

This is a lovely old church on the outskirts of town. It overlooks the marina.

I really like this housing development. The developers made an effort to blend in with the look and feel of the town. These homes are about five years old but they resemble the old craftsman style of the original homes. I really like the paint colors too.

We will have to go on another little vacation soon so we can share more about our area!

Hubby and I are really looking forward to the Pug Gala this Saturday, May 9th in Seattle. We can't wait to meet Melissa from Life is Art, Art is Life. And we are excited to see Joan from Peace Love and Pugs again. I wonder if Melissa knows what's going on at her house while she is away... ;o)

I am sending out hugs for everyone! Please pass them on!

Hugs,

puglette

:o)