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Archive for April, 2008

Naptime for Gizmo and Martine

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This afternoon, Tricia put Martine down for a nap. A little while later, Gizmo made his way into his spot. After both were asleep, Tricia noticed this, and called me into the room to get a quick picture of brother and sister napping together in their “bunk bassinet.”

Do you see Gizmo in there, with his head poking out? He’s actually doing the pug-classic “chin rest” on the side bar of the bassinet.

Oh, and they’re both sound asleep in this picture. How cute!


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Seersucker Dog Collar

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Seersucker is a fabric that’s commonly worn in the South between Easter and Labor Day. Generally, you see older men wearing Seersucker suits in the summer. It’s also common to make children’s clothing from seersucker. Indeed, we have several small dresses for Martine that are made of the fabric. However, I couldn’t find anything for Gizmo and Gadget.

I looked all around, and I couldn’t find anything out there. So, I eventually made my way over to Etsy.com, which is a site that’s all about hand made crafts. I used their “Alchemy” feature, which allows you to request custom items to be made, and various craft makers bid on what you want created. I used this, and eventually found someone who had a track record of making good dog collars to make one using Seersucker for me.

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Everything was fine, except for the fact that the seller lives outside of the South, and there was no seersucker to be found! We really wanted these collars, so I went to a local store and found some fabric, bought a small amount, and sent it to the maker. Don’t worry, though, we arranged it so that the price was fair in light of my providing some of the materials.

The whole process of looking for Seersucker collars took a while, but once I got the materials to the maker, making them was very fast. So after a while of working on this project (but only a little time waiting for the collars to be made), I finally got them, and they look great! Really cute, and we like the way they look on G&G.

We had a green and white collar made for Gizmo and a blue and white one made for Gadget. Now, we’ll be able to take a picture of Gizmo, Gadget, and Martine all in their seersucker outfits!

The seller is Nomorenekkiddogs on Etsy.com. If you have a special fabric or design, you can get a custom collar too! I highly recommend using Etsy.com for this kind of thing, AND they have all sorts of really well-made crafts that make great gifts.


Gadget and Martine are Cute

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Martine is 11 weeks old, and she’s becoming more aware of the world every day. Those in the world, specifically her brothers, are also becoming more and more aware of her every day. Gadget is really shy, but he’s also extremely loving, and licking is one of his ways of expressing that. He’s started to want to snuggle more with Martine, and he’s started licking her feet whenever he gets the chance! He’s learning more about her, and he’s showing that he treats her just like he treats his parents.

Gizmo, on the other hand, does not lick. He’s a bit more possessive than Gadget, as he thinks he’s higher up on the totem pole. He knows that I’m number one, but he’s right up there in the #2 spot, with everyone else in the house below him.

When we go places, sometimes, he will “mark” Tricia, signalling that she is his, and those other pugs best be stepping away from her. Well, when we got home last night, Gizmo “marked” Martine. Ack!

Well, it actually wasn’t that bad. She was in her car seat still, and nothing got on that, just on the floor. We’ll be a bit more careful next time.


Useful Pug Products

New Leather Sofa

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We’ve had bad luck with sofas. In fact, I have a whole website that spawned from my misfortune at having acquired a Microfiber Sofa. You see, the problem with microfiber is that while it looks great, it has a really hard time holding up to spills and dogs. Some microfiber sofas are better than others, but the one we got is especially difficult to care for.

We also “inherited” a sofa when Tricia’s dad moved to Hilton Head. Unfortunately, that sofa had lived in a house with lots of pugs — and their smell. Gizmo and Gadget got into the habit of marking the corner of that sofa, and even with repeated cleanings, we couldn’t break the habit. Making it worse is that cleaning the fabric on an upholstered sofa is especially difficult, so I don’t think we ever got the smell out, entirely.

So, our solution was to get a leather sofa. There’s no fabric to soak up smells or spills, and it can be cleaned with a washcloth. So far, it seems to be holding up fairly well, but only time will tell.

Pictured is Gizmo on the new sofa, next to one of our Pug Pillows featuring Lt. Otto Von Puglish. I can’t remember where Tricia’s mom got them, but I did find a few on amazon click here, here, and here.

Doesn’t he look so regal?


Spring Pug

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We’ve had excellent cool spring weather this week, and Gizmo and Gadget have been enjoying spending some time lounging in the yard outside. It won’t be long before summer comes along and the heat is way too much for them to handle outside for very long. So, they’re getting their fill of the really nice weather while they still can.

This picture is of Gadget (with Gizmo in the background) just chillin in the grass.


How To Get A Free Pug Puppy

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Are you looking for a free Pug puppy? Or, are you just looking for a cheap pug? Either way, you need to read the rest of this post.

First, you are incredibly unlikely to get a free pug. Like it or not, there are expenses involved in breeding healthy puppies. Unless you happen to get about as lucky as winning the lottery, you’re not going to find someone who will just “give” you a free pug. However, there are people who want to sell you a pug, for cheap — but should you buy a Pug from a “cheap” breeder?

First, you must understand that all Pugs are not created equally. Getting a good price on a Pug is not the same thing as getting a better price on a new camera, TV, or new car. Different breeders are selling you different things — from one, you might get a Lexus and from another you might get a Yugo. What makes it a little bit more complicated is that price does not always indicate whether you are getting a good dog. You could find a disreputable breeder who sells their puppies for as much as possible. On the other hand, you may find a very good breeder who is only trying to cover her costs and would be willing to sell their dog for less than it is worth. You might also find a good breeder who charges a fee only to make sure that they give their dogs to good homes, on the theory that people who are interested in a free pug do not have the dedication or resources to take proper care of a dog. However, you are more likely to find a breeder who is selling you a cheap dog because the breeder is set up to produce a large number of puppies without regard for the health and quality of those puppies.

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They are running a fast food joint. Just as burger places serve cheap food that will cause you health problems, breeders selling large numbers of cheap pugs will sell you dogs with health problems.

You will get very attached to your puppy, I promise you. Pugs, especially those from puppy mills, are prone to health problems, and it can be very painful to lose a pug early because of this. Also, health problems are EXPENSIVE. While it might save you a small amount of money now, getting a cheap pug will cost you a lot more if you end up with one that has serious health issues. Finally, in the long run, the difference in price between a pug from a reasonably priced reputable breeder and from a puppy mill will not be that much, relative to the cost of regular vet visits, heart worm pills, dog food, and dog toys you will buy.

Also, you should definitely consider a rescue pug. They are definitely not free most of the time, but they are a good way to get a dog. I will talk more about rescue pugs in a future post.

To learn how to tell a good from bad breeders and for more about why it is so important, you absolutely need to read my earlier article on pug breeders.

P.S., If you agree with what I’ve said here and you have your own blog, please link to this post.


Feeding all my children…

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I think you can guess who eats what.

Also, G&G are still getting along well with the Tripett Dog Food that I reviewed a while ago. We have a bunch of cans of wellness, so they still get that sometimes, but they very much prefer the tripe. We mix a small amount of the tripe with some dry food, sometimes mixing in a little bit of water. The water makes the tripe into a kind of “gravy” for the dry food. The boys really seem to like it.

As for the dry food, we rotate between different flavors of wellness dry food. The rotation is to keep things interesting. I find that if we stick to the same food every day, they get tired of the same thing over and over.

Also, I used to do a Pugs Around The World feature on Urban Pug, posting pictures of other pugs along with who they are and where they’re from. I’d like to start doing that sometimes. So, if you’d like to be featured as a “Pug from around the world” — Please go to the Urban Pug Pictures – Public Albums Section, then “register” for an account there, and then upload some pictures of your Pug. Then, if you send me an email with your details, I will try to post as many “pugs from around the world” as I can.


Gizmo & Gadget say “hi” to Martine

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Whenever we arrive home after leaving Gizmo and Gadget alone, they get very excited and act a certain way. They also act the same way whenever one of us arrives home. For example, whenever I get home from school, the dogs get excited, they run and will act happy / excited for a little while. They run up to me and essentially are saying, “Hello! I missed you! Pet me!”

Well, I’ve noticed that they now will also say “hi” to martine when we get home. Our arriving home generally consists of me putting her carseat on the floor while I go outside and get other things from the car. While her carseat is on the floor, Gizmo and Gadget can hop right up, sniff her feet, and say hello.

I think it’s interesting because it’s another example of how they’re treating her just like they treat any other member of the family.