A Very Sad Pug

Oh Frank. What we have here is a very sad pug. He is very sad indeed because his dad and I have both had such very hectic work schedules this week AND the sun has, yet again, disappeared. However could anyone leave such a sad looking eyeball and such demurely curled front paws (sometimes Frank tries very hard to pretend he has opposable thumbs....)?

Oh Frank, don't be sad - we will have so many adventures soon! There may even be a road trip in your near future!

An Unfortunate Situation.

Oh my. Well, spring has arrived (though it might be hard to tell around these parts due to the rather gray wetness that has persisted quite to the dismay of people and pugs alike), and with it the joyful morning call of the robin. Under normal circumstances it would be my pleasure to gently wake up to a robin's cheerful tune, however this year we have run into an unfortunate situation.

Below we see pictured one handsome black pug and two of his very favorite toys, Chirpy Bird and Robin Red Breast. (You may want to know that Frank's toys tend to have rather distinct names, this way he is able to learn all of their names Gentle Pig, Your New Friend, Floppy Pheasant, and Black Footed Ferret to name a few. Oh Frank! You are so clever!)



These delightful birds were given to Frank my his Grandmother in Colorado, who was very proud to announce that they make the actual sound of the bird they represent. Frank was delighted, as were we, this winter when we received the thoughtful gifts. We are not so delighted now. It turns out that the songs are INDEED realistic, so much so in fact, that every morning when the robins start chirping outside or our window, Frank immediately bolts upright (RATHER disconcerting since he is usually under the covers being spooned) to look around for the person who might possibly be so extremely wonderful as to want to play with a small furry pug and his Robin Red Breast first thing in the morning! And I do mean first thing. 5:30 to be exact.

Oh Frank, your grandmother has assured us that she will no longer purchase birds that are indigenous to this region. Perhaps we can expect a penguin next year...

Finally! The sun...

OH Frank! You look so pleased that the sun has finally poked through for a FULL day - the first one in about six months!

Yes, it's true. We finally had a day of sunshine. In order to celebrate, some of Frank's favorite friends, and a delightful new friend or two, decided to head out for an after work drink.
Not wanting to exclude anyone at all who is small and black and furry, Frank's godmother (semi-pictured above) immediately called her very, very delightful boyfriend BSS who went and held us an outdoor table for over an hour! Thank you BSS!

The only thing that could possibly have made Frank more joyful than being invited along was the discovery, upon our arrival, that there was already a pug in attendance!

Below we see the very stately Zoloft who, I must say, was quite well behaved in comparison to Frank.

What a handsome pair... Hmm, maybe Frank's lack of gentlemanly behavior had something to do with the sneaking of a lap or two...

OH Frank, delicious!

A mighty cold pug....

Oh Frank. Well, yesterday the sun peeked out for a very few moments. Seizing the opportunity, Frank's dad and I decided to grab a quick outdoor dinner nearby and thought that we would bring a certain small black pug along. Seeing as how the sun was out, we did not outfit Frank in one of his many stylish coats. Sadly the weather did not hold.

Oh Frank. How EVER did the pug overcome natural selection?

It was not long before Frank's little ears were trembling with shivers. The pug, as you may know, does not control his (or her) temperature very well, in large part because of their short snout. We are also VERY proud of Frank's athletic build, but because he is such a fit young specimen he does not have much insulation.

The solution:

OH Frank. You look so handsome in your mother's vest. It is too bad that she is so very cold so that you can be warm. (And no, I do not condone allowing the a pug to sit at the table, but, oh my, the ground was so cold....)

Frank's First Video!

Well, something VERY exciting has occurred! Frank has been captured on Video! You may remember a few posts ago when Frank's fondness for for oyster crackers was revealed. It turns out that the only thing more delightful that watching him fish them out of the tub is watching him smack his little pug lips as he eats them dry. I don't know why it is so enjoyable, but Frank is delighted to share this clip anyhow. I DO apologize for the sound quality - the smacking enjoyment is quite diminished by the sound of the tv... I must recommend that you turn the sound down quite a lot... BUT this IS a first round!

OH Frank! What smacky lips you have!

SUNSHINE

WELL, yesterday Frank was VERY pleased to wake up and find that the SUN was actually out and that it was quite warm outside. We wasted no time at all in packing up the car and heading out to the D-O-G-P-A-R-K (we have to spell it because otherwise Frank becomes a wee bit unmanageable).
As one might expect, Frank was eager to behave like a dog and put his snout, well, what he has of a snout, out the window. This is a problem. As you know from the title of his blog, Frank does, in fact, have only eye. This means that we can not allow for any stray grit or grim to fly into his leftover eye at great speed. OH Frank! However would you watch the squirrels frolicking in the yard if you lost your other eye?

But Frank! What are we to do? You are so eager to have your ears flapping in the breeze!

The solution, it turns out, is pictured below:

Doggles! That's right folks.... Doggles, and doesn't Frank look smart in his shiny red pair?!

Of course there is one problem; because Frank is a pug, and therefore does not have a snout on which to rest his doggles, they press down on his nose and make it rather hard for him to breath. BUT WAIT! Thanks to the fact that Frank only has one eye, the solution quickly became clear - you must tilt the doggles a wee bit askew so that they are no longer centered on the nose! The result in a "normal" pug would be that one doggle would rest squarely in one eye, but no such problem for Frank!

(Now, I must say that taking a picture of your dog wearing his doggles while driving and holding him in you lap is remarkably difficult... but, I did my best)

OH FRANK! Sometimes it is so fortuitous to be a one eyed pug!

Mmm. Oysters....

Well, oyster crackers that is. The other night I found myself so exhausted, hungry, and sore after a performance that upon my arrival home sometime after midnight all I could think about was how quickly I could get to bed. So, I decided to combine all of the necessary activities, namely: taking a bath, drinking a delicious seasonal beer, and eating pretty much the only thing I could find in the house, some crispy oyster crackers. Now, the only person who enjoys it when I take a bath more than I is Frank. This is because he can come curl up on the mat in the warm bathroom and have a snooze knowing that I will not be wandering away. However, on the afore mentioned night he was not interested in snoozing but rather was most keenly interested in the cracker based fare on which I was indulging - so I took some pity on him and set a cracker on the side of the tub. Much to the dismay of the small furry pug, it flew into the tub the moment he licked it.
What ensued was so enjoyable that I had to climb out of the bathtub to get my camera at which point we tried the whole thing over again.... and sure enough, flick into the bathtub (please pardon the steam...)

Oh Frank! What ever are you going to do now? You do not love to be in the bath...

but maybe if you just get a little closer...

and then look at the cracker very hard so that it just might float towards you - isn't it a delight that there was a cracker invented not merely to be delicious, but also to float in warm soups - (and baths it would seem!)?
OH Frank you are so close!

Oh my! I am sad to report that Frank never could quite get the cracker - each time he licked the top of it he pushed it further away... but the time I fished it out and gave it to him it was quite soggy,

but he didn't seem to mind - here we see him hopefully peering about in the tub for more...
Oh Frank, what a delicious midnight snack.

Frank Returns

Well, the computer has had some difficulty with loading the pictures lately, perhaps it is because I am oh so fond of the subject matter and try to put up a few too many! Anyhow, I would like to announce the return of Frank - pictured here joyfully running on a field on which we actually were not allowed.

OH Frank, if only your ears were a little longer you would look like a handsome rabbit indeed!

SUPERBOWL

Well first of all Frank would like to wish a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to his grandmother Herriott! He wishes that he could join her in enjoying a birthday cake and licking frosting off of her fingers!

Well, it had been a long week so we decided to invite a few friends over to not really watch the Superbowl with us. This pleased Frank because whenever there is a gathering there tends to be a rather lot of food and many laps from which to choose. At first Frank was focused on the table - frog plates and all - (thanks to Grandma Herriott!),

however, he soon found a new focus for his attention:

Above we see that Frank has cornered the 1 year old son of some friends. A few seconds later, as the unsuspecting toddler dropped his carrot, which a toddler frequently does, Frank, with shockingly fast reflexes, scooped it up and ran. This was repeated frequently throughout the afternoon, and I have my suspicions that when the adults were looking away Frank may actually have snuck up and gently coaxed the carrot (chip, cracker, cookie, popcorn) out of the little guy's hand.

Frank did not stop following the wee one for 2 full hours. OH Frank, you are such a focused hunter.....

Pug Week

Frank is a big fan of The Discovery Channel's shark week, mainly because there are a couple of laps on which to snuggle as his dad and I watch for hours with fascination. Just this week I was able to capture some evidence of Frank's very own predatory habits.

You may want to notice below the tell tale signs that a feeding frenzy is about to take place, most notably the very tense lips....

Ah, the prey has appeared. An unsuspecting french fry (not on a pug's recommended diet...)

First we see the brief investigation and move in...


followed by a dip down to pick up acceleration....

And! The Lunge!!!

OH Frank! What a frightening display! The final removing of all evidence that a feeding has occured comes very quickly after the lunge. You may ask yourself, "how EVER was that french fry chewed AND swallowed in such a short amount of time?" Indeed, it is a fascinating question.

As you can see, that final two steps are done with great speed and agility so that Frank can prepare with great hope for the next French Fry to swim by:

OH Frank. Such a fine specimen to study!