Introducing...

Things that a Small One Eyed Pug Can Hold With His Tail

#1 : a pencil

Oh my! I wonder if I could teach him the alphabet?

Where have we been?

You may be wondering to yourself, where has Frank been? Well, the answer lies below! He has been frolicking about in a general state of exaltation with his cousin Gus at his aunt and new uncle's wedding in California!

And what vacation it was!

There was running the beach with cousin Gus (though did not go into the water as he seemed to sense that great whites like to lurk in the area),

snacking galore (yum yum, whipped cream),

special invitations to all the best parties (here we see Frank happily wedged in behind his cousin, which is how he rode the entire way to the bar-b-q),


basking in the sun,


more basking in the sun (with a view),



and most importantly, looking handsome in his bow tie for the big day! (Actually it was the night before as the wedding house did not allow dogs, very sad!)



As you can see, Frank was quite worn out by all of the activities. I am not sure that I have ever seen him so beat, he could barely keep his eye open to make sure that he wasn't missing anything.

Oh Frank! What a big and exhausting time was had by all!

Finally...

...the sun has arrived.

What we have here is a rather blissed out pug.
Oh Frank. Absorb it quickly before it disappears again for a few more months!

What's With the Weather?

I understand that we live in a rainy part of the country, but lately it seems that the rain has been accompanied by a rather unfortunate cold snap. This morning found Frank in a bit of a funk as the sound of chirping morning birds was, yet again, replaced by the sound of a wet, cold drizzle.

Oh Frank! It is quite sad when a pug is not at all eager to be up and frolicking about.

Eventually Frank did find his way out of bed to investigate the day.
First he spent some time staring at a new turtle addition to our home (courtesy of Grandma Herriott)...

After several heartfelt, yet obviously unsuccessful, yips attempting to lure the colorful reptile into play, he moved on to his next activity - staring at me whilst I tried to enjoy the New York Times and wondering, I believe, how I could possibly allow the weather to be so completely offensive.

Oh Frank. I am not sure at all that this is the proper way for a dog to sit.

I finally came to the conclusion that rather than sulking about all day, it was time for us to embrace the weather. Sadly, we no longer have the perfect coat for a cold, rainy day - we have a coat for the rain, and a coat for the cold, but not for the two together. My first thought was to go for a shopping foray, but since Frank and I are attempting to find solutions for hard economic times, we decided to improvise...



Voila! The warm and fuzzy fleece is UNDER the delightful reflective raincoat, and doesn't Frank look pleased?

His mood did improve when he realized that we were headed to the dog park...


...but then drastically plummeted anew when we ran into some dogs who investigated Frank as if he were a strange brightly colored squeaky toy as opposed to the small and handsome pug that he is.


Oh Frank. How embarrassing. But really, they have long noses to heat up the air before it goes into their bodies; it is not your fault that you were bred to warm the feet of nobles and not for the rainy cold weather that now seems to be the norm for 3 out of the 4 seasons in the Pacific Northwest.

After heading back to the car, I removed the soaking fleece layer, then steered us to the nearest pet store in the hopes of finding some more ammunition with which to stave off the impending pug boredom.

As you can see, Frank looks decidedly more pleased at this point.

And why wouldn't he be? Here he proudly presents his plunder.

Oh Frank, yet again, we did not do so well with the economic responsibility.

5 minutes after we got home, guess what showed up...

He spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping and enjoying his new chewies in the sun.

Oh Frank. Now you really do have everything.

Another Good Solution for Hard Economic Times....

... buy in bulk!

You can imagine the joy that filled Frank's heart when I walked through the door with this delightfully large bag of dog food hoisted upon my shoulder. We do enjoy the Dick van Patten's Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Sweet Potato and Venison formula. It has kept Frank's coat extraordinarily shiny, clean, and dandruff free. The sad news is that it is not your bargain basement dog food. So, rather than buying my usual 2 bags of 5 pounds each, I purchased the one 15 pound bag, which (if I had purchased 3 rather than 2 bags of 5 pounds) saved me about 5 dollars. Frank's dad does not feel that 5 dollars is worth the storage problem of the big bag; but I digress...

Upon arrival home Frank very obediently posed for the above picture by the bag, and after praising him for his delightful manners, I proceeded around the corner in order to take off my shoes. As I was unlacing shoe number 2, a rather suspicious rustling sound found its way to my ears...

Oh my! Frank you are a very bad dog indeed!

As you can see, he was rather mortified to have been caught red handed.

Lack of Sleep

A colleague asked me the other day whether I had been sleeping well; apparently I was looking a bit tired - never an observation that leaves one feeling dashing. While it is true that there is quite a lot on my mind right now, I am sad to say that the fault of my ragged appearance and tired eyes may lie, at least a wee bit, with someone else....

Oh Frank. I am sad to report that these are some of his lighter snores.

I suppose it would be wise to kick him out of the bed, but really, whose going to disturb this?:

Oh Frank, if only we all could feel so warm and secure!

The bad news: the rain is back.

The good news: a weather change is always a good time to purchase season appropriate accessories!

OH Frank! You are so handsome and safety conscious in your new reflective rain gear!
So much for economic responsibility.

A New Solution for Hard Economic Times

In the face of these hard economic times, it has been suggested to me by Frank's father that perhaps Frank does not need quite so many fancy toys and/or treats. If you are assuming that this suggestion fell on rather deaf ears, then let me take this moment assure you that you are correct. However, seeing as how many older and wiser sorts have told us that marriage is about compromise, I decided to make an effort, and have recently discovered a delightful solution which involves both a tasty treat and a fun filled hour of entertainment:
The Fage Yogurt Cup.
Fage is a delicious Greek yogurt which one can enjoy in a variety of flavors and fat contents. Frank and I usually enjoy one of the 2% milk fat variety, the feeling being that if we want to enjoy 12 grams of fat in a dairy product, which is what the original kind has, we would rather that dairy product be Haagen Dazs.

First Frank spends about 10 minutes intensely focused on whomever is eating the yogurt (I am pleased to say that this person is usually me). He then spends another couple of minutes eagerly focused upon the anticipated container.


This is a new stalking pose for Frank, and it must be said, it is one with which I am not truly comfortable. I am not at all sure that a pug's little foot is supposed to turn at this angle....

Frank's dad says that it is fine; that he is like a sprinter in a starting gate.

Indeed.

Then comes the period of delighted licking, which is actually quite hard to capture on film as Frank scoots and flicks the lightweight container quite briskly across the floor. Fortunately, fairly early on, he got stuck under a chair which delayed his rapid progress for a bit.

Now, part of the joy for Frank in licking a Fage Yogurt Cup comes from the fact that there is not simply one area to enjoy - there are 2! One for the creamy yogurt, and one for the delicious peaches or strawberries that you mix in (there is also a cherry variety, but Frank and I do not enjoy cherry flavored things). The additional container extends the licking time from about 3 minutes into about 5.

Oh Frank! You missed a spot...how very unlike you...

We are then faced with the all too frequent dilema of the pug's tongue not licking downward, or as a matter of fact, very far upward, and have to take a washcloth break before any yogurt makes its way into his nose roll.

Frank then snooffles about pushing and licking the cup for another 10 minutes in the hopes that something more will appear. Frequently it ends up underneath a piece of funiture, a situation for which I am most obviously blamed.

Oh Frank. It was not me who pushed your Fage Yogurt Cup under the book shelf.

He then tries to get it out for about 10 minutes before his squeaks and wails become too much to bear and someone with opposable thumbs kindly fishes it out for him.

Following the recovery of the cup, the new toy is turned upside down and the play portion of the evening begins.

Frank, while trying to overturn the cup, will inevitably kick it across the floor, chase it, catche it, and toss it about. This goes on for approximately 20 minutes; lick, kick, frolic and repeat....

Finally, Frank settles down to enjoy chewing on his Fage Yogurt Cup. This is the time to be very vigilant - only supervised chewing is allowed! If he starts to chew the hard edge or it looks like he might puncture through the plastic, away the cup goes.

Ultimately this Fage Yogurt Cup phase is the shortest, only about 5 minutes. After all, no one wants to take a pug to the emergency vet after they have ingested part of a plastic "economically friendly" toy; aside from the torturous situation of having hurt your pug, a visit to the emergency vet would MOST decidedly negate the economically friendly part of the whole evening.

Oh yes Frank! The Fage Yogurt Cup - a delightful treat (fully supervised only!) for hard times!

A delicious AND affordable hour well spent!

NOTE: The cup is also quite cleaned out for recycling, thus saving the water needed to rinse it.
Oh Frank! How thrifty and responsible you are!

Happy Birthday!

What's that you say? It's sombody's birthday?

Happy Birthday Grandma Herriott! Frank wishes that he were there to share a cupcake with you!

Surf's Up!

Much to Frank's delight, I have recently had a lighter than normal work load. This means that not only do I have extra quality time with which to spoon a pug, but also with which to do some research into various pug activities that Frank might enjoy.

Last night Frank was a bit cowed by a delightful video which we discovered while perusing YouTube - I highly recommend that you get all the way through, though the first 30 seconds may seem a little dull (it is only a minute long I think). Frank particularly enjoys the air swim as the pug is being lowered into place:

(oh - and if you are at work you may want to turn down the sound... the soundtrack sounds a bit like something that might accompany a different type of online video - NOT a brilliant choice I say...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNuFIWu0YJ0&feature=channel_page

Oh FRANK! Time to break out your life preserver!!!