The Dog Days of Summer

Well, we have been having some rather hot weather here these last few days. Frank does not enjoy extremely hot weather. He is a pug, and he is black, which means that he absorbs all of the heat but then does not have much of a snout to help cool him off.

This is how our fine evolutionary creature spends his warm summer days:

Oh Frank! What long grasshoppery legs you have! Note the limp tail. Very sad.

Perhaps, you might be thinking, we should take Frank for a swim to cool him off! Well what an excellent suggestion! Frank does enjoy wading, and on the few occasions that we have taken him out above his little pug head, he is in fact quite a good swimmer and even seems to enjoy paddling along.

Recently we have been invited out on the boat of our Friend and Frank's favorite dog sitter - Osa's Mom (Osa being a very pretty and rambunctious puppy friend of Frank's). Though Frank has done quite well on his short aquatic spurts, Michael Phelps he is not, and so we feel a little concerned about what would happen to the small furry pug were he to misstep (a big concern when you have only one eye and therefore limited depth perception) and fall off the boat.

FEAR NOT!
Thanks to a very generous gift from Osa's mom there is no need to fret about Frank's safety!

OH Frank! What a handsome and safety conscious pug you are!

But wait! There's more! In the event that Frank falls overboard there is a handy dandy handle with which to fish him out!


Oh. Frank. You do not look very pleased at all. But look at how nicely you point your furry little toes - perhaps you have been inspired by the Chinese Synchronized diving team!


You may also want to note that Frank makes quite the dashing figure as today's finest fashion accessory...

Um...

I woke up this morning to find Frank at his window, watching the world go by in a rather less than distinguished stance:

Oh Frank.

Shark Week

Frank and I have recently been watching some reruns of shark week. We feel very upset when we see a sweet little harbor seal frolicking joyfully in the surf with no idea that it is being hunted by a vicious great white.

I was recently inspired to feel the same dismay for some prey sent to Frank by his grandmother Railey.

Oh my! I think I can safely say that I would NOT like to be that ginger snap!

OH Frank! You are so very ferocious!

Finally, Visit Number 2

I'm wondering who could say no to this:

Yep. Pretty hard.

Visit Number 2 actually came right on the heels of Visit Number 1 (demon spore); a visit from Frank's cousin Gusaroo! Gusaroo arrived, on the evening of the demon spore expulsion, to a very groggy and under enthused pug. This suited Gus just fine since in previous visits Frank had tried so hard to lick Gus's nose with love and joy that the very gentle natured bird dog was forced to give a snarl or two.

At first the two pups pretty much kept their distance from one another.

They enjoyed some chewies at a respectful distance,

kept watch of various proceedings at a respectful distance,

and then headed off to sleep at a respectful distance.


Gus, you may want to note, went off to his bed like a good dog. Frank, on the other hand, went directly to the center of the guest bed, which he felt had been turned down just for him, and invited himself AND Gentle Pig right in.

Oh Frank. Must we spoon Gentle Pig in front of such a very distinguished bird dog?


By the second day of the visit, however, it became clear to the two pups that it was MOST effective to join forces when there was food involved. Such wild and impressive pack hunting instincts! Such as here:

and here:


and of course here, the one that cashed in on the big reward:

I ask again, who ever could say no to such hope and delight?
Certainly not I.

The result was a meal for the pups of much leftover, delicious, fresh salmon (AND the skin, yum! -for a pup that is...).

What a ferocious and efficient hunting pack!

Well, even though Frank may have (shockingly) lost the contest for speediest eater, I think we can all agree that everyone was a winner here.

Delicious!

Visits 2 and 3

Oh Frank! What a handsome and healthy looking eyeball you have there!

Well, here is some good news to follow up on the demon spore incident: visit number 3 last week - and we will get back to visit number 2 soon - was to our very favorite veterinary ophthalmologist, and even if he weren't, in fact, our only veterinary ophthalmologist I am fairly certain that he would still be our favorite because there are few people in the world who are quite so delightful. (And who also let Frank lick their nose whilst giving him an exam)

The GOOD news is that Frank's eye is doing well! Everything looks good, and the even better news, as our FVO - (favorite vet. op. is just getting too long to type out repeatedly and I would assume is to0 tiring to read as well) - pointed out, is that the demon spore, which was quite sharp indeed, did not go into Franks eye! Excellent point! We did have an incident a couple of years ago in which Frank ran into a blackberry thorn with his eyeball, and I believe that at that point it was our FVO and his most fantastic staff's turn to give up their lunch break for Frank.

Oh Frank, so many people going hungry for such a small black pug!

The sad news, which of course really is good news, is that given such a stellar report we do not have to visit the clinic and it's wonderful people for a whole year. Hmm. Well perhaps we will need to bring cookies...

A Week of Visits - Day 1

Oh Frank. How can such a small, wee, nostril get into so much trouble?

The last two weeks have indeed been full of visits.
The first visit, of course, involved the grass pictured in the last post. Oh Frank. While on a walk almost 2 weeks ago now, Frank wandered through a few blades of rather dry looking grass. I didn't think much about this until one of the blades exploded sending its demon sporlings - or whatever they are actually called - flying about. The next thing I knew Frank was shaking his head, drooling, and making alarming noises that I can't even begin to describe. One of the wretched things had started up his nose. I immediately grabbed it and pulled, not realizing how sharp the barbs were, before it could disappear, but the poor Frank screamed, pulled back, and snorted all at the same time, and there it went.

It was bad. Horrible actually. After a frantic call to the vet's office, which was closing, and about 10 minutes of drooling and trying to clear his nose desperately, Frank calmed down to pretty near normal. His dad and I decided that maybe we were over reacting and that the grass would simply be swallowed. (I am sad to say that I was inspired by the memory of a lively demonstration by a fellow actor in graduate school snorting a noodle up his nose only to have it appear in his mouth. Well, we all find hope where we can in a time of crisis.) This was a bad, bad call. The next day the grass was still there, which resulted in Visit Number 1, to our very frequently called upon veterinarian.

When we arrived we were told that there was no way that the grass was coming out on its own. And then I had to leave Frank there. To be put under for the grass to be fished out. Oh Frank. My poor, wonderful veterinarian who I adore and his delightful, wonderful staff, had to spend their lunch hour fishing about in a small black pug nose. Good times I'm sure.

When I picked him up that night the demon spore was gone, but the oh so bedraggled pug was as drugged as can be, his tail had nary a curl and was limp as a noodle. I thought of taking a picture, but no one likes a picture of themselves when they are so sad and under the weather.

The good news is that it seems that all of the grass was retrieved. Also, I now have 2 delightful lessons to pass on:

1) Stay out of brown grass with your dog.

2)Even though everyone makes fun of you, it is best to assume, when you own a pug, that you are NOT overreacting. Ever. They are not so hearty, and yes, you should take them to the vet. Probably right now.

AND, in further good news, at 10:oo that night guess who arrived for a bonus visit?

Here's a clue:

Note the lack of grass demon up the very long nose....

The next several visits, which will have to be highlighted over the next several days, were of a much happier nature and include a visit to our MOST delightful veterinary ophthalmologist as WELL as the perfectly timed arrival of the guest pictured above.

Where's Frank?

Oh dear, it has been such a very busy week between Frank's adventures, a visit from Frank's cousin Gus, crazy business at work, and visits to both of our very favorite veterinarians (one in a rather emergency situation) that there have not only been a lack of updates, but also rather dismaying spelling and grammatical errors in the previous posts... corrected now I do hope...

Allow me to present a preview of what's to come in the recap of the last week:

Now, would you like to guess who may have snorted something like this up his nose? Backwards? So that the barbs would not allow it to be pulled out?:

Think very hard.

The Silent Treatment

Someone is displeased.

After a jubilant greeting upon our return from the beautiful (though sadly pug free) wedding of a most dear friend in Long Island, Frank proceeded to glare at his dad and I, then assumed this position for the rest of the afternoon.

Every so often, if we perhaps tried to talk amongst ourselves or leave the room, this stance was embellished by a loud sigh.

Oh Frank, it is so very hard to be a pug...

Some good news and some bad...

Oh Frank. You do not look pleased.

I am sad to report that over the last few days Frank has slowly been breaking out in hives.

They started out around his shoulders a couple of days ago and I assumed that they were from summer allergies. Yesterday, however, when they moved to his head, I was truly alarmed.
I think we can all agree that no one enjoys an itchy head.

The first course of action was to give him a pug sized dose of Benadryl. The good news about this is that one of my extremely enjoyable work colleagues was just telling me that her favorite posts about Frank were the ones involving food, in particular when there is an oyster cracker featured. In the very same conversation it was revealed that not only did my colleague feel that there are few things better than peanut butter, but that Frank also seems to believe that there are few things better in the whole world than peanut butter. Herein lies the good news: it just so happens that the perfect vehicle to give a pug a Benadryl (make sure you know the correct dose from your veterinarian) is a dollop of peanut butter on an oyster cracker!

OH FRANK! Whoever knew that your tongue was so expandable!
(You may want to know that the licking went on for a full minute after this video ended...)

It must be said that I do enjoy a video of Frank, (I am sorry for the clanking and the sound quality, but I do recommend having sound for maximum enjoyment, especially for today's features) though the peanut butter oyster cracker is still not quite as enjoyable as the regular smacking lips involved with the ingestion of a plain oyster cracker - allow me to present my evidence for the above statement, and do feel free to cast your own votes:

Oh Frank! What a handsome pug you are with your oh so smacky lips!

I am pleased to report that as this post was being written we solved the case of Frank's hives. Thanks to our neighbor, Jake the Golden Retriever's dad, I realized that though I had bathed Frank after taking him for a swim in the sea, I had NOT washed his collar, which I had removed for the bath! Oh what a bad mom.

Frank's Best Picture Ever....

OH MY!....

What a photogenic pug we have here in his doggles!
I realize that there have been other doggle pictures in the past, but I do think this one really shows off what a suave and debonair canine Frank can be!

And such FINE accessorising! OH Frank, you do look rather handsome in red.

The picture was taken last week on our way home from Frank's favorite doggie beach.

Pugs generally are not water dogs, but for some reason Frank LOVES this particular spot. His enthusiasm was increased even more by the discovery of this delightfully fit shepug! (I am embarrassed to say that I forgot her name - though I remember it was charming.)

Some favorite activities of the day included:

running in synchronized aquatic circles of joy,


group ocean tasting,

generalized frolicking,

and pug tag through delightful tide pools of muck and mire...

Oh my - let's pause for a close up action shot:

Oh FRANK! Such leaps and bounds!!!

I dare say it is rather time for a bath. What a tough and rugged pug you are!