End Of The Pug Era

It is with terrible sadness that I have to report that Chester pug, the most handsome and gentle of all dogs, passed away on Friday July 28th 2017.

Chester had not been himself since his soul mate Maisie died eighteen months previously and then more recently he began showing similar symptoms to the ones Maisie had suffered so we knew that he likely had cancer too and time was short.

Lucy has been fine, because she is a rescue dog and came from a single dog household she doesn't feel the separation angst we think.

I cannot express how much I will miss my pugs, I will never be truly happy again.

Goodbye Chester Pug, you were the best!
xxx

Last photo's of Chester in July.

Sad times and a new beginning

The early part of 2016 was grim for me. I couldn't understand why Maisie had to go. I loved having another puggy body to cuddle up to and so although the parents did their best with hot water bottles and the like...it was no good, I went into a decline.

Eventually in the summer I became quite ill with it all, got a really bad joint inflamation and ear infection. Mummy thought I would be too ill to walk anymore so she bought me a chariot. Even having my own wheels didn't cheer me though.

Things were bleak but just then.......
Mummy showed me a photo of a girl in South Wales. She wasnt a pug, she was a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, all alone having been given up for adoption. She wasn't a youngster at 8 years old and she was deaf but I liked the cut of her jib. There was something about this gal.....

Her name was Roxy but we soon changed that to something much more sensible.
Lucy and I became friends and in August of 2016 she came to live in my house with me.

She liked the toys

I showed her the garden and offered her gifts.

Still she insisted on separate beds.

and so dear blog reader, I married her!

Lost Login and password

Typical of the parents, they lose things. I guess their nose just isn't as equipped to detect stuff.

This is the excuse the mummy parent has for not updating the blog for such a long time. As the photo's that follow will testify, we had grown grey and distinguished in the intervening years...well I was distinguished, Maisie just went to seed!

Rosa, the parents grandchild would walk with Maisie because she had become quite a lot slower. It soon became apparent that all was not well.

 When Maisie became ill in late 2015 we thought it was a joint problem, easily repaired but no, she lost weight and began to be quite unwell so that by January 2016 there was no doubt that she had cancer (of the spleen) and it was decided that as it had also infiltrated lung and liver the best that could be done was to say goodbye.

Maisies last photo, enjoying the rare winter sunshine. I was very sad for Maisie.

Maisie's passing was sad for us all, mummy parent was particularly sad because her father had died a few months previously and before that, the cat Mr Sidney has also had a stroke and died

We will always remember the little black pug, so lively, so naughty but so lovable too.

My 10th Birthday was a bit of a non event but I did have my portrait done, just for the record.

Twelve months catch up

We cannot believe a year has passed without so much as a word from us on this blog!

You cannot imagine how we begged and cajoled the humans to update but no, they had other things on their minds like babies (cough, cough.... horrid things!) 

Yes, unfortunately they have become grandparents and worse still, the other younger human has just married and is on her way to producing another grandchild already!

They coo and gurgle over the tiny human but we fail to see the cuteness ourselves, it's not even as if the tiny one has any fur to speak of!

So let us bring you up to speed on the important events of  late 2012.

To begin with we must mention here that another human, uncle Chris, joined our household as his working season finished in Spain. He settled in quite well except for the small problem of the Ipod earphones. 

Trouble is, Maisie here has always had a thing for ears and so these small chewy plastic things were just a bit too tempting. She demolished the first two pairs within a couple of days. Another pair vanished the following week and at this point we were both subjected to the embarrassment of having our mug shots posted onto a website called 'Dog Shaming'.

Notice the one looking guilty!

The humans did eventually forgive her but Uncle Chris moved out. He was not able to take the fast pug pace we suspect. 

Winter was hard, knee deep snow, so cold that Maisie (who has only a single black coat as opposed to my well bred double) was visibly shivering on our morning walks.

The humans bought her a coat.

She seemed happy with the coat, that was until we stepped outside, whereupon she froze and refused to take a single step. 

The humans pretended not to hear but I distinctly heard her mutter something about only wearing 

Cavalli. 

Best they shop at Harrods next time then.

We got through the cold and rain as best we could and come Springtime the humans wanted to pull down the old garden out-building and build a brand new wooden cabin to house their art materials and lady human's wool and felting stuff. 

Not only that but they wanted to build it themselves.

It all began with dust, dirt and noise and continued with noise and dust but, eventually, and with our guidance, the cabin was born.

 We offered assistance regarding placement of doors and windows.

Maisie remembered that sockets should be plentiful.

We all agreed that blue and terracotta would be the best colours for the build because the blue was like the sky.

Soon the work was done and we could take a back seat for a while.

Later the humans felt that a paved area would be more practical than a lawn and we overheard plans to remove our grassy areas!

We soon put a stop to that, well, we compromised in that the little lawn in front of the cabin be retained and the rest paved. It turned out that it was to assist us in wearing down our long claws, everyone knows it's impossible to cut a pugs claws, many have tried...... all have failed!

So it came to pass that man human had a birthday and one of his presents was paper aeroplanes...we had such fun on that paved area!

Hah! 

Run, catch, rip to pieces. It's  easy!

Well that's our catch up of twelve months, see you again very soon

Chester & Maisie x

Independence Day 2012

It's not been a great summer so far, rain mostly. The Humans went away for a week to Northumbria in June and we got to go to our holiday res run by Harvey and Lenora. They are pretty cool, there's even a spa there where we get tidied up should the need arise.
I'll admit I'm glad to see the humans coming to collect us again because the powder we get covered in at the spa is nasty and makes me sneeze, (though Maisie smells the better for it frankly), once home we are bathed right away.

Since then the brick shed has been coming down in stages and more recently the pile of bricks is disappearing off in a horse box (Huh?) several trips too because only 300 bricks can go on a trip it seems. This is what happens when you sell stuff on ebay!

So all in all it's been quiet here and with the 'home human' unwell, even our walks are shorter in case she keels over and I have to take charge of getting us home again.
Maisie is more forward thinking, she is practising for Halloween already to be the witches pug in the fancy dress contest.
Don't think the back arching is going so well though..... but euwww, look at those claws!

Another box!

They bought a new guitar, we were afraid this would happen because the torturous screeches from the old one were truly shocking ....(and between you and I, the new one aint much better!)

We were told that the box it came in was a boat. Hmph

We gave it a go, really we did but nothing much was happening and there's just so much good sleeping time a pug can forfeit in the name of science, and anyway the sun came out just then.









 I make it a rule that when the sun shines, we have our day bed moved to the living-room so that Maisie can soak up the rays, it's what she lives for.

I'm more for comfort but hell this 'boat/box' is all the wrong shape, I'm spilling out!

Novelty is all very well but what a pug needs is comfort, so I demanded the return of our basket.

Ahhhh That's better. 

Pugs and boxes

A big box arrived today, it had things inside that the parents wanted but we liked the box best.

It is so much warmer than our bed and the sides are higher....not roomy but cosy.

Maisie isn't a stayer, she wandered off  and I was left alone,

Just me and the frog....... people say there is a resemblance. Can't see it myself.

The things people do

Well...what on earth can this be?
It arrived the other day by post and was only wrapped in a thin plastic. Gave Maisie quite a turn it did and I think mummy was more than a little bit surprised too.

Daddy was late home that day and I could hear mummy giggling a lot upstairs while she found a place for the monstrous thing to live.
After daddy came home he made his way straight up to the bedroom to get changed just as he always does but this time instead of whistling there was a horrible silence as he entered the bedroom.
I don't think it was a good idea of hers to put it into the bed like that, next to her. Daddy could have had a fatal heart attack!

It turns out the 'thing' is something daddy ordered to display all the shirts and jackets and things he sells on ebay.