Snuggling with Kitties! (kind of)

This doesn't happen often so I had to take pictures.

Ok, ok, so what really happened is that Daisy was using my lap as a pillow. I got up and eased her onto the couch where she landed on Nemo's tail/butt. She decided it was soft and comfy enough to continue sleeping, and Nemo decided they weren't touching enough to contaminate him. Cute though, isn't it?

Daisy Loves Daddy

Daisy must be over the moon now that Tom is done with his summer job and has a few weeks off before school starts again. I'm sure she's looking forward to long naps on the couch with her head resting on some part of Daddy. She's like a leech sometimes:

Let's get a closer look at the pathetic face:

So Sleepy

Daisy takes after her mommy in that she will gladly take a nap at any time and she loves to hit the snooze button. Well, not literally of course, but she'll wake up, look around, go back to sleep, wake up, look around (maybe wag the tail once or twice) and go back to sleep. We like to snooze together while Daddy gets up to start the morning routine.

Snoozing in Daddy's sleep shirt

She also has incredibly persuasive sleep powers. Just sitting on the couch with her can induce us to lean our heads back and nap for a while. Even the cats fall asleep when she's nearby!

Sleepy Zoo

Bratty Sleepy Pug

Daisy loves to sleep on the couch or in bed, but she has difficulty getting up and down. She is not at all like the young energetic pugs we see at the dog park, and jumping is definitely not in her repertoire. Instead, she'll put her front paws on the edge of the couch or bed and gaze pleadingly at us until we lift her up.

Tom's mom sent him a great solution to the the back-breaking labor of lifting a 20-lb pug up and down multiple times a day - a doggy ramp! His family's dachsund used it to get onto the couch or bed (before the poor weiner lost the use of his two back legs and was relegated to a chariot). Daisy seems nervous about the contraption and so far I've only been successful in luring her up with a treat.

The other night, I was watching TV on the couch and the sleepy pug wanted to come up and sit in my lap. So I patted the ramp and she put her front paws on it but refused to go any further. Both Tom and myself repeatedly called "Daisy! Come on, good girl! You can do it!" but she stubbornly resisted. Giving up on the zero-incentive method, I got up to get a treat and walked back to the couch. But wouldn't you know, before I even sat down, Daisy ran right up the ramp onto the couch and snatched the treat from my hand!

What's the lesson learned here?
a) Pugs are not stupid.
b) Pugs will do anything for food.
c) Daisy is a huge brat.

Sleepy Pug at the Shore

We had a great weekend at the shore and Daisy thoroughly enjoyed herself. She was very interested in the pool and looked like she wanted to get in. She also had lots of space to run around without a leash, and she took full advantage to pee on anything and everything in the area!

Lounging by the pool

Unfortunately, she was not a very good girl and terrorized my friend's dogs, a small black lab mix named Maddy and a big yellow lab named Jake. Thankfully, the other dogs were terrified of her and didn't try to retaliate or else Daisy would have been in trouble! Jake was at least 5x her size.

Sitting in Jake's bed after she's chased him away

Pictures of Pebbles

Here are just a few pics of Pebbles with the cats; more to follow of Pebbles and Daisy "playing".

Pebbles surrounded by the toys

Pebbles attacking a helpless giraffe

Pebbles eating as Nemo watches jealously

Sleepy Pug Update

Daisy has been busy sleeping lately while Mommy and Daddy study, work, and study some more. But she's had company for almost a week as we are dogsitting an adorable Shih-Tzu named Pebbles! He's only 2 and much more energetic than Daisy. She seems to find him vaguely annoying but when Pebbles starts running around playing with all the toys, Daisy musters up some energy as well. It's almost like she's competing with him and saying, "Hey, I can shake my toys just as viciously as you can!"

We took the dogs to a Fourth of July BBQ at a friend's house on Friday. Pebbles was the most well-behaved dog there, sitting neatly at attention in front of anyone who had food. Daisy, on the other hand, was a total brat and tried to attack this poor Tibetan Spaniel named Harvey, who was completely unaware that Daisy wanted him for breakfast. We had to lock her inside the house so she wouldn't chase him down. She has this thing with wanting to kill larger dogs. Small dog syndrome, perhaps?

Other than that, it's hot and sweaty in DC, and Daisy is mostly staying indoors where the AC keeps her nice and cool. We're taking her to the Eastern Shore this weekend so we'll see how she likes the water! I think a pug lifejacket is in order.