Pugs Without Borders

Augie Hearts Rita

While Barkley never discriminates, Augie is a bit snobbish when it comes to making new friends. It was to our great relief, when he not only took to our next door neighbor's Miniature Pinscher--Rita--but actually developed a little crush on her. (And who can blame him...she is very pretty.)

When we went to Target the other week, he insisted we pick up a little something for Rita. We selected a little bird squeaky toy, which Augie put in his mouth before giving to Rita. I think she liked it. Ah, puppy love.

Oui, Oui, Augie

Let's see...how to begin this...okay...In our spare time, Todd and I own a doggie boutique. Well, we owned a doggie boutique. At the moment we own doggie boutique merchandise looking for a location.

Anyway, every now and then potential vendors will send us samples, along with their product catalogs. A lot of times these samples end up in a pile in my office. Or given to our doggie friends to try out. But when the sample is accompanied by a letter that begins, "Enclosed you will find a sample of our new pleated French Maid costume with hat..."

Well...

Portrait of Augie

One of the many perks of working in a creative department is that occasionally you benefit from the talents of others. Like people who actually know how to use their cameras for selective focus.

Today Augie and I will be having lunch with our friend Sarah, and I'm sure he'll think he should get to order something tasty at the North Market.

Photo by Dylan Menges.

Man of the House

When I'm not barking my head off at the neighbors, I like to kick back and relax. You know...glass of ice water...nylabone. Maybe a little music.

That's how I roll.

Will Work for Food

I'm lucky enough to work in an office that's dog friendly, so every now and then, Intern Augie gets to spend the day with me.

Now normally, this sort of thing would be right up Barkley's alley. But I think if I took Barkley to the office, Augie would spend the entire day frantically searching for his brother. This way, Barkley is oblivious at daycare, and Augie is distracted by creative brainstorming sessions and TimBits.

Our company color is apple green, and naturally, Augie has a work shirt. I really should get some sort of royalties from Old Navy.

Sadly, Augie is not a Flash or Flex web developer, as our company is searching for those, and will pay handsomely. (If anyone knows a developer who wants to work for a fabulous company in Columbus, send them my way!) Instead, Augie conducted a very important meeting with Blue Squeaky Puppy, and did some in-depth analysis of Nylabone Spareribs.

Meat and Pugtatoes

We don't usually let the boys have rawhide, so there are always piles of Nylabones strewn around the house for them to chew on. They love the textures, and we keep an eye on them to throw out any bones that get too raggedy.

On our last trip to PetSmart, I saw the new "Bar-B-Chew" varieties--Corn on the Cob, and Rack of Ribs. Ha! They're the same semi-soft Nylabone texture, in fun food shapes. The Rack of Ribs is rib-flavored. The corn on the cob is, well...bacon flavored. Corn flavor must not test well with doggies.

The boys LOVE them. I wish I could have gotten a shot of Augie with the rack of ribs hanging out of his mouth. It's hilarious. (Augie's hoodie from Old Navy)

Not-so-terrible Twos

Recognize the little man on the left side (all by his lonesome)? That's our birthday boy Augie when we first met him. He's two years old today! Happy birthday Mr. Augie Doodleson--we love you!

An Augie Ow-ie

I don't mean to downplay a pug injury, but Augie does tend to be a bit melodramatic about things. Case in point: The other day when he started limping, I was very concerned. I picked him up, and he held his paw up in agony. I gently felt around--was something sprained? Was there a splinter? A flesh wound? Soon it became clear...the little man had a broken nail.

Now, to be fair, his nail did split down to the base. But when he leapt off the deck at the sight of Rita, the neighbor's Miniature Pinscher, only to "remember" that his paw hurt once we got inside...well, let's just say he has selective discomfort.

We put a little Bactine on it, rinsed it off so he wouldn't lick the antiseptic, kissed it gently, and two days later, he's all but forgotten it.

Luck O' the Irish

Happy St. Puggies Day, everyone!

Augie loves holidays, because it means that he and Barkley get special treats. While modeling his t-shirt and chewing on a Nylabone (which I had to take away from him to get a picture that wasn't blurry), he heard the magic words: Tim Horton's.

Both boys got to ride with Todd through the drive-thru for a plain cake TimBit...always a sure sign that it's a holiday.

Then, while we were at PetSmart getting cat food, we found a stuffed sqeaky toy to round out the day's spoiling. Well, at least it should tide them over until the Easter Puggie comes.

Trouble with a Capital T and that Rhymes with P and that Stands for Pug.

Augie cracks us up every day. He can be curled up sleeping one moment, and spinning around in full spaz-mode the next. He is very mischievous, as evidenced by this morning's recent Rammy-napping escapade. When Barkley wasn't looking, Augie grabbed his brother's "security-ram" and decided to gnaw on it, flip it, squish it and sit on it. Barkley, always the patient big brother, just sat and watched. And sighed heavily.

Of course, the more he thought about it, the more Barkley decided he really couldn't let that sort of thievery go un-checked. So approximately 30 seconds after these pictures were taken, Augie found himself pinned beneath his brother, with his leg in Barkley's mouth.

Pugs will be pugs.