Just a quick update on Sally Sue: she is snoring sweetly on the couch next to me as I smile over pictures of her on the computer. She is such a doll. She is always delighted when I come home from anywhere (even if I just went out to check the mail), and she thinks I am the BEST. At Pet Therapy last week, someone exclaimed that pugs were the ugliest dogs ever! I and my visitng partner, Jenn (who also has a pug: Mr. Quincy) and I were taken aback. Jenn said, "What? Ohhhh noooo, pugs are the cutest!" We didn't quite know how to respond! After we left the area, we hugged our dogs.

Please don't say my dog is ugly, even if you are thinking it. Just keep that WRONG opinion to yourSelf!

Much love!

Liz and Sally Sue (THE cutest dog in the universe, THANK YOU very MUCH)

Harmonious Health and Happiness

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted about Sally Sue! I'm sure you were all waiting for the next post about sweet Sally Sue (eye roll) so here it is!

Sally started to not feel well during May. I rushed her to the e-vet (thank you All Valley Meridian for an amazing 24/7 hospital), but they couldn't pinpoint why her tummy hurt. X-rays and lab work were normal. They gave her a woozie-doozie poke full of painkillers and sent her home. After a week or so, she just wasn't perking up to her usual self, and I continued to be concerned. She was extra lazy (more so than her usual sleep-on-the-bed-round-the-clock self), and kept groaning when I picked her up. I popped her into Dr. Pilcher at Indian Creek Veterinary Hospital in Caldwell, and once again, her lab work showed nothing amiss. However, he and I both suspected that she had pyometra (a uterine infection). Since I was planning on spaying her anyway, we opted for the next day. Sure enough, after the surgery was over, Dr. Pilcher confirmed that the beginnings of pyometra were present.

Now only a week after her surgery, I am happy to report that Miss Sally Sue is rapidly returning to her happy, bouncy, playful self. She is SUCH a joy. How many people can say that there is someone in their life who is happy ALL of the time?! Well, I can! Her name is Sally Sue; pug extraordinaire!

Sally Sue will be attending the pug play group this Saturday, so she will get to run and play and snort with many other curly-tailed friends.

It's fantastic to have her health and happiness in harmony.

Go faster, Mommy!

Today Sally's helmet came in the mail! I was so excited to try it on her and go for a ride. It looks so cute; unfortunately, it slips off her head very easily. Does anyone have any suggestions for keeping it in place? I bought it to really protect her head in the event of a little bicycle crash, but if it is slipping off while doing nothing it certainly isn't going to protect her piggy brains. Nevertheless, I strapped it on her and off we went on our ride for today.

As we rode through the neighborhood, I stopped and talked with a friend for about twenty minutes. Sally became quite restless in the basket, and so we rode on. The wind was blowing quite heartily today, and I was having a hard time keeping up a decent speed. Several times, as I slowed down, Sally turned around in her basket and just gave me this LOOK. I couldn't believe it! I was pedaling as fast as I could into the wind, but it was simply too slow for her! She was so active in the basket that I had a difficult time keeping the handlebars heading forward. She even stood up (heart attack!) in the basket and put her front paws on the edge as she looked over the front wheel. I screeched at her to SIT DOWN. She did, but she just kept throwing me these....GLANCES....over her shoulder.

Okay, so next time I won't stop and visit anyone! Apparently bike time is "SALLY TIME" and I had better go as fast as I can to make the experience full and complete for her. (pant pant pant.....that's ME not her!!)

Bicycle Buddy

Trying to be healthy, I got a new bike this year. It is a Specialized and more conducive to street riding than my old Raleigh mountain bike. My husband took it into the shop for new tires,a tune-up, and a basket for my little road buddy, Sally Sue! I made a cover for it, and she sits in the basket while I ride my bike (she is harnessed in for safety!). We have so much fun! Her ears flap in the wind and she smells everything and looks around. She is so cute! For her, riding in the basket is the ultimate "head out the window" experience! I just wish I could find a little doggy bike helmet for her added safety! Oh, how I love my precious piggy girl! I'm so lucky to have her sweetness in my life.

My Lovely Little Friend

Today was perfect yard-working weather. Feeling out of sorts, I went outside and decided to pull a few weeds, lay some weed barrier, and plop bark chips down. I parked the wheelbarrow close by and tossed the weeds into it. When it got full, I picked up Sally Sue and she rode along on top of the weeds in the wheelbarrow to edge of the yard. She jumped down, I dumped the weeds into the pile, and then I picked her up (quick hug and cuddle) and put her into the empty wheelbarrow. She rode along happily back to the flowerbeds. As I pulled weeds, she curled up next to me and snored. What a lovely lovely little friend.

A Little Piece of Pug Heaven

The funeral is over and life has returned to its regularly scheduled events. My house needs a good cleaning, homework needs to be done, papers need to be written, lawn needs a good mowing, flowerbeds already need weeded...and the list goes on and on. Somehow, I think the world is just bleak. Some of the color went right out of the sky when my Mom died. She had so much spunk, vitality, and energy. Through it all, Sally Sue has been my happy companion. She isn't sad; she only knows happy, wiggling, snorting, oh-scratch-my-tummy-Mom!, joy. As I think and write this morning, her familiar snoring soothes me and makes me laugh. That dog can sleep like nothing else and play like nothing else too! She's a winner.

Puggy Peace

Today my mother passed away after a long battle with cancer. As I sit here on the couch, grieving, I look down and what do I see? Of course. My beautiful little Sally Sue curled up against me with her little paws tucked under my leg. She knows I am hurting and she comforts me with her snorts and cuddles. How is it that she can sense my sorrow? I feel comforted knowing that her rolls and her wiggles will never cease to make me smile and laugh. We'll make it through this, too.

Suzie Snoozie

Welcome to the sweet life of Sally Sue; a pug's life.

Sally Sue is two years old, but turns three on April 20th. Her life includes sleeping, eating, cat-herding, Chihuahua wrestling, barking at the UPS person, and protecting her front yard from the Yorkie-Maltese dogs next door. Additionally, Sally "goes to work" as a certified Pet Therapy Volunteer and is a willing visitor at the local hospital. Furthermore, she will embark on 2 exciting adventures this summer when she attends Camp Erin (grief camp for children who've lost a loved one) and Camp RiverRun (camp for children with life threatening diseases).

When we graduated from Pet Therapy training, I was cuddling her up on my lap. I held her and rocked her (since she is my "baby")and we quietely "talked" to each other. After the ceremony, a woman came up to me and said, "I have a pug that I love too, but I was watching you during the graduation and you take love to a whole new level!!"

Once you step into THIS pug's life, however, you won't be able to help but fall head over curly tail for this adorable pug.

Welcome to my world!!