Wake up call

In the mornings, Oliver used to jump on me when he woke up. It was quite annoying, to be jarred from sleep with four pug paws pressing into your stomach and face.

Recently Oliver has stopped jumping all over me, which I credit in part to his maturing and being able to hold it together more so than before. Now, he just crawls closer to my face, and stares. He stares at me as if the staring would will me from sleep. And when my eyes pop open, he gets really excited.

Here’s the face I wake up to now.

flashback

 

 

I took this picture the very first day I met Oliver.

Look at those eyes. I should’ve known then- I was in trouble.

Four eyes

Possible captions when writing this post:

“I’m deep and intellectual.”

“I’m a candidate for LASIK.”

“Mom, I hate you.”

“I’m ready for Halloween!”

 

I considered a number of things for Oliver’s first Halloween. My first thought was to buy a Yoda costume, but upon further inspection at Target, I realized with his temperament it just wouldn’t work.

So, I sprung instead for the hot dog costume. I’d say this was a win.

Pug life

A day in the life: eat, sleep, repeat 3x.

fear of abandonment

It didn’t manifest itself right away, but in the days before I moved out of the house I was renting with some friends, Oliver became increasingly needy.

He’s always been aware of my patterns. For example, when I get ready in the mornings, he goes berserk when he sees me put on shoes because he knows I’ll soon be leaving. Normally when I leave in the mornings, Oliver is pretty quiet. My roommates have told me that it’s almost as if he doesn’t exist as he can be so quiet sometimes.  This past week, however, my roommate Emily let me know that after I would leave she could hear whining and howling and crate rattling. It broke my heart.

On Saturday I put Oliver in the crate again while we were moving things in and out just to keep him from getting in the way or running out the door. He was so stressed out, he was visibly shaking. I also could not get enough space last night he was cuddled so close when we went to bed.

Throughout today he’s calmed down considerably. Still needy, but not quite the Velcro Pug that existed earlier in the week.

Birthday boy, Part 2

 

Tuesday after work I came home and brought out all the treats I bought for him at PetSmart (salmon treats, a rawhide, a stuffed animal, and a rope).

(please ignore the eyesore trash can)

After playing for a bit, I left Ollie with his two new toys and took off for a quick run (which went better than anticipated, yay!).

About 30 minutes later when I got home, I came up the stairs and saw this…

Notice the stuffed animal’s arm under the coffee table.

 

I tried, what can I say?

Birthday boy

 

My pug is now a one year old.

 

Older, but not necessarily wiser :)

 

 

Nonetheless he's made my life richer and more entertaining.

 

No words.

 

His Royal Highness

“I’ve taken over your bed as my own. Now you must kiss my paw, peasant!”

Passed out pug

 

Not that this has changed much, but when Oliver was a puppy, he slept hard. You could poke him, pick him up, play with his paws, his ears- and he would not wake up. He’d continue snoring in his deep sleep. It was adorable.

These days he’s a little more alert and when he’s sleeping and you play his paws or something, he tends to at least open one eye for a brief second before resuming sleep.

Last week, my sister and I were driving back from Hilton Head when he wormed his way into my sister’s lap for the duration of the drive. He passed out. We poked him. Played with his paws. My sister picked him up, and he continued to sleep, thus providing us a great photo opportunity. He is the sweetest, the cutest.

The lobster

 

 

A few months ago at PetSmart I picked up a stuffed lobster (notice it in the corner of the photo?)  for Oliver to play with. I thought he might treat it like his other toys- “one of the many,” and would play with it if it struck his fancy.

Strangely though, this one has become a favorite. It’s honestly the first thing he looks for first thing in the morning (he even carried outside one morning), and I’ve noticed several times that he’ll run all the way upstairs just to get his lobster and brings it back into the living room. It’s adorable.

Creature of comfort

 

Oliver somehow finds a way to burrow under the covers in such an adorable way. In this case, it looked like a teepee, with his head poking out.

Destruction

 

As cute as this dog is, we have been having some issues recently.

I think Oliver is currently going through a “stage,” something maybe comparable to what they call the “terrible twos,” even though I have never experienced that phenomenon and don’t plan on it for a very long time. He’s been ruining a number of things recently, like:

• coffee tables
• living room rugs
• Bob Dylan cds
• Tory Burch flats

And the coup de grâce- my Tiffany earrings that I received as a college graduation gift. There are no words to describe how angry and even more confused I am as to why he decided sterling silver studs were appetizing.

Annoying pug

I’ve been in a less than stellar mood over the last few days, and combined with a killer headache that I can’t shake, I have been super pleasant. Not surprisingly, Oliver has been annoying every fiber of my being.

This evening, when I was browsing iTunes for some new music, he climbed on my bed, and stared at me over my screen.

Of course, with that face, my annoyance quickly dissipated.

Sleeping Pug, Part Two

 

While Oliver does play hard, he is a pug- and by nature has a tendency to be the ultimate lounger. 

On Sunday I was doing my normal Sunday stuff- putting away groceries, cooking my breakfast for the week (I love steel cut oatmeal but I don’t love the time it takes), and making lunch for Monday. I’m walking towards the couch and I see this:

He was passed out.

That is, until I came around the other side to get another picture. He woke up, but didn’t move an inch. Yes, that’s right- he’s practically upside down.

What a piece of work.

Sleeping pug

Oliver loves to play.

Because of this love of playtime, this means he naps hard.

Example:

This is a regular sleeping position for Oliver.

What a weirdo.

Mood lifter

My love for my pug seems to grow more everyday. That sounds incredibly cheesy, but I’m almost obsessed with him. He still has his quirks that annoy me to no end, but most of the time, I find Oliver to be an instant mood lifter. You really can’t help but smile and relax a little bit when you see that face.

Sickly

So, Oliver has had his first bout of an uneasy stomach, to put it nicely.  Unfortunately, little Ollie consumed a food item that he shouldn’t have, and his little pug stomach is paying the price. The funny part is, is that aside from the increased amount of bathroom time and the byproduct (sorry, I’m trying to keep this as pleasant as possible), you really can’t tell he’s not feeling 100%.  He does his business and not long after he’s ready to play. Jumping, trying to lick your face, running back and forth.

I wish I was that go with the flow when I’m not feeling well. Maybe I could take a lesson or two from him.

Privileged

 

Oliver is a privileged pug. We all know this. I mean, look at the picture. He’s sitting on my bed like it’s totally normal.

Lately, he’s getting all kinds of special treatment. This morning when I was taking Oliver out for his morning bathroom break before work, I decided I really had no desire to put him back in his crate. He’s been extremely well behaved lately- very few accidents, and does remarkably well whenever I leave him out around the house for short periods of time. I decided: today was The Day. No more crate! A full day out in the living room.

He was kind of confused when I didn’t take him back upstairs, but I’m pretty sure he made himself at home on the couch once I left. One of my roommates gets home from work a bit earlier than I do and I get a text confirming that he is indeed an Awesome Pug.

“No accidents! Just chillin’ out! This dog is amazing.”