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.