The Life and Times of Olive the Pug: Dog on Vacation

Our time here in Florida has been nice for a dog. Olive has been very comfortable temperature-wise. The highs have been in the 60s Fahrenheit...perfect for a pug. But now and then, the temps have dropped and it's nice when a dog has a patch of sun big enough for her bed.

Olive decided to pose for a side view so you can see her new collar, which we purchased at Oysterbones in Apalachicola. Oysterbones is a very dog-friendly store in a very dog-friendly town.  Olive picked that particular collar because “Dog is my co-pirate” is her motto.

But when a dog spends too much time in the sun, she tends to get a little sleepy and eventually has to lie down.

But just the very mention of “cheese” tends to perk a dog up...

...at least for a few seconds.

Good Fences Keep Out the Riff-Raff...

"Hey, Whitey, what the heck is that down there?"

"Well, Henry, I think it smells like a Pug!"

"Sure enough, y'all.  It's a pug."

"Thanks goodness for fences."

Linking to The Run*A*Round Ranch Report's Good Fences!

Thanks, Theresa!

The Life and Times of Olive the Pug: Traveling with your best friend…

Our trip to Texas wouldn’t have been the same if Olive the pug hadn’t been along.  I wanted to share some tips about how easy it is to take a dog (at least a small dog) along with you when you go on a car trip.

First of all, the dog needs luggage.  Olive’s bag is a medium-sized canvas bag with a zipper top.  In it is a small bag of dog food with a scoop, two dog bowls, a few treats and extra poop bags because we think it is just proper to pick up after the dog if she does her business in a place where humans might stray.  We also include an extra leash of the plain old nylon variety and a change of underwear.

Just kidding about the underwear.  The nylon leash comes in very handy if you want to tether your dog to a picnic table.  It’s much easier to maneuver than a retractable leash for this purpose.

A few years ago, we purchased this device that goes on a water bottle with a sports top.  It is very handy for a quick drink for a small pooch.  But if you are trying to get away from using disposable plastics like we are, then you may want to consider something like this or this instead.

It is also a very good idea to take along evidence of rabies and bordetella (kennel cough) vaccinations.  If you need to leave your best friend in doggie daycare and the facility is reputable, they will ask for these.  We did leave Olive the pug for a day in doggie daycare on our trip and did bring along our rabies certificate, but had to call our vet’s office to fax the other to the facility.  Fortunately, it was during the week when our vet’s office was open.   So we learned something on this trip and will try to remember take a certificate for both the next time.

Whenever we humans get into the car, we automatically buckle our seatbelts.  A few years ago, we decided that it’s a good idea to buckle the dog in, too.  So we purchased a dog harness that attaches to the car’s seat belt.  There are many good ones around.  This keeps the dog from becoming a projectile in case of an accident and also keeps her from roaming around in the car and being a distraction.  The system we have does give her the freedom to move from one side of the seat to the other like when she needs to get out of the sun.  We have decided that on our next trip, we will purchase a window shade for her side of the car though because sometimes she is just too lazy to move and she tends to overheat.

Then there is always the question of where does one stay when one has a dog along.  We have found that there are quite a few hotel chains that are dog-friendly.  However, there is dog-friendly like “your dog is welcome here and it is free (or a nominal charge)” for him to stay and there is dog-friendly like “this facility charges a non-refundable $150 deep cleaning fee” if you bring your dog along.  Well, we happen to think that any charge over $25 is not all that “dog-friendly” so that drives where we tend to stay.  Some facilities also  have weight limits and will only accept pets that weigh less than 25 pounds.

  Here are some chains that we have found to be reasonably dog-friendly:  La Quinta, Best Western, Holiday Inn, Country Inn and Suites, Drury Inn, Sleep Inn and Baymont Inn.  If you want to splurge, Kimpton Hotels are a luxurious pet-friendly boutique chain.  BUT, we have found that not only is it always a good policy to check on line to see what the pet policy is in each hotel before you book, it is also good to confirm it with a phone call.  Things can vary within a franchise and who needs a surprise after driving 600 miles in a day?  If you use TripAdvisor, you can use a pet-friendly filter when you search for a place to stay and that can give you a good start when you are in the planning stage.  We have learned over the years that not all camp grounds are pet-friendly so it’s a good idea to check on those sites, too.  Most sites that advertise for rental houses also have pet-friendly filters to help narrow the search down.

When staying in a hotel a princess like Olive always enjoys luxury bedding.

It is special when you can take your best friend out for dinner and there are many places that allow Fido to be along when you dine IF they have outside seating that is accessible without going through the building.  But there are always exceptions and it is a good idea to check first.  Olive ate breakfast, lunch and dinner out with us on several occasions on this trip when the weather cooperated and now and then she met the nicest dogs.

You don't have to leave your best friend at home or in a kennel when you travel.  Next time, take her along.  She could use a vacation, too.

The Things You See Along the Way: Leaving for Texas...

When we left Central Massachusetts this past Monday morning, it was 50 degrees F. and pouring rain. It was great luck for us that Massachusetts hadn't fallen into the deep freeze yet because had it been 30 degrees cooler with that precip, we probably wouldn't have been able to leave. But leave we did and managed to get almost 600 miles under our wheels before we stopped in Virginia. There was really only one snag we encountered that day. Traffic came to a complete halt in New York because of a car fire. But it only took 20 minutes for us to get going again. Meanwhile, two cars with a bunch of kids kept us entertained by throwing strawberries and goldfish at each other. They did remember to take the goldfish back in the car before they took off again.

And then there was this pooch who was more than interested in what was going on.

Mostly what we saw was a landscape that remained very grey and got progressively colder until by the time we arrived in Virginia, the temps were in the single digits.

The Life and Times of Olive the Pug: A Pug’s Christmas…

Olive, the pug, was excited on Christmas morning and anxious to get out for her walk, but a little perturbed when her human stopped to take some pictures.

Once back inside, the pug gazed longingly at the packages under the tree wondering which were hers.

“Dude,” she said, “Whose is this?  It has to be for me!”  Unfortunately, the sweater inside this bag wouldn’t fit a pug.

Finally, she got to open her first package, which was a nice squeaky toy shaped like a lamb.  Unfortunately, the toy made a noise that scared a pug so she didn’t want to play with it anymore.

Then, she got what her little puggy heart desired:   a can of organic pumpkin.  Her favorite gift!

She was a happy pug after that and was content to watch her peeps open what remained of their presents.

A Series of Unfortunate (Senior) Events…

Yesterday, Greg and I drove to church together.  It was Sunday, so that probably doesn’t sound so strange to you.  But in truth, we seldom ride together to church.  You see, Greg sings in the choir and on choir Sundays, he has to be there an hour and a half early so I come along later.  On other Sundays, sometimes he decides not to go or I decide not to go.  In total, we probably ride to church together four or five Sundays during the nine month church year.

But yesterday, we rode to Brookfield together.  We sat next to each other through a wonderful service and afterwards drifted over to coffee hour.  At coffee hours, Greg and I rarely talk to the same people at the same time.  Yesterday was no exception.  So, in the middle of a conversation, I glanced up to see Greg, in his coat, leaving the church.  “Look at that,” I said to the person I was talking to, “Greg forgot that we came to church together and he’s leaving.  I’d better go, too.”  Of course, it took another five minutes or so for me to say my goodbyes and to scoot out the door.

I looked down the street.  Sure enough, Greg’s car was gone.  I had to laugh. I mean, I didn’t blame him.  I figured he was on cruise control and just took off.  So I did the logical thing.  I got a ride home with Amy.

Once in Amy’s car, I gave Greg a call to tell him not to worry because I had gotten a ride home.  The call went directly to voice mail.  I put the phone away and chatted with Amy for a while.  All of a sudden I remembered that my phone was on mute because, duh!, we had been in church.  In those few minutes, I had missed a call from Greg who had missed my call because his phone was also on mute because, duh!, we had been in church.  However, he didn’t leave a message.  So about five minutes from our house, I called him back.  This time he answered.  I won’t tell you exactly what he said because your kids might read this, but long story short, he had gone to the package store to get a bottle of wine to take to our friends Rita and Michelle’s house.  We were invited there for brunch after church to see their new house, remember??

Greg came home and collected me.  We got to Rita and Michelle’s a little late but we got there.  Our friends Mary Ann and Rob, who were going to follow us to the house because they forgot to bring the directions, were already there having taken Greg’s directions with them.  Believe it or not, though I forgot I was going there, I had actually printed out the directions and had them with me.  Ultimately, we had no trouble finding the house.

Over brunch, as we were laughing about this Series of Unfortunate (Senior) Events, Rob confessed that he had seen me get into Amy’s car and drive away but didn’t think to stop me.  Greg neglected to tell me he was going over to the package store to get some wine.  And me, I just plain old forgot even though I had the printed directions on me.

We had a lovely brunch and got quite a few laughs out of our misadventures knowing that there are going to be plenty more of them in our futures.  In the end, it all worked out.  But you have to laugh, because, friends, if you can’t laugh about such things, what’s the use of going on?

Here's a photo of Rita's beautiful dog, Jessie, who is also a Senior and can sympathize.

My Friend's Dog (and a little shameless begging)...

“Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. ” 

~ Roger A. Caras

Last week I got the opportunity to go to my friend Kristen's house and photograph her dog Rorie.  What a great time I had!  Unlike my pug dog Olive, Rorie posed quite nicely and never complained.  I guess I stick the camera in Olive's face a little too frequently and she's tired of it.  I am posting some of the fruit of my "labor."  You will see that Rorie is absolutely adorable.  

Now for the shameless begging part.  Olive, the pug, and I have entered a photo contest on TripAdvisor's Facebook page.  Here's the link:  https://www.facebook.com/TripAdvisor/app_448952861833126  It's a contest about taking your pet on vacation.  Here's the picture we entered:

We are currently in third place, but with a little help from my blogger friends, maybe we can move up.  You can vote once a day and there don't seem to be any ulterior motives by TripAdvisor.  Thanks in advance!

I just realized that the link I posted takes you to the home page for this contest.  If you click on "View Entries" and then click on the drop down menu "Sort by," you'll see "total votes."   Once you go there, you will see the running pug in all her glory.

LINKING TO A RURAL JOURNAL'S

TUESDAY MUSE!

Fall is coming and other random stuff…

1)  The worst day this week was Wednesday.  It was terribly uncomfortable.  I had to get up early that day and when I went out with the dog, the hazy, hot and humid conditions that had already arrived made for some very nice visual effects.  I posted one of these pictures on Flickr and one of my contacts asked me if I had put in the rays using Photoshop.  Well, no, I didn’t.  The funny thing about that is I am not adept enough at Photoshop to do stuff like add rays in the woods.  I have to depend on Mother Nature.

2)  Walking around the other day in the heat and muggies, it was hard to believe that we are close to autumn here.  But looking around I saw evidence in the woods.  It seems like the little bits of red out there are indications that we are headed in the right direction.

3)  But this morning I got up and it was in the 60s and quite pleasant out.  The pond was flat and I managed to take advantage of that.

4)  Enough about the weather…  We are excited here that the Red Sox are doing so well.  We are big baseball fans and it has been just such fun to watch them this year after that fiasco of a year last year.

I know this picture has nothing to do with the Red Sox, but I like it anyhow.

5)  My last post about Olive, the pug, and the yard sale got some really lovely comments.  I appreciate it when people stop by.  But my old friend “Anonymous” left a comment that said point blank, “What an ugly dog!”  Can you believe that?  To me, that statement is akin to saying “What an ugly baby!”  All I can say to that is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Olive the pug is such a loveable little being that it is impossible for her to be ugly.  Anonymous’ mother must never have told him/her that if he/she didn’t have anything nice to say, then he/she should just shut the piehole!

LINKING TO A RURAL JOURNAL'S

RANDOM 5 FRIDAY!

The Life and Times of Olive the Pug: Yard Sale Edition…

Last Saturday, we got up bright and early for our yard sale.  It was a beautiful day.  Knowing it was impossible to let a pug sit inside when there would be lots of people coming to the house, we let her come out to be the official security detail.  She took her job very seriously checking out each and every person who came along including cute kids who just had to pet her.

She even took a look at some of the merchandise that was for sale.  She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw that we were selling this beautiful velvet painting that has been hanging in our basement for years.  A couple people seemed interested.  One even asked if we had more…maybe one of Elvis.  No, this was the only one.  Eventually, a nice man decided to take it home with him and seemed pleased with his purchase.

At one point, this silly looking dog with big ears came up the driveway.  He was a little bit excited and wouldn’t calm down long enough for a decent picture.  He and Olive saw eye to eye because he was short, but they didn’t seem to get along very well.

As soon as the people stopped coming and all the leftovers were packed up, a dog finally got some well-deserved rest.

If you saw my post last Friday, you will be pleased to know that the mismatched glasses and the huge martini glass sold.  The mismatched glasses went to a neighbor kid who was buying them for his parents.  Wasn’t that nice?  And the woman who bought the martini glass was quite happy with her purchase.  She said that it will be much appreciated when she has a bad day.  We were glad it went to a good home.  But the green beaded trim is still available.  Any takers?

The Life and Times of Olive the Pug: A Dog’s work is never done…

Dogs of this world have many responsibilities.  Olive the pug is no exception to this rule.

First thing in the morning, she has to make sure one of her humans goes for a walk.  It doesn’t matter if it’s raining or shining, snowing or hailing.  They must get out of the house and walk down the street for a ways before they come back to their cup of black liquid and the morning news.  It’s for their health after all.

Of course, it also gives a pug the chance to check all her pee-mails along the way and to leave some for her neighbor dog, Milo.

Because taking the human for a walk is such a taxing activity, it is essential to catch up on sleep.  This keeps a pug busy for quite a few hours.  Some days, however, she still has to wake up long enough to bark at the mail carrier.  That’s a very important part of the day.  She needs to let him know that bringing bills to the humans isn’t acceptable behavior because what if there’s not enough money left over for dog treats??

Then around 3:30 in the afternoon, it is of the utmost importance to wake up and remind the humans that a dog’s dinner time is approximately an hour away and they had best be prepared.

  Humans can be so forgetful after all. 

Plus a dog needs plenty of nutrition because that’s what fuels her to beg at the humans’ dinner table.  The pug has found over the years that humans like to be entertained while they eat.  A pug has to slap copious fives and to dance in a most graceful manner.  The reward of a small piece of cheese or a spaghetti noodle is well worth the effort of making the humans laugh.

But for the next couple of weeks, Olive the pug has an even more important duty.  She has to be a human sitter for Evan, the human, while her other humans are off on some trip or other.   They will probably not even bring back a lousy t-shirt to reward this brave and fearless pup, but she does it all out of the goodness of her heart anyhow.

THE END (well, sort of)

Okay, I have many questions about Bloglovin but don’t even know how to ask them.  I switched my reader over to Bloglovin, but do I have to do anything to my blog?  Life is so complicated for humans as well as dogs.  Of course, I don’t have time to mess with it now and will have to do it when we return from Norway on the 28^th, but I will love any answers I can get.  Thanks!  And I will see you all soon…I hope…if I can find you…and you can find me.

 Oh, Internet!  Thy name is complication.

The Life and Times of Olive the Pug: Three States Edition…

Sometimes when a dog is just lying around sleeping and minding her own business, her dreams come true.  That happened to Olive the pug the other day.  In the midst of her morning siesta, someone said, “Who wants to go for a ride?”  Because the word “ride” always gets a dog’s attention, Olive is at the alert and ready to go in no time.

For that 15 seconds or so before a dog gets settled into the back seat of the car and falls back asleep, her imagination goes wild.  After all, it wasn’t all that long ago that she fell asleep in the back seat and woke up in Florida.  She doesn’t allow herself to remember that last week, she fell asleep in the back of the car and wound up at the groomer.  A dog is more optimistic than that.

This time, we're heading out on the back roads of Connecticut to one of our favorite places that, on nice days, will allow dogs to have lunch with their humans…The Vanilla Bean in Pomfret.

 After lunch, the male human decides that a little ice cream for dessert would be just the ticket on a beautiful spring day such as it was.  And the wanderings began.  It seems that most of the usual places for ice cream in Connecticut aren’t open yet…people being far less optimistic than dogs.  So we cross over to Rhode Island in search of the illusive dish of ice cream.

 

More disappointment ensues, so we head for home.  “Wait!  Maybe Rondeau’s Dairy Bar is open,” says the man.  Off we go to Palmer, Massachusetts, where in the end a dog gets to lick the bowl.

  Can a day get much better than that?