Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Visions of sugar pugs - happy holidays!!

I'm officially a crazy cat lady now, except with dogs. In my defense, all I can say is: SO not my fault.

First we had two pugs, Daisy and Peanut.



Then my darling but crazy friend Jenny Crusie happened to mention she'd adopted another Dachshund. Actually she adopted THREE more Dachshunds, but that's Jenny. Nobody has a bigger heart.

So I was curious about this Pet Finder site (which is wonderful, and has rescue dogs all over the country that you can search by size, gender, breed, location, etc. etc.) and popped over just to look. JUST. TO. LOOK.

Seriously.

Then I encountered the amazing force of nature also known as the president of the Orlando Pug Rescue. Retha (whose full name is an anagram for Heart Pug Love, and she didn't even realize it, how OOOH FATE is that??) called me the second she saw my adoption app. (Evidently humans who work at home and spend much of their lives going for walks and giving treats and cuddles are much in demand.)

The call went by in a blur, she was funny and amazing, and before I knew what hit me, we were packing up the whole family, including the dogs, to take a road trip to Orlando to meet a little boy dog whose owner had let him get so sick he spent several days in the hospital but still nearly died. We were also meeting a little girl pug who had been rescued from a puppy mill where she spent the entire 3 years of her life in a kennel having puppies.

We were supposed to meet them, see if our dogs got along with either of them, and CHOOSE.

CHOOSE. ONE.

Yeah. Right.

So first we met baby girl Precious, who looks a lot like the pug version of Marty Feldman:






She is so happy to have attention and love that her entire body wags, not just her tail. Precious, needless to say, was coming home with us. She has spent much of the past couple of weeks in my lap. She may have the best personality of any dog in the entire universe, ever, which is saying something considering her life. She's just so darn happy and grateful and blissed out from having a family of her own, and sleeps curled up in bed with Princess, my daughter.

Then we met Gizmo, the hyper-exuberant boy. Navy Guy and Science Boy both fell madly in love with him, promptly renamed him Buckeye, and it was all over.

A rare shot of a rare occurrence - Buckeye at rest:



So now we're a 4-pug family. Which, as you may realize, is completely nuts. You should see me walking all 4 of them by myself. I guarantee it's a cure for the grims. Especially the part where I get tangled up about twice every block and nearly land on my butt on the sidewalk.

My office chair has been completely taken over, and Buckeye seems to be part cat, because he always claims the top of the back:



And I am surrounded by the gentle serenade of pug snoring when I work. So as a holiday gift to you, remember this: any time you think your house is all mad chaos and you're losing your mind, just imagine this:

My house when the UPS guy rings the doorbell.

Feel better already, don't you??
hugs,
Alyssa

13 comments:

Jenifer said...

First Jenny and now you have made me go all misty-eyed in my office. I love your pug family, new and old. And am grinning at the mental picture of a four-leash walk. :)

Barbara Caridad Ferrer said...

I maintain—at least all four of your dogs barely weigh one of mine. And forget my going onto Pet Finder—it's puppy crack. Especially when the puppy I want is, guess what, Freakin' HUGE!

Anonymous said...

They are so darn cute! But FOUR of them? Yikes. You are a saint.

Leslie Langtry said...

Alesia!

You are a wonderful person! It's so hard to ignore them with their bulging - non-blinking eyes. I have one and a basset hound. The pug is featured prominently on my website and is beyond spoiled. And I go nuts when the postman comes by with just one barking at a pitch that should shatter glass!

Yay for you!
Leslie Langtry

Darla said...

Congrats...I'm glad they found such a good home!

I have a golden, a mixed breed, and a mini aussie, so I'm very familiar with that chaos...the thing is, is that I love every minute of it!

Merry Christmas!

Alyssa Day said...

Jenifer! You would laugh so hard if you could see me. I'm not the most coordinated person, as it is . . .

Barb, you crack me up with your 100 lb. lap dogs!! I notice you still haven't been brave enough to stop by and be surrounded by 16 little pug feet. LOL.

Debby, I'm guessing the line between saint and crazy person is thinner than I thought . . .

Leslie - your pugs on your site are so cute!! Great site, too!

Darla, we dog people are all nuts, aren't we? But I wouldn't have it any other way. I actually love cats, too, but am desperately allergic so can't own one.

hugs,
Alyssa, off to start the assembly line doggy tooth brushing

Anonymous said...

Petfinder.com is THE MOST dangerous website EVER for animal lovers. I can always find way too many cuties that I want. And it IS puppy crack!

Since hubby and I like to travel via RV, two dogs are our limit...even if one is 80 lbs and the other is 45!

You did a good thing for those lucky dogs.

ArkansasCherry

Alyssa Day said...

Cyndi, your 80 pound dog weighs as much as all 4 of mine put together!! hee.

Jill said...

where she spent the entire 3 years of her life in a kennel having puppies.

That's the part the got me. I am not an animal lover (dodging darts) but I would have had that pug out of there in a heartbeat.

Colleen Thompson said...

Glad to know I'm not the only one who's been corrupted by Petfinder (and Animal Planet's Animal Heroes series, where you see all those poor, abused creatures and just *know* you could give one more a good home). We've brought home a pair of three-time losers from the shelter, and we love them to pieces, in spite of the hyperactive runaway adventures of Zippy and the carpet-eating, book shredding separation anxiety of Jewel. But everybody has their faults, right?

Good for you and good for the pups! Enjoy your in-house "fan club"!

Melissa Walker said...

I find your logic irrefutable--you had to have them all, of course! And they are lucky to have you!

Darla said...

My two biggest dogs both weigh about 80-85 lbs each. With all the mud caused my melting snow its been an adventure having to get the mud rinsed off everyday before they come in. LOL My smallest is 20 lbs so hes not a problem!

I love cats too, but since I had to have mine put down because of feline lukemia, I haven't been able to bring myself to get another. Maybe, one day.

Brooke Taylor said...

LOL--Petfinder is puppy crack, you guys...

But, um, yeah--I got I hooked too. My new princess will be home for Christmas. She's an Akita--so yeah--about 80+ pounds. Going to pick her up Saturday and can't wait!!!