Beloved Family Member

Today was the last day we spent with our sweet PugsLee.

We found her through an ad in the paper over 15 years ago. She was loved by the entire family and she will be missed.  She was more than a pup, she was a family member.

Originally she was a gift to my 12 year old son.  He had been asking for a pug for a couple of years, right after seeing “Frank the pug” in Men In Black.  He feel in love with their smashed faces and curly tails.

We went out of town, over two hours, to meet and buy a pure bred pup.  But being novices we knew nothing about pugs and really not much about dogs in general.

At that time my daughter was deathly afraid of dogs and having to meet and introduce ourselves to 6 wiggly pups the size of small guinea pigs was almost her undoing.  But this sweet pup was instrumental in helping her get over her fear of dogs.  We might have actually gotten a dog sooner if we had known it would cure her!

We left with that little wiggly pup who was barely 6 weeks old.  She slept most of the ride home in the sleeve of my jacket, alongside my arm.

We learned soon after that the bump she had on her belly wasn’t just a bump from the umbilical cord, nope, it was an umbilical hernia.  I think those breeders saw some suckers coming!

But that didn’t deter us, we already loved her so much!  Her vet just fixed her hernia at the same time she was spayed.  It was just the first of her surgeries.

She grew in our hearts as she grew to adulthood.  She was such a character!  I remember once trying to get her leash on and her running away.  I chased her around the coffee table about 5 times before I realized how silly I would look to anyone witnessing me being out witted by a little dog!  I still laugh about it but it was that moment that it occurred to me that I was the boss and she was going to obey my rules.  Not that I became an iron ruler, no she just learned the basics and we allowed her to be that silly playful pup for as long as she was able.

Bath times were a favorite for her.  She loved to get wet!  But she may have enjoyed the toweling off more.  She would run at Mach speed back and forth as the kids tried to catch her.  It was a riot!  It was also quite effective in drying her off.

She was everyone’s friend.  Twice we took her to “Pugs in the Park”.  We thought it would be a fun experience for her to see more of her own kind.  But all it proved was that she loved people more and may not have known she was a dog, much less a pug.

If you have a local chapter of “Pugs in the Park”, I strongly recommend you go at least once.  Witnessing more than one pug in play is hilarious!  Seeing several is certainly going to make an impression!

PugsLee was an excellent babysitter, and no I don’t mean she sat on babies.  She was very protective of any baby in her house.

At one time I was my BFF’s care provider for her young children.  When they first came over they were quite small.  But PugsLee took it upon herself to be their guardians.  She would sit as near them as she could in whatever furniture they happened to be in.  If it was a car seat, she was right beside them.  If they were in the playpen sleeping, she’d be right out side the playpen sleeping also.

As they got older and began moving along the floor, she’d be following them.  But the best part for her was when they started eating, she was right there to clean up their messes and their faces!  I tried to stop that but it happened too often to stop and the boys turned out fine!

They even turned out NOT being dogs!  But with BFF’s second son I had to hide PugsLee’s water bowl in the kitchen to keep number 2 from drinking out of it.  I swear I didn’t let it happen on purpose!

We went everywhere together.  Camping trips were fun, especially when my BFF went with us and her little one and PugsLee were both tied to the same lead!  Anything to keep them both safe so we could fix dinner.  Those were the days…

Several Christmas cards were sent featuring our “children”.  No one complained to my knowledge.

She was a part of our everyday lives, even the holidays.

Halloween soon became her favorite holiday just like the rest of us.

One of my all time favorite costumes was her gargoyle wings.  What else could she be but a gargoyle?  If you’ve got it, flaunt it!

She loved her boy and he loved her.  This is a favorite photo, one that I will treasure forever.  She will be missed but these memories will stay with us forever.

I’m not telling this story for sympathy.  I’m telling it to relive the good times and to ease my grief.

Sleep peacefully my sweet girl!

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