Getting Pudged

As everyone knows, I have a pug, Pudge.  On September 29, he will be turning 7 years old.  CRAZY!  I still remember the night my brother brought Pudge home, a Saturday in December.  I was at a birthday party for my friends grandmother.  My brother went with our dad to go look at dogs.  My brother called me up and told me he found a dog.  He was 12 weeks old at the time, and very hyper.  When I got home that night, there was a cute little puppy in my brothers arms.  I honestly don't think Pudge was on the floor the whole night.  I had a friend over, my brother had friends over, and Pudge just went from person to person, being cuddled, kissed, and cooed.  

Finally it was time for bed, and we had to put Pudge into his crate.  This was a little difficult.  Every time we put Pudge into his crate, he would just start to cry and cry and cry.  My mom kept trying to tell Jeremy and me that we should leave Pudge alone, he will eventually fall asleep, but of course we couldn't just leave him alone.  He was so tiny, and he looked so sad in his crate, trying to escape.  Eventually Jeremy and I got some sleep.  I'm pretty sure Jeremy had to wake up in the middle of the night to take Pudge out, and then again early in the morning.  At twelve weeks old, Pudge was pretty rambunctious and energetic.  He enjoyed playing with his toys, playing with the family, and running around the living room/dining room/kitchen (he couldn't climb the stairs yet).  

As Pudge got older, and became "potty" trained, he started sleeping in my brothers bed.  Jeremy would bring Pudge upstairs and throw him onto the bed.  After Jeremy was all tucked into bed, and after my mom said goodnight, Jeremy would shove Pudge under the blankets.  This is how Pudge learned to love heat and be a very good cuddle-er.  

Now at seven, Pudge occasionally likes to play, but he's not very good at it.  He will run and get a toy, bring it over to you and just stare.  Pudge won't drop the toy on the floor for you to pick it up, and if you try to grab it out of his mouth, he will turn away.  I guess we forgot how to teach him how to play when he was a baby.

As for running, Pudge will run around the house when the mailman is outside.  Pudge gets very excited, and starts to bark way too much.  He will try (and usually succeeds) to eat the mail.  We attempted to close the door leading to the entrance hall.  This worked for awhile, until Pudge broke one of the window pains.  After cutting out all the sharp edges, we started closing the door again.  Of course one day Pudge jumped through the window pane hole and got stuck.  My dad walked downstairs and saw Pudge in between the front door and the second door.  That's my Pudge!

Over the years, Pudge has also gotten lazy.  He spends most of his days sleeping.  The whole house is one big bed.  He enjoys sleeping on all the beds, couches, rugs, and cold floors during the summer.  One of the couches in our den is in front of the radiator.  Pudge enjoys spending hours on top of this couch, soaking up the heat.  When you pick him up, he is literally burning.  We sometimes will use him as a heater.  At night, when people are home, Pudge can either be found on the carpet in the dining room, watching all the action, or in the kitchen, crying to get into someone's lap.  And since he's spoiled, he usually does get picked up and cuddled.  Then there comes the bedtime.  When Jeremy is away at school, he will sleep in my parents' room.  Pudge likes to be on top of us when he sleeps.  He will usually lie on my mom or dad's legs, making it hard for them to move around in the middle of the night.  When Jeremy is home, Pudge will sleep in his bed.  This usually consists of him cuddling up underneath the covers.  When I am the only one home, Pudge will sleep with me.  I try very hard to not let him go under the covers, but when he is standing over my shoulders crying, it's a little hard to ignore him.  Especially when he does this in the middle of the night.  But no matter where Pudge is sleeping, he snores nice and loudly.  If you can't tell, Pudge is one spoiled dog!

Of course I could go on and on about my Pudge, but I will stop here.  Below I have posted some pictures of my baby!  Enjoy =)