Close encounters of the weekend of "Dogs that chase parked cars"

I rest my case.

So this past weekend was a first for me. I was chosen to take care of a pair of pugs for a friend. Now, most of you know I'm not a "small dog" person, but from my first encounter, I was thrilled because they are pretty much big dogs, just in smaller packages.

They settle down, they play hard and (this is the one that I like the best) they know they are lap dogs. This is especially nice as I didn't have to deal with dogs over 80 lbs that cannot grasp that concept!

They were put in a unique position this weekend. Mom left. Without them! Then there's was me. Gees! What's going on here! But I got them comforted, got them interested in something other than the strange turn of events... and was then sorry. (Kidding!)

I'm just going to ignore you. On the other hand... I'm watching you!

When I agreed to care for them I was a little worried. Would they behave? Would they band together as a "pack" and kill me as I slept? Would they eat their treats? (This was a yes on the doggie snacks and no on the carrots. No, seriously! They love carrots and I actually saw them eat them!) Would they pee on me? (Don't laugh... it's happened before!)

After about the first half hour or so it appeared that it would be okay. This was a great relief as I had been quite concerned about their well-being. Once they discovered I was really a pushover... all was well. One of the first issues addressed was jealousy. Just like kids, a "Oh you're just such a pretty girl!" brought about a quick jump on my lap by Butch the Bully as he nosed Ms. Sunny out of the way.

Men.

It was around this time that Sunny discovered an interesting phenomenon... they are used to sleeping on the tops of the couch cushions. As you can see below...

Well, Sunny decided she wanted to be closer to me. Well... it was probably more along the lines of, "I'm tired of sleeping on this cushion." So she proceeded to walk to the one on the other side of me.

She accomplished this by heading to the other cushion... and simply walking across the top of my boobs as if they were just a convenient way to get there. She seemed to think this was pretty cool and couldn't wait to share the info with Butch.

While it had me laughing hysterically, I now sport the bruises to prove it! It became a game. They tag-teamed me, I swear! Sunny would get on my lap, snuggling and being just too darn cute, when suddenly my face is full of the side of a Pug fur.

"Hey Butch, how's it goin'?"

I understand that while I have an ample chest (and admittedly my chest is pretty soft and squishy much like the sofa cushions) it was a point of contention. Mostly because these "small dogs" aren't really all that small!

I did get "even" for the lack of a better term... their schedule is much tighter than some of my other, average 'Happy Dog' schedules. These guys are usually asleep before 9:00 p.m. and up around 5:30 A.M.!!!

Cripes! WHEN is she going to go to bed!?

Me? I watched DVD's, I read, and I took them outside to do their thing around 1:00 a.m. (Confusion reigned let me assure you.) The good thing came when they didn't get up until just after 6 a.m. I questioned if they'd have gotten up that early at all but I had to go, so they did too. Being oddly fogged (because we were all out of our normal routines) was never so apparent as when I opened the blinds on the patio doors and pulled them aside.

Snow! I swear... I looked outside, they looked outside... I looked down at them, they looked back up at me and we came to the conclusion. Living in The-Not-So-Great-White-North does on occasion... really suck.

Cripes. The first weekend of April and two & a half inches of snow!

Is this still payback for the 6 a.m. wake-up call?

We were more than content to go back to bed and forget the weather. All things considered, this isn't exactly something we're not used to. It's mostly just really annoying.

So we all survived our first weekend together, I'll be going back soon and I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure it'll go just as smoothly. All I have to know now is whether or not I can take them for a car ride.

I have to find out from their Mom as to whether or not they curl up on the seat and snooze until we stop... or if they're the type of dogs that will want to help me drive.

I try to avoid the latter, as most law enforcement agencies frown upon canine assistance at 55 mph.

Of course, one of the funniest moments of the weekend came when I took them for their daily walk. It just so happened that Momma called to check-in on how it was going while we were out walking.

I asked her how long she usually walked them. It was around 15 minutes.

Oops.

We'd already been out about 45 minutes and by the time we returned home it had been nearly an hour! We had started out with them basically taking me for a drag!

By the time we turned around to head for home they were walking behind me. I even picked up Miss Sunny to give her a bit of a break. They happily ate a small treat once we were home and then proceeded to sleep the walk off. How can you tell if a Pug is really tired?

Their sweet little corkscrew tails uncurl!