Heaps of FUN!

When the wind blows the leaves will fall….

AJ HoosierHugPug has had four Fall seasons under his belt and only gets excited for the leave blanket on the first day. After that he is only concerned with remembering which are his friends and which are not… He seems to have forgotten his attempts to bring his favorite leafs in the house where they would be safe and he could play with them longer…. 

 

Ms Jelli Bean finds it almost impossible to contain herself after discovering the carpet of brown, yellow and gold. She even pleaded innocent to having anything to do with the state of her yard. “I just came out and it was here. Honest!”, she barked at each leaf.

She also discovered that when she ran through the deep cover there was a crunching sound. She would pause to see where it was coming from but then she did not hear it… We enjoyed her attempts to bring her favorite one in with her for more play.

 

AJ convinced his sister that if she left them outside they would be well taken care of and there for her to play with the next time she is out.  He is not to sure she will understand when there is all the cold white stuff on top of them just where they have gone… But he will take care of that when it happens…. now he has a sister to avoid and chicken strips to hide….

Good by dear heaps of leafs… See you all later… Like next November…

Ms. Bean

Here is the lady as she awaits her check in at Dr. Larry’s. Today was the BIG Day…. Jelli the Bean was spayed.

Wanting to be responsible owners, we know this is what we needed to do… but oh how sad it was to have to leave our baby girl for even 24 hours.

It has taken almost three months for this tiny lady to make her mark on her brother, AJ. Now he would deny this but all day he has roamed the house as if looking for something or someone…. could it be The Bean?

Three calls to Dr. Larry’s office has given some comfort that Jelli is doing great and will be ready to come home shortly after noon tomorrow….

Wonder if we all go to bed now, at 6:30 p.m. if noon tomorrow will get here faster? This is like waiting for Christmas… I miss my whirlwind dashing around and pulling everything she can wrap her teeth around…. including our hearts….

We love you Bean… counting the minutes until we can hug you and bring you home!

Balancing Siblings

 

I daily give thanks that I am not the Octomom. Not that I do not love children, as I do and had three of my own.

Tom and I are now very proud and happy parents of two Pugs.

“Okay,” you say, “These are dogs for crying out loud. How can you begin to compare them to human children.”

Well, let me tell you. Siblings are siblings, in skin and in fur. Were there are two or more, be assured there will always be jockeying for your undivided attention.

As the senior ranking Pug in Residence, AJ (he is my Puggy-man) is  feeling that his space and time has been invaded by an alien being. He is ready to join the Boarder Patrol and send Jelli Bean back to what ever land she may have come from.

At the great age of three years in is moving into young adulthood and has left some of his puppy ways behind in childhood. While Bean is a bundle of hyper energy  and wanting to play the way puppies play… a nip here and a yap there. AJ even refers to his sister as Ms. Wigglebutt Yappybaby when she is tormenting him. He will also go to great extremes to be as far from her as possible

Without growls or snaps he just gives a look of, “Why me? What did I ever do to you?”

These tormented looks have brought on guilt and tears from me. I knew he would have to adjust but I did not really think he would make me feel hurt and that I had betrayed him. Yet let her cry or let him think we are hurting her and he is right there to investigate. I think he is just waiting for her to get bigger and not be so nippy and yappy, since he has forgotten what he was like as a pup.

Meanwhile our little 1 pound 5 ounce Jelli Bean is growing into a great personality of her own. As of August 6, 2009, she is tilting the scales at a whopping 3 pounds 12 ounces. She is catching up to where she should be at 10 weeks of age so I guess we are doing something right.

Bean has also learned there is no need to gobble her food as there is no one else she needs to share it with. AJ will not eat “dog food”.

We are delighted and amused as our two youngest children, AJ Hoosier Hug Pug and his sister Jelli Bean, grow in love and trust.

As you can see, AJ is falling under his sister’s spell. Although she is sightless in her left eye having suffered an injury at four weeks of age, the girl is personality plus and full of determination. She has no fear and tries to climb everything, not giving up until she has succeeded.

She will steal your heart with a single glance. As she seems to have done with her AJ and to us as well.

Tom and I are doing our best to give equal quality time to each of their needs. We have Mommy and Daddy time for each separately and jointly, which seems to make sense to the kids.

Dear Ms Anniebelly Bossybritches

 Hi, I am Jelli Bean, but you may call me Jelli or Bean. I have heard a lot about how you just seem to know how to handle your misbehaving brothers, Howie Pee and Java Cheesybritches and I need help.

As the sister of AJ HoosierHugPug ;o], who seems to have the reputation of being a tough Grilla-Guy and does not want any of his buddies, like Howie, Java, Louie or CurlieMoe know he may just have a soft spot for his new sissyfur… ME!

Now, look at this face! I ask you, how could he not just love me? My problem is I want to play and he just keeps running from me. Now I chase him and want him to chase me but he just won’t. I love to play and so does he but right he won’t play with me. What can I do….

Oh, AJ has a special name for me, Wigglebutt Barkiebaby, I think that means he really loves me but just don’t want to let it show. I know I love him and my forever moms & daddy.

Moms said I should ask you for advice on how to help AJ realize how much he really loves me too. I will watch for you advise and remain AJ’s, cute, cuddly baby sissyfur,

Jelli The Bean

Well, Moms Done It Now…

 

Hey Howie, know what is going on at my house?

Well, I will tell you.

Moms has been praying for another pug. I am not sure why when she says I am a pug full, but she was. Then last week she packs up a bag and some stuff… leaves the daddy and me and off she goes.

“I am going to see Auntie Sandy,” she says. She is my BBs (Best Buddy) CurlieMoe’s mommy, as well as his sisters, Ms. Oprah and Princess Leia. They live in a far away land called Virginia. I wanted to go with her but the moms said I had to stay and keep an eye on the daddy.

Well, long story short, she was gone a long time. Two whole night sleeps and many naps later the moms came home. But, she was not alone.

“Look, AJ, I brought you a baby sister,” says the moms. I know almost right away this means trouble. I remembers when your “baby sister”, Annabelle came to live with you and Java. I thought I would have a puggy stroke. (Howie, please do not let those innocent eye fool you… she is smart and plotting something, I can just tell! She may be tiny but she is mighty…. at one pound 8 ounces… all trouble!)

Well, the moms and daddy is calling her, Jelli Bean. Or Bean, or Jelli, or Princess Baby… ugh… almost choke on that one. I call her, Wigglebutt Barkiebaby, cause she wiggles all over and gives me this yappy toy bark like I am really going to listen to her.

Bean has her own bed, food and toys. Know what she does… eats all her food likes we is gonna take it away and then wants to eat mine. She just hops over to my dish and starts eating. This is very rude, right? She really needs to learn some puggy manners… like ask and wait while I decide if I wants to share.

I know you is locked up and down while your knee gets better but if you could find a way to let me know how to handle a Wigglebutt Barkiebaby I will be forever in you debt.

Your Pal in Indiana

AJ HoosierHugPug ;o]

Princess Jelli Bean

 

Oh, I've seen her in person, she's as delicate as a feather, small as a thimble, pretty as a rose bud and faster than supersonic pug speed, even speed demon AJ will have his paws full.... she is also an extremely charismatic little thing, and yes she would have fit in my pocket! Auntie Aveline   

After asking, begging and giving final ultimatums, Tom has agreed that we can venture into the land of multiple Pugs.

There is a very true saying that Pugs are like potato chips. You can’t have just one.

Princess Jelli Bean, aka Jelly Belly, The Bean, Lil Sprout, Princess, PJB, or Darling, is the daughter of Leia and CurlieMoe Ashby of Grundy, VA., and the niece of Oprah Ashby, Grundy. The union of Leia and CurlieMoe brought a total of 28  puggy paws into a world of Love! Five of Jelli’s siblings have found forever homes near Grundy.

Jelli and her brother, The Goblin, have had to travel many miles to their forever homes. Goblin is living near Baltimore with Auntie Avie, while Jelli will be arriving at her Hoosier Home this weekend.

Hold on AJ, just a few more days and your sisfur will be home.

Oh, Tom, AJ and I want you to know we are very thankful for this gift of Jelli. We know you will love her as much as we do and as much as you love AJ.

Hey Moms ~ I Love Wet Weeds

Need any more be said. Little Pug-man AJ HoosierHugPug  just loves walking, crawling and rolling in wet weeds.

Brushing Up The Brush Strokes

A humble attempt to capture the character and personality of my pug~love, AJ. Besides being my second best buddy, he is my muse and true confidant.

Wisdom of the Dynasties

At last the brushes seem to be willing to follow my commands. This is not usual for me and watercolors. I have found that most of the time I end up with a "gray like" blob that I try to explain was to have been either a country escape landscape or reflections of a vase of Summer flowers.

Here is my attempt at "loose" use of watercolors that I have called Spring Gold.

Thank goodness as I was working on this my husband at least knew he was looking at "yellow flowers."

It has been too long since I had even looked at my paint box much less picked up a brush, but that goodness the paints were not dried out and the brushes still we soft.

The Michigan City Art League and a great friend, Mary Bolinger has given me hope that I may still be able to enjoy brushing up my brush strokes! Thank you so much for being just who you are!

---

This photo was my inspiration
for AJ's portrait.

I still want to do this in oils/acrylics

l

Hard Work + Love = Special Treats

AJ HoosierHugPug enjoys the Snow Patrol

He dreams of the special treats he earns for doing the job of keeping cats out of his yard.

It is a long and never ending job as those cats can be hiding behind the next snow mound!

Thoughts of the Chicken Livers sautéing on Moms stove fortifies the working pug to push on!

The aroma greets AJ, sending tantalizing sensations through out this excited pup!
"Oh boy! I am all set for this!," thinks the salivating Pug.

After being told that the livers need to cool, dad suggest they take a ride.
"Oh Boy! This is really my lucky day!," AJ barks.

There is nothing like Puggie Love as AJ snuggles with moms on his ride.
"This is the life! Hugs from moms and chicken livers to eat when we get home!"

"Ah! Now I can just relax and dream of what I will do when I catch that cat! Wonder if moms will give me a whole chicken when that happens!"

Life of a Pug's Social Secretary

This just may be a statement of the times, but one of the most important jobs I have is to keep AJ HoosierHugPug's Social Calender in pristine order and see that he is not late nor forgets an appointment or commitment to his many social events. It is also part of my responsibilities to see that he is properly attired for the events which he attends.

AJ, who is a Pugminstrator at FLOP, on Dogster, tries to daily connect with the many active members of FLOP's Grilla Guys Club, where they are known for their good deeds to the community and a place where the guys can just chill, have a few Pugwisers or "Ice Teas", enjoy a card game or two, talk about the latest sport standings, smoke their prized cigars, the Grills have an endless supply of their favorite food and well in general just be boys. From time to time they will tolerate invasions from their FLOP sisters, The Monkey Girls, only to have to chase them from their piece of the Pugdom "jungle" when the girls start wanting to "frill up" the club room.

AJ also finds that he is called to join in the active adventures of his furiends at Spoiled Pugs (SP), where he is a member of the House of the Blue Swift Warriors and The United Pug Foundation (UPF), as he is a skilled swords man and has a keen aim with a water gun.

As you can see by AJ HHP's latest picture he is dressed in full battle armor as he prepares to join in UPF's dragon hunt. It seems this tiny pugdom has been plagued of late with fire breathing dragons and all able bodied pugs and pups have been called upon to fight off these hordes and restore peace to all the realm. Oh, and if by chance the warrior's capture the dragon's golden eggs, that would be a bonus for the pugdom.

Since the battle will rage this very evening, I do believe it is time for a short but powerful Pug-nap so AJ and his wearied social secretary will be able to fight the good fight...

Oddly, I find his calendar is far more full then mine. Wonder if he would give me tips on my Social Skills?

FLOP

When AJ and I first stumbled on to Dogster, similar to My Space, but for dogs (there is also Catster, and your right it is for cats), little did we know what a life changing and enhancing day that would be.

At Dogster you have every bred of dog God has created and some extras, but unlike most humans, the furkids there just seem to get along so well.

Being a pug, we went looking for pug people and found some really great new friends. The first group that I wandered into was For The Love Of Pugs. FLOP!!!!

Everyone there made us feel so welcome and at home! It wasn't long before AJ was wanting to play with his new friends everyday. He soon discovered he was making friends around the world and they all had one thing in common... how to get more treats from their humans! They, the pugs and pups, would share their secret plots and coy maneuvers of twisting we humans to do their bidding.

Mean while the humans share, through their furkids, tips on how not to be maneuvered by the coy brown eyed "child" begging at your feet. If we are honest, the begging works 99% of the time.

We share the good times, when house-training works and the sad times when one of ours has made their final journey to Rainbow Bridge.

We bow heads and fold paws if one of our loved furkids is ill, we also share our experiences with illnesses, special diets and rescuing pups who have extreme needs.

AJ & I just want to salute the founders of Dogster and acknowledge the vision they brought to us and so many others. We also want to thank our FLOP family, for that is what we are, a family... for all the love and care and FUN we have every day.

What Time Is It? Check the Pug Clock!

My husband and I have been toying with the idea of tossing out all our clocks. Not such a big thing to some people, but Tom seems to have collected a stash of time pieces over the nearly 4 decades we have been together.

There is at least one clock in every room of our home and possibly as many as three or four. Twice a year I have to hear his litany of the "Changing of Time," Spring Forward, Fall Back, but that is not a reason to rid ourselves of a mean of measuring the passage of the day.

For the past 20 months our lives have been blessed by AJ our Pug. He is the Pug Extraordinair, who has tried to teach his humans some form of table etiquette with a certain amount of success. He has also been laboring to teach us how to properly tell time.

In case you did not realize, as we had not, there is our time (human time) and there is Pug Time... and Pug Time is always the right time. Somewhere inside his trim, muscular physic, perhaps stuck tightly within the curls of his tail beats his "puggy clock."

With just seconds to spare, each morning he is ready to announce that our alarms will soon begin to spill early morning news and traffic reports into our sleep filled ears. With the patience of Buddha, he allows a time for us to do our personal morning things, before his puggy clock sounds the alarm that it is now his turn to greet and do his morning rounds of the neighborhood.

He also gives us the, "Do Not Disturb the Pug"look when it is puggy nap time. Allowing the proper amount of rest between activities such as dining, walking neighborhood patrol, and naps, he does manage to squeeze in "play ball time", along with "Hey, it's treat time!"

Precisely at 9 p.m. Central Time, (Daylight Saving Time as well) he begins to announce it is time to prepare to retire for the day. His Pug Clock has never been off or wrong. He knows that we will scowl and beg that "it is too early yet," but he continues his prodding none the less.

On evenings when he is somewhat more tolerant of our behavior, or sensing the baseball game has not yet ended, he has allowed us another ninety minutes of "play/snack time."

We have come to accept that without fail, this Pug Clock is far more accurate and attuned to not only his needs but ours.

Pugs seem to need a great amount of restorative time. I was even told that Pugs sleep nearly 18 hours a day. I can not prove that true, but I know if I were to follow closely my personal Pug Clock I would more likely feel far more rested and ready to meet life's challenges.

We can tell you this, we would save a ton of cash on batteries along with the frustration twice a year of setting or resetting each timepiece we have if we just would learn to rely on the self winding Pug Clock, who keeps waggin', lickin' & waggin'.

Which by the way the perfect way to begin and end each day is with ... Pug Hugs and Kisses ....

Etiquette 101: Fine Dinning (It Pays To Have Manners)

Hi, this is AJ HoosierHugPug ;o]

As the Pug of the Realm, I know how to present myself in public. It is always best to have impeccable table manners. A lot can be learned about your character by how you conduct yourself in public and around food. And with more restaurants adding Out-Door Dinning, the chance of being invited to one of these finer establishments have increased greatly. It is our hope that all Pugs and pups can learn a valued lesson and be included in the family's night out.

"Thank you, this table is perfect."

When taking you seat at table try to make eye contact with the person
who is responsible for seating you. It is also wise to look around so you will know exactly where your table is located in case you have need to leave and then return. You do not want to seat yourself at the wrong table. After placing your order, you may continue to examine you surroundings and your table.

When being served, thank the person who brought the food you ordered and remember

Give Thanks for you Blessings!

Choose a portion of food, trying not to look as if you are playing at the table, enjoy you meal.This means no scarfing of your food. Remember you're not at home, no food fights.

It is proper to end you meal with a relaxing tummy rub and even to catch a few "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ".

Now we hope you will not only be invited to enjoy an
evening of fine food and company, but that you will be known as a Pug Extrodinaire!

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***Disclaimer for ASPCA:
No Pug was harmed in the process of making this instructional and informational seminar.
No food or treats were wasted in the making of this instructional and informational seminar.
See Slide Show at right for full detail pictures of a AJ's dinning tips.
Thank you and we hope you will watch for future instruction and information on Pug & Pup manners!