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HI, I AM PUGGER  Click For larger Photo |  |
I was living in a small
room. It had a door in the back and a
glass front. It was feeding time and I
was hungry. I had the North end, when
walking South, toward the glass front of
my home ( Jim put these words in my
mouth ). The shop attendant was in the
back. That is why my attention was
toward the back. The attendant walked
out and to the front of the shop.
Shucks, no food. I turned to look out
the glass front. I saw this human
standing in front of my window bending
over looking in. She tapped on the glass
and I went over to check her out. She
wiggled her finger. Oh boy, my new home.
Suddenly, she turned and went out of the
shop. Disappointment again. Am I ever
going to get a home? I thought I would
lay down. Maybe someone would come in.
Suddenly I see her coming back. This
time she had another human with her.
Hooray, hooray. They are walking toward
me. They are tapping on the window.
Suddenly my door opens and a hand comes
in and picks me up. I hope, I hope, I
hope. The attendant hands me to the
other human. He sits down and puts me on
the floor. We play for awhile. It sure
was nice to play with him. He picked me
up and held me close to him. Slurp,
slurp, kiss, kiss and then I bit his
ear. They talked for what seemed like a
lifetime. Did I get a new home? Suddenly
the three of us were going out of the
shop door. I have a home. I have a home.
Jim, Nancy ( I learned later that that
was their names ) and I walked out of
the mall and drove to my new home. It
was late and after all of the excitement
I was tired. They put me in a box with
some food, water and a big towel for a
bed. I died. Jim came in and picked me
up. It wasn't dark, it was now light. He
carried me out to the back yard and
after putting me on the grass, would say
"go potty guy". This went on for several
days. They gave me a pillow to sleep on
and took the box away. I was restricted
to my room every night. I would sleep
until Jim came in and took me outside to
go to the potty. I was also not allowed
on the carpet. There was carpet in the
hall so I had to be carried to my room.
Jim finally replaced it and I had the
run of the house except for the front
room. When I got close to the front
room, it was no guy, no pugger
no..... They called me Pug, Pugger,
Little Guy and more. I guess they could
not think of a name. More and more they
called me Pugger. That is how I got my
name. It may not be original but I like
it. I got to spend a lot of time with Jim.
Jim was going to school full time
when they adopted me. He had all morning
classes so he and I had from noon on
together. When he came home, if the
weather was good, he would sit on the
patio in a chaise lounge. We would play
for awhile then he would study. I was
too small at first to jump up and lay on
his lap so he would lift me up. I would
either lay on his lap or crawl up and
lay against his chest. He'd crab because
he could not read. I found that if I
crawled up and laid at the back of his
neck, no problem. I would lay on the
back of his neck with my front legs on
his left shoulder and my back legs on
his right shoulder. It was comfortable
and I could sleep all afternoon. One day
he appeared with a rolled up paper in
his hand. Was I in trouble? I didn't
do anything. Whew, it was training time.
We started in the house. We went to the
spot where the carpet and the tile met.
Jim knelt down and pointed his finger at
me. He said Pugger, no as he waved his
finger from side to side. He said Pugger
again as he pointed to the area where
the carpet stopped. As he said no he hit
the floor with the paper. It scared me.
He did that 3 times. I didn't like the
noise. He did this 2 or 3 times a day.
Every place, inside or outdoors, we went
through this exercise for 1 year. What
did I learn? Well, I didn't like the
noise and knew that when Jim or Nancy
said no, it was stop or hear that awful
noise. I stopped. I also learned that
all carpeted areas and the street was
where I was not suppose to be. We got
along great. We would go for walks, rides
and sometimes when out riding there
would be an ice cream treat. I was
taught that biting was unacceptable.
Where we lived, every so often the yard
was full water. I ignored it at first.
One day when the yard was full of water
I decided to explore it. I tippy toed at
first at the edge. Oh what the heck. I
ran out to the center, made a circle and
came back to the patio. Jim was watchng
me. When he saw me in the water he got a
towel. When I came back on the patio,
dripping of course, he called me and
threw the towel on me and started drying
me. I heard Jim say, "sneaky Pugger". I
bit him lightly through the towel. This
was the only time I could bite. I was
fairly dry when we stopped playing. I
looked at him, then the water then him
again and made a beeline back in the
water. He would always dry me after
being in the water. Boy this is the
life. Jim, Nancy and I get along real
great. We have fun, go for walks and
short drives that end up with a treat.
I play mostly in the backyard. I
got the nickname "Little Rhino" there. I
would go from one side of the yard to
the other with my head down in a figure
8 pattern and bark at each turn. I heard
Jim tell Nancy that I looked liked a
little charging rhino ( one of these
days I will tell you about another
nickname- richoet rabbit- and how I
did a spread eagle across the cocktail
table, wow ). Sometimes Jim would pick a
green ball from the trees and roll it
along the ground. I would run and bite
it so I could carry it back. AAAIIIEEE.
Boy were they bitter. How was I to know
that they were green oranges. Some times
we would work in the front yard. Jim
would do what maintenane etc. that he
always had to do. I would supervise him,
that is until Greta came over. Her
owners would have her out front also. We
would go through the dog ritual and then
play. She would chase me then I would
chase her. Some times I would start to
feel my oats and chase her. She would
sometime just stand there with what
looked like a silly smirk on her face.
Then all of a sudden she would lay down
on her stomach. This would frustrate me.
By the way, she was a German Shepard.
Jim would just laugh and say " what's
the matter Pugger".Greta and I were
great friends. One day they moved away
and I never saw her again. Jim said they
moved back to the Navaho Reservation in
northern Arizona. My girl friend and
playmate was gone. They left to do
some shopping. I hear the car. They are
at the door. What is in that box that
Jim is carrying? What is that noise? He
put the box in the booth, opened it,
and up poped a skinny puppy's black face and head.
What have they done? Jim saw the look on
my face. Oh well. We all worked on
her. Nancy named her Fritzy. She would
mind only part of the time. She sure was
independent. It had to be her way. After
awhile she began to adapt and fit in.
She grew up and became my girlfriend and
playmate. Fritzy an I played together
for years. Once in awhile Fritzy would
get too bossy and then I would give her
the what for and she would back off. The
time I spent with Fritzy, Nancy and JIm
was real good. Nancy and Jim saw to it
that Fritzy and me had the best of
medical care. Besides having our
annual shots, I developed an eye
problem. I had a film growing over my
eyes due to the hair on my facial folds,
the cutest part of me. I received shots
in my eyes and then I had to have
Maxitrol in them twice a day. I
developed another problem that made it
hard and painful when I tried to potty.
Jim took me to the vet. I had to have an
operation to correct the problem. The
operation was scheduled and Jim brought
me back. The operation was scheduled for
early morning so that I could go home
that afternoon. Something was wrong. I
was slow recovering and coming put of
the anesthesia. The doctor decided to
keep me overnight to monitor my conditon. I fell
asleep and now I am
waiting at Rainbow Bridge for Fritzy,
Nancy and Jim.
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