I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies

The question of desexing isn't a question for me. It's incredibly hard to breed pugs and the mothers often have complications with birth that result in c-sections. It's scary and I'd rather leave it to someone who knows what their doing.

Surgery of any kind is scary. That said, I'm glad (now) that I got a male dog first. I was a nervous ball of energy when I scheduled Ares' neuter and took him in last June. He had to go to the vet between 7-9am and I could call after 2pm the same day to find out what time to pick him up. If I recall correctly, we picked him up around 4pm. Mike drove so I was able to cuddle Ares in the passenger seat on the way home while he whimpered to let me know that he hurt. We gave him pain medicine as soon as we were able to and he bounced back quickly. You couldn't have paid me to keep him calm - it was impossible. Within days, he was jumping on and off my bed and running up and down the stairs no matter how hard I tried to stop him. The only thing we could think to do was to watch the area very closely (he had the laser surgery so it healed more quickly and he had no stitches that needed to be removed) and stop the pain medication. As mean as that sounds, we had to know when he over exerted himself and was in pain. Luckily, he was fine. He healed quickly and never messed with his wound (we only made him wear the cone of shame when we were sleeping or weren't home).

I regularly pet sit for one of Mike's old roommate's dog, Ginger. They happened to have to go out of town for work the day before Ginger was scheduled for her spay. Since it took so long for him to schedule her appointment, he did the paperwork for her ahead of time and I took her in for the surgery. Unfortunately for the girlies, spays require a sleepover at the vet. She was a trooper though, especially since she must have been missing her daddy. I set up Ares' old puppy play pen so that she had an area to go in and play while staying relatively calm. (Ares and his super model legs can jump in and out of the pen easily!) It worked out well and I did the same thing for her that I did for Ares - she only wore the collar while sleeping or when I wasn't home. She also had the laser surgery but had stitches that had to be removed after two weeks. I was worried for her during surgery and took extra special care of her while she recovered, but because she wasn't my dog, I didn't have the same nervous energy that I did with Ares and even welcomed the night away so Ares and I could have one-on-one cuddle times (this was shortly before bringing Luna home. I was still pet sitting Ginger when Luna joined us). Ginger healed wonderfully and had absolutely no problems even though I also had a really hard time keeping her calm when all she wanted to do was play with Ares!

Now it's Luna's turn. Last month, when she went in for her final shots, I made sure to request a consult with her regular vet rather than a vet tech who just takes her back for her shot. The vet I met with is amazing and I first met her the very first time I brought in Ares. When I brought in Ares, she mentioned that she had two pugs of her own so I knew that she would be the perfect person to discuss my concerns about Luna with.

The actual spay, while worrying because that's just what I do, was not my major concern. I was mostly concerned about her nose. When I first got her, I noticed that she wheezed while breathing quite a bit and snored A LOT (much more than Ares ever has). During her wellness check, I brought it up to the vet who said that it's something to keep an eye on because it's common for pugs to suffer from stenotic nares (teeny tiny nostrils) but that most grow out of it as they get older (usually a combination of their nostrils getting bigger and them learning how to compensate with breathing through the mouth). It's almost always corrected during the desexing surgery so I wanted to meet with a vet to find out what she thought we should do.

Luna had a slightly unique case though (which you can see in the above picture). While her nostrils are really tiny, at the base, she has what can only be described as "notches". The vet told me that these notches are helping her breathe and because of them, she wasn't sure if Luna really did need the procedure. She asked me if I could wait a month to bring Luna in for the spay. This would allow her and her nostrils more time to grow so they could see what would happen. They would wait and determine at the time of surgery what they wanted to do. This was fine by me because I'm not trying to push unnecessary procedures on my baby girl - the less pain for her the better.

I honestly didn't think that they would do the procedure. When I dropped her off the morning of March 14th, I talked to the vet tech who said it was up to me whether or not I wanted to push for the procedure. Most times, pugs with this problem get better as they get older. Sometimes though, it backfires and they get much worse, causing them to have the procedure done later in life. I'm not an expert on this though. I wasn't even going to try to say I knew more than the vet about what was best for her. I told the tech that Luna runs and plays really hard outside and while she pants more than Ares, she doesn't wheeze anymore and doesn't snore nearly as much at night. I told the tech that I would let them decide what they wanted to do.

I was able to call the afternoon of the surgery to see how she was doing. I talked to a vet who told me that Luna is happily snoozing in the back and did really well. They ended up deciding that the widening procedure would be best for her. It breaks my heart to know that she's in more pain because of this but I know it's for the best so I'm trying to make peace with it.

When I called the vet on Friday morning to see when I could get her, they told me that she was absolutely crazy and more than ready to go home. I was thrilled! She's been a monster since coming home (the spay and nose procedure hasn't slowed her down a bit)! Thankfully, she doesn't have stitches or anything in her nose to worry about.

This is her nose now.

And her in her cone (before switching to a much more comfortable inflatable collar).

How I stole my Ares

A year ago today, March 10, Mike, his roommate Corey, and I decided to go to really nice kind of exotic pet store that is in a nearby city. We walked around and looked at all of the crazy animals (seriously, I've taken E and K there as a makeshift free zoo on rainy days!) and then ducked into the puppy store that was a few doors down.
When we walked in, a little pug puppy walked right up to Corey, sat down and stared at him. I immediately said "Corey, he loves you! You have to get him!" Corey agreed and even jokingly said that he would buy that puppy for me. We all walked around the shop but went back to the adorable little pug puppy in the window. Within minutes, we were in a private room to play with the puppy.

Mike and I quickly went to work, telling Corey that he just HAD to buy the puppy, Mike would help pay for him and I would puppy sit when they had to leave for work. A worker overheard us and asked what would happen when Mike and Corey were no longer roommates and of course I said "then he'll be mine!"

Whatever logic that was, Corey went and filled out the paper work to bring home the puppy while Mike and I continued to play with him and take pictures.

We brought the puppy home that night. During the car ride home, Corey mentioned that all of the dogs that he had growing up where named after Greek gods and goddesses so after a small debate, we settled on naming him Ares. After we got back to Mike and Corey's apartment, I went to the local big box pet store to buy a crate to keep at my house for puppy sitting, and all of the essentials - name tag, collar, leash, SO MANY TOYS, a puppy play pen, cleaning sprays, you name it, I bought it.

Of course, all Ares wanted to play with was the brown paper bag he found in the house.

It was love. Ares slept with Mike and I that night. We tried to get him to sleep in the cage but it didn't work out so well - he was in bed with us by the time Mike (and Corey) had to get up around 3am on Sunday, March 11 to leave for 3 weeks for work.

I had thought this was the perfect arrangement - all of the fun of having a dog with none of the financial responsibility! Because Mike and Corey were gone the day after getting Ares, I was the one who took Ares for his first vet appointment and made all of his medical decisions. Within days, I was completely and utterly devoted to this little pug puppy who unexpectedly came into my life. I e-mailed Corey and told him that I had to have him. I couldn't imagine what would happen if Mike and I broke up and Ares was no longer in my life. After a few days with him, I couldn't imagine a life without him. I know I put Corey in a tough situation by asking for Ares, but he allowed it. I paid for Ares and we transferred his papers into my name. Ares was mine. And he was one expensive pup! He completely wiped my savings!

I know the horrors of buying from a pet store and we were really lucky to get a completely healthy dog who had already gotten hernia surgery as well as surgery for an elongated palate (and been microchipped). I wouldn't change my decision for the world.

One year ago today, I got my little boy and he changed my world forever.

**All photos were taken within the first 12 hours of bringing him home!

We had a small celebration while Maximus and Annabelle were still here and he got his gotcha day present: a cupcake with a candle sticking out of it. The entire cupcake is one big squeaker. He thinks it's the greatest thing ever.

Happy gotcha day, baby boy. I love you.

cuddlebug flashbacks

I love looking at pictures of puppy Ares. These are from when we got him at about 9 weeks old up until he was about 6 months old. His personality hasn't changed a bit. I love my lovepug!