Lola Pug receives some unwanted attention

Lola Pug and Fifi take in the scenery

Pyjamas and telly - the only two words in my vocabulary on a Sunday. Occasionally chocolate might make the list but that's my absolute limit. Well, that's how it used to be, until Lola.

Lazy Sundays are well and truly over. Sundays are now Lola days. A day to take Lola somewhere interesting, full of sights, sounds, smells, dogs and people in the hope that we might be able to rid her of some of that crazy energy.

It's my only chance of getting a few hours after tea to sit down and relax, hopefully with a sleeping pug by my feet, too tired to cause any trouble.

If she's not winding Fifi up, shes attempting to crunch the zips off cushions, scratching the sofa or munching on stones and I have no idea where she gets them from.

And then there's the dandelions. What is it with those things? I had a few in the garden and over the space of a couple of days she'd bitten of the heads off and eaten every single one of them. Why? At first I would chase her round the garden to try and remove them from her mouth, but she liked it. Me charging around the grass with bare feet, dodging fresh poo piles, shouting No, boyfriend watching from the kitchen, silly grin on his face, praying that I step in dog shit so he can laugh about it for years to come. All of this commotion over a dandelion was so much fun for Lola.  She thought it was a game and did it all the more. After a quick google to make sure they weren't poisonous or anything I had no other option but to admit defeat. She'd won the battle. She was free to eat the dandelions.

Eating dandelions? Me?

When the last dandelion of the garden was eaten I was so relieved. No more trail of petals on the kitchen floor. Have you ever tried to sweep up wet dandelion petals? They just stick to the floor. No more picking the stupid things up by hand, one by one. But guess what? The next day I was hanging the washing out, thinking about how nice it was now the dandelions have gone and what do I see? Only about thirty more bright yellow dandelions! What the hell? Over night?! How is that even possible?


They are just a few of the reasons why lazy Sundays are now a thing of the past.

Last Sunday I went to the woods. If I can get either my partner or my son off their computers for a few hours to join me in my quest to tire out Lola then it's a bonus. If I can get both of them off their computers to accompany me then I know the Internet is down.

This time it was my partners turn. With the woods, a huge field, a play park and an ice cream cafe it's got something for everyone. Dog walkers, children, picnic-ers, sunbathers - when the weather is nice it's great place to be.

I came here hoping to see lots of dogs. I want Lola to get used to walking past other dogs without making a fuss (unlike Fifi who always feels the need to make such a racket) and so far she's doing brilliantly.

So here's where I was going to talk about what a lovely walk we had. How well behaved the dogs were. How lovely the ice cream tasted. But something happened that really surprised me.

We were walking towards a woman who was throwing a ball for her two Boxers who were both off the lead. As we got closer I could see that the dogs were totally engrossed in the ball and was fairly confident we'd be able to walk past without them bothering us. It turns out it wasn't the Boxers I needed to be concerned about, it was the dog owner.

Yes I'm cute - but please don't pick me up uninvited

She spotted  Lola. She threw the ball for the dogs, who went chasing after it and she then practically ran towards us squealing. She bent over towards Lola to stroke her, or at least that's what I thought she was going to do. Instead she scooped her up into her arms, laughing as Lola wriggled around and licked her face. It all happened so fast. I was a bit taken aback. Who just picks up a dog that doesn't belong to them without asking? Did she not stop to consider that Lola might not be friendly?

Luckily for her Lola is friendly but another dog might have bitten her nose off. Who's fault would it have been? I'd have said the woman's but I bet it would be the dog owner who finds themselves with a lawsuit on their hands.

But that's not even the worst of it. By this time the Boxers had retrieved their ball and had noticed that their owner was fussing a strange dog. Oooh how exciting, a strange dog, let me sniff .... Both dogs started jumping up and down against the woman who was now moving round in circles, trying to prevent the dogs from getting a sniff of Lola. They completely ignored her pleas for them to stop and each time she tried to put Lola down they would both lunge towards her, over excited and out of control. Poor Lola was going up and down like a YoYo one second and round in circles the next. I snatched my dog back and walked away completely gobsmacked. I didn't know what to say. Am I being over sensitive or was this woman way out of line? She walked off like nothing had happened but I was fuming.

In hindsight I wish I'd opened my mouth and let this woman know that what she did was unacceptable. It's my job to protect Lola and I feel like on that occasion I failed. But that was the first and last time. I can assure you it won't happen again.

The rest of the walk I'm pleased to say went without incident. I'm not the confrontational type but from now on I won't be afraid to speak out where the safety of my dogs are concerned....

 

Lola Pug visits the seaside

It's been exactly three weeks since Lola joined the family. It's a strange feeling. It feels like Lola has been with us forever. I couldn't imagine life without her now and nor do I want to. But at the same time, the weeks have just flown by. Time flies when you're having fun.

Easter Kisses whether you like it or not

Easter weekend was the perfect opportunity for a family get together and I had my first meeting with my baby nephew who is only a few weeks old. As I sat in the garden, hearing all about the sleepless nights, smelly poos and feeding routines I found myself nodding along. I could totally identify with everything being said. I think at one point I even said I know that feeling. I'm such an idiot. How could I compare looking after a newborn baby to looking after a puppy? ........ Looking after a puppy is much harder! *ducks for cover*

After watching Lola spend the first part of the afternoon driving all of the other dogs crazy and revealing her Diva side during the Easter photo shoot, the men, boys, manchildren decided a Go Karting session on the sea front would finish the day off nicely.

We had 30 minutes to bundle 3 of the dogs, 1 baby, a 12 year old and 4 adults into the car and get going. Less if you factor in the time it would take me and mum to finish our cake. Even less if you factor in the time it takes to eat cake whilst holding the plate above my head the whole time because Lola (who after sharing her eye gunk was a bit miffed that I wasn't willing to share cake in return) was on my knee to give the other dogs a chance to wander around the garden unharrassed. I never did finish my cake but we did all manage to get in the car within the alloted time.

With everyone booked in and fighting talk in full swing, Mum and I made our escape. Go Karting? No thanks! Coffee by the sea? That's more like it! So with 3 dogs, a sleeping baby and the cafe in sight we started walking.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Awww how cute!                How old is she? 

            Is it a boy or a girl?                       
                                                 Awwwwww

 Oh look, a pug puppy! 

                                Can I stroke your dog?            

       I used to have a pug.



The cafe was in sight but we didn't seem to be getting very far!

Lola was loving the fuss and attention and to begin with so was I. It's a nice feeling to have a dog who is admired by so many people but if we could just make it to that cafe ......

At last, with drinks bought, the dogs munching biscuits under the table and lovely view of the tide coming in we were able to relax. Did I say relax? I meant feed the baby. He must have opened his eyes, saw us with a drink and thought Hang on a minute, Where's mine? With a face that cute we could hardly refuse.

While Mum is feeding the baby I take control of all three dogs. The biscuits are long gone. Luckily there is only one dog causing mayhem and for once it's not Lola. It's Fifi the chihuahua cross. She's barking at every dog that passes by. I try to block her view with my leg but I'm failing miserably. She's on high alert. The trouble is, as people are passing by they naturally look in our direction to see where the noise is coming from. They see the Chihuahua on my lap and the Pug sat by my feet (who would you believe, is being as good as gold) and they just stop and stand there, looking. I'm not used to this. I didn't realise so many people liked Pug puppies.

Not that I mind. I'm happy for people to admire Lola but I had my hands full. And so did Mum. After feeding the baby we realised his dummy was missing. Mum is searching the pram - for the second time, praying she finds it before the baby notices. I'm trying to untangle the three leads first from the chair leg and then from each other, so I'm of no help to her whatsoever, all the while Fifi is yapping and random people are stopping to watch. By this point I'm not sure if they're still looking at Lola or if they think they've stumbled upon a really crap circus act. The dummy was in the pram the whole time by the way, in plain sight, exactly where we left it.

With the baby fed and content we leave our half full cups on the table and head back to meet to the others. They emerge from the Go Kart venue looking a little green ..... Ha! It's always a good idea to let your dinner settle before racing round a circuit for half an hour at ridiculous speeds.

Lola's first Easter with us was an eventful one. I'm not sure who was more tired by the end of Easter Sunday, me or Lola. I was going to say me but I did manage to stay awake long enough to capture this little gem so I think that's a triumphant one nil to me.

Zonked

I am perfectly happy with my own ears thankyou!

Easter Sunday and the sun has got his hat on. We've been invited for dinner at my parents house and after the unfortunate incident in my dads car I make sure I pack a bag full of travel essentials.
We arrive without so much as a fart which leads me to believe it had something to do with his driving...

As we walk through to the kitchen, the other four family dogs lift their heads sleepily, disinterested in our arrival. Lola and Fifi stay obediently by my side, my twelve year old is cheerful, we all hug each other and then sit down for a lovely, calm family meal.

Only joking ...

Everyone starts talking at once, the twelve year old is already engrossed in his phone, the dogs chase towards us although the instant I unclip Lolas lead they probably wish they hadn't. She air boxes her way around the room, nips wagging tails, lunges towards legs and sniffs out bones that the others thought were hidden. Lola is in the building and she wants everyone to know about it.

I'm not wearing these!

Things did eventually calm down so after dinner we thought we'd try an Easter photoshoot.

Now that she'd tired herself out making a nuisance of herself she was going to sit nicely, facing the sun so we didn't get any shadows in the picture and pose sweetly for the camera wearing the purple fluffy bunny ears. Ha!

Not likely.


She turned it into a game of run away with the bunny ears and see who can catch me first. And she seemed to really enjoy this new game.



Fifty photos and a set of soggy bunny ears later we finally got the best picture we were ever going to get. And here it is ....

Nom Nom

 

It Stinks Outside!

We've chosen Lola. As we walk towards the car I hold her tight. She's fidgety and the last thing I want is to be wondering through the streets of an unfamiliar neighbourhood, looking for a black pug, in the dark.

I still can't believe she's mine. I feel like the mother of a newborn only minus the sleepless nights, minus the stinky nappies, and minus the crying. Famous last words..... and yes, I did come crashing back down to earth with an almighty thud, precisely fifteen minutes later... But in my defence, it's been twelve years since I had a baby in the house and Fifi my Chihuahua Cross was a year old when I got her so I bypassed the whole puppy phase, but surely it's not that hard, is it?

Fast forward ten minutes, Lola is on my sons lap, on the blanket my mum packed, along with toilet roll, nappy bags and dettol wipes (dettol wipes? A little over the top don't you think?) You never know when you might need them were my mothers wise words. I'm watching lovingly as my son gently strokes our beautiful pug puppy and then I see his nose wrinkle ever so slightly. He sniffs up and says Phwaor, it stinks outside. I sniff up and agree, we're in the country side, what did he expect? My dad winds his window down and calmly states that the smell isn't coming for outside. My Mum bursts into hysterial laughter - Did you get the wipes out of the boot of the car?

We've just experienced Lolas first poo, in the back of my Dads nice clean car, that he uses for work. We're not allowed to eat in this car, we're not allowed to drink in this car, we must keep our dirty shoes off the back of the seats and we must never touch the windows and leave our mucky fingers prints all over this car .... and Lola has just pood, in the car. And there we have it, the exact moment I came crashing back down to earth, fifteen minutes later .....

I hold my breath. I might be in my early 30s but I'm not too old for a stern telling off from my father. I wait ... He still hasn't said a word .... so I grab the wipes, the poo bags, the loo roll and frantically clean up the mess, and I don't say another word about it. And neither does he. And he even stopped by the chippy on the way home!

The moral of this story? Mums always know best, Dads are more tolerant than you think and Pug puppies poo in cars.

The inevitable has happened

Meet Lola, the 13 week old pug who has entered my life and turned it upside down, but in a good way.

Lola

She isn't the first pug in my life. Bart was the first. I was a teenager when mum brought him home. I remember the first time I saw him, he was snorting his way round the kitchen, his huge eyes bulging from the sockets, curly tail showing off his butt (how embarrasing) and I turned to my mum and told her I was having nothing to do with it. I thought he was ugly and I wasn't having him ruin my street cred.

But Bart had other ideas. I can tell you it wasn't long before he'd muscled his way into my heart which is where he'll stay, forever. Sadly Bart is no longer with us but it is because of him that I now have Lola. Once a Pug Lover, always a Pug Lover. 

I've heard people with new puppys tell tales of love at first sight, as soon as they laid eyes on their puppy they knew they had to have it. Well lucky them! 

I had two puppies to choose from. The smaller one was a little bit shy to begin with and soooo cuddly. As I gazed into her beautiful, sleepy eyes I thought this is it, she's the one. Then in charges Lola. Full of beans and oozing with confidence she ran straight over to my 12 year old son, jumping all over him as he attempted to stroke her wriggly body. Her parents were snoozing nearby and she couldn't help herself, she just had to nip their backsides as she passed, mouth wide open and jumping with excitement as they expressed their annoyance. She'd been in the room for only two minutes and already she had us all howling with laughter. 

I was torn, I couldn't decide which pug to take - the cute little cuddle bunny or the cheeky, excitable one. 

Both my son and my mum had fallen for Lola and after an hour I realised it was time to accept the fact that there was absolutely no way I'd get away with smuggling the second pug out in my handbag, so I had to choose. I figured a dog with that much energy and charisma had to be reasonably healthy so we scooped her up (once we'd caught her), promised the breeder we'd keep in touch and began the journey home. 

And so it begins .... Living with Lola .... Next installment coming very soon ....

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