Pugsley's Journey

We adopted Pugsley on August 17, 2009 from the Utah Valley Animal Shelter. She was a purebred pug and Charlie had been wanting a pug for a while for himself, but the funny thing is she took to me and never left my side since. So much for having his own pug.

The vet guessed Pugsley was about 4 when we got her but I think she was closer to 5 going on 6. She was always wherever I was, even if I was just sitting watching TV she wanted to be by my side all the time in fact so much so it was smothering to me at first. But eventually I became so used to it she was like my sidekick. She'd often plop herself on my feet under my computer desk or if I was out mowing the lawn she would follow me everywhere but did keep good distance from the mower. She trudged wherever I was just to get to my side even if it meant she'd run out of breath and hyperventilate doing it.

Savannah loved her so much too, she was a living stuffed pet as you can see in the picture where they were sleeping together. All her friends loved to come over and play with her. With her big eyes and round head, it was as if their favorite Littlest Pet Shop pet had came to life.

Pugsley loved her stuffed animals and would suckle on their noses and nurse while kneading he paws back and forth until she fell asleep. She once got a stuffed snowman for Christmas and she suckled his carrot nose right off the same day! It wasn't uncommon to catch her sleeping at my feet snoring or sometimes stealing Bear's rawhide. Bear was always so nice to her though, like a big brother. He let her take his bed or his food any time.

She spent a couple weeks at my mom's house and after getting over my being gone a couple days later, she adopted my mom as her own. My mom nicknamed her "Granny Grunt" - and it fit very well because as you know, Pugs don't have much for plumbing int he way of sinuses and facial features. You always knew when Pugsley was in the room. I guess that is why I miss her so much. She was always under my feet, my little shadow. The house is much empty now without her.

Eventually she couldn't get up on the furniture any longer on her own, being over weight and all. Her hair was shedding so bad we just kept her off completely. To be honest and I hate to say it but I've never been much of a puppy breath loving person so I didn't mind that she stay down off my lap either. We did learn eventually all the weight gain was from her eating what Bear had in his dish when we weren't home. She was able to lose some weight in 2013. For a while there though she was quite the pot bellied pig.

She would sit at my feet and just stare at me waiting for my next move. If she wasn't at my feet we were not sure where to even look for her for as she rarely left my side. Literally. I mean this dog was so loyal to me and I didn't give her the attention a real dog lover would have. I did feel bad, but through it all I believe she understood that was how I was. Of course some of it was that she was also very interested in food and knew I'd give her kibbles so that is where some of the staring came in, but even when I wasn't eating she'd patiently wait and look at me with those eyes just letting me know she was here for me. She was also very jealous at times when the cat sat on my lap or when we dogsat our friend's dog, Sassy, this last Christmas.

About 9 months ago her little hind legs started to fail. She wasn't able to go up and down the stairs like she used to. Things got worse and we'd notice her bunny hopping to get around. One day she tried coming up the stairs after me and fell after the third one, I felt so bad. She'd never try it again after that. We'd bring her upstairs every night until she started losing control of her other bodily functions. We had tried a diaper but it didn't work. So she had to keep her bed in the kitchen where things were easier to clean and she seemed content with that. It was inevitable what we needed to today - something worth doing before she became miserable and completely immobile. Hard decision, but life is like that.

One thing about Pugsley was she was always happy. We love and miss her so much. Here are a few of my favorite memories...