Reggie and Friends

Reggie never ceases to crack me up. I was getting ready for work this morning and didn’t see or hear him as I was getting ready to jump in the shower. He’s usually right at my feet as I’m getting ready. It turns out he was in the kitchen, camping out in a basket of clean laundry that I hadn’t folded and put away yet.

What’s really funny about the picture is his tail.

How I managed to run and get the camera without him moving is still beyond me. 

Reggie and I are doing great. Summer is here with a vengeance, and neither of us do well in the heat. So Reggie spends his day in the air conditioned living room while I’m at work.

If you don’t follow us on the Mike blog, you may not know that Jason, my upstairs neighbor, has a “puppy” named Wiley. He’s so much fun. Jason and I take out the others’ pooch when the need arises, and today, he needed me to take Wiley out after work. Since it was so hot and humid out, Wiley didn’t want to walk much. Not wanting to put him back in the crate right away, I decided to bring him into my house for a while to play.

Wiley wasted no time helping himself to the toybox.

Reggie is usually not a fan of this 40 pound behemoth.  Wiley literally weighs more than twice what Reggie does.  However, it didn’t take long for Wiley to start playing with Reggie’s toys. I was almost afraid Reggie would get jealous.

Instead, hell froze over and the boys started playing together. I never thought I’d see this happen.

Reggie is still a little intimidated by Wiley, but they played well tonight for the first time ever. I hope we can get them to do it again sometime.  You can see the whole Wiley photo set here. 

Do you have any idea how much work this picture was?

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Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Do I really need words for this picture?

Reggie and I just got back from visiting our friends at the South Boston Animal Hospital. Dr. Natalie Waggener has bought the South Boston location from the crazy old guy who used to own both the South Boston and East Boston Animal Hospitals. I really like her, and Reggie does well with her.

Reggie was tested for heartworm, and we’re thankful that he doesn’t have that. He’s now current on his kennel cough and rabies vaccinations. We need to go back in nine months for the booster that will take him to three years. He weighed in right at 19 pounds.

Dr. Waggener is concerned about his breathing. She wants me to consider having surgery for his soft palate. She does want me to keep him at a good weight and to make sure his tongue doesn’t turn blue. It’s not an immediate concern for now, but as he gets older it could be. We’re not going to do anything over the summer.

Now Reggie is pooped and sleeping at my feet in the office. This is the first time Reggie has come to work with me since I moved to Salem. I take the commuter rail to work, and I don’t think Reggie would do so well on the train. Since we were going to the vet today, I drove in and it worked out well. 

If I’ve learned anything from having a Pug, it’s that he will constantly find new ways to get himself into trouble. It never ceases to amaze me what this little guy is capable of doing.

When I go to work, Reggie is restricted to the living room and dining room. I close the door between the dining room and the bedrooms, and I also put up the baby gate between the dining room and the kitchen. He spends most of the day on the back of the couch looking out the window.

For the past week or so, I’ve had a half-full jar of peanut butter on the dining room table. It’s out of reach and Reggie has never bothered it. Until today.

I came home from work to find a few things that had been on the table now on the floor. I also saw shredded paper. Further inspection revealed that it was part of the label from the jar of peanut butter. As I looked around, I found the lid with a hole in it. It took me forever to find the actual jar, which somehow made its way under the couch. When I looked at the jar, I couldn’t help but laugh. Reggie probably spent all day trying to get the jar open, and with his little face (and lack of snout), he wasn’t able to get any of the peanut butter except for maybe licking the sides of the jar.

I’m still fascinated that he was able to get up onto the table. It’s one more thing in the house that will need to be better Pug-proofed. 

Reggie cracks me up sometimes. Tonight, I was getting into bed, and Reggie jumped up on the bed, only to jump down and run under the bed. He never goes under the bed. Then he jumped up on the bed again and then started walking around the room. The whole time he was whimpering and whining. He was obviously looking for something.  I looked at him and said “Where’s Purple?” I swear, if he were a kid, he would have started crying on the spot.

I opened the door and he went running into the living room, only to find no more “Purples” in the toybox. I’m sure they’re under the couch or something, but in the interest of time, I went to the cupboard, pulled out one of the spares, and he went trotting into the bedroom with it. He’s now perfectly content. 

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Buddy and Brutus have been staying with us for a few days. Today, Paul was coming to get them. I starting going through the process of collecting their stuff and putting it all in the same place.

Brutus didn’t like the fact that I took his nylabone, so he helped himself to it. It was the cutest thing, and I couldn’t help but snap a picture.

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Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Buddy and Brutus went home today. I enjoyed having them, and it was equally good sending them home. When you’re used to taking care of one Pug, three of them can be a bit overwhelming.

For a good part of the afternoon, Reggie sat on the back of the sofa looking out the window. I think he was looking for Buddy to come back.

I gave him a flossie and all was right in the universe again.

We had our first accident in the new place this morning. At 6:20, the boys woke me up to potty/eat. We immediately went outside. Everybody peed except Buddy, who pooped. I’ve learned that Buddy only does one bodily function per trip outside. Poop was the priority this time.

After the trip outside, the boys had breakfast. Buddy finished eating first while I was sitting on the couch.  I was checking my e-mail when I realized that I couldn’t see nor hear Buddy. With Reggie and Buddy both, the rule is that if you can’t see nor hear them, there will be a mess to clean up. You know what? There was.

He peed on my 24” suitcase that was in the kitchen waiting to go down to the basement. The suitcase and the floor were clearned up, and it underscored the fact that the floor is pretty dirty. Still, it was the first accident in the house. I’m just surprised it took this long to happen.

Incidentally, all three boys are snoring away on the bed with me again. 

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It didn’t take too long for Brutus to stake his claim on the big bed.

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Reggie and I have house guests right now. Buddy and Brutus are visiting for the weekend.  Having all three of them around is such an adventure.

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Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

Today is Reggie’s fourth birthday. He got extra cuddles and cookies this morning.

I may have to run out at lunch time to get him a little gift.

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Originally uploaded by mikehillwig

When Reggie is content, he’ll put “Purple” in his mouth and breathe through it. Then he’ll rock back and forth, left to right. That’s when you know he’s doing okay. My mom said he acts like “Purple” is his pacifier.

I was getting worried about Reggie. He hadn’t pooped since yesterday. Reggie is incredibly consistent when it comes to his bowel movements, and it threw me off when he pooped on our walk yesterday at lunch to get his new harness. He didn’t poop last night, and he didn’t poop this morning. Finally, he pooped this evening, and man, did he poop!