To all Urban Pug fans: It is with tears in our eyes that we must report that Gadget just passed away. A piece of our family and of our hearts is gone. I will post a fitting tribute at some point, but right now it is too difficult. You were our baby boy Gadget. We loved you as you loved us–unconditionally.
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I posted a while back that Gadget had been sick. Unfortunately, he hasn’t recovered as we had hoped. We had to bring him to the vet, and he’s been staying there for about a week now.
As those of you with dogs know, dealing with this is very difficult, and it’s equally as difficult to talk about it here. So, please when you read this, say a little prayer for Gadget. We’re hoping he will get better.
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I’m way behind on posting to the blog, but I promise to keep posting as often as I can. However, we do have some big news here, as the past two months have been a really long pug-related drama.
First, Gadget started having chronic diarrhea. When it didn’t go away, we took him to the vet, who gave him a shot and some medicine to take. That worked for a little while, but after his diarrhea came back for another week, we took him back into the vet. This time, the vet took some blood and noticed that he had really low “albumen” in his blood, basically, because he had not been absorbing enough nutrients from his food. At this point, Gadget had gone from about 31 pounds to 24.5 pounds, but the low albumen was causing him to have edema (swelling), making him look as though he was bigger than usual. So, he had to stay in the hospital. During his stay, they determined that he had to have a biopsy of his lower intestine in order to figure out what was wrong. So, they checked out all his organs and took a little piece of his small intestine to deliver to a lab for testing.
Finally, Gadget got to come home, but the end of the story (so far) is that he has some serious food allergies, and he has to eat special food (Hill’s Prescription Diet d/d duck formula) to manage the allergies. He also has to take some steroids every day in order to manage his allergic symptoms (for now, at least).
Now, he’s home and doing fine. However, his diet is very limited (he can only eat small quantities at a time), so he’s always hungry! Moreover, because of his restricted diet (which will increase a little bit over time), he’s lost even more weight… he’s now 21 pounds! He hasn’t been 21 pounds since he was 8 months old (when he became a champion!!!)
Here are some pictures of him… Notice that he’s much skinnier, and you can see his big stitches!
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. They work great!
are great for cleaning up messes, and are reusable.
Martine is good at sharing her food with the pugs. So good, in fact, that we think they have brainwashed her into giving them half of her food! Maybe they tricked her, convincing her that in return for letting her stay here, they would require her to give them half of her food? Who knows, but she loves feeding them treats.
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Gadget has found himself a new bed. He totally doesn’t fit into it, but he seemed to think it was comfortable enough.
If you can’t tell, this is the top of our garbage can.
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Sorry it’s been a long time since I’ve had a chance to update. Since the last update, I’ve graduated from law school, had a big party at the house, and started the grueling bar exam review process… Along with taking care of three pugs and a baby who can now do LOTS more than she could a few months ago, including get into lots of stuff she shouldn’t be into!
Here are a few pictures that include Martine playing next to the baby pool w/ Oopsy, Oopsy & Gizmo taking over Martine’s Toddler Bed, and Martine NOT giving Gadget his Chicken Jerky! Just look at Gadget’s face, he’s saying “Oh no you didn’t!”
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Sometimes, we take Martine in her stroller along with us when we walk the dogs, and sometimes, Gadget likes to ride back home in the back seat.
This is what it looks like when we get home. Gadget’s just poking his head out, as happy as can be, and Martine loves riding in the stroller, so she’s super happy too.
I can only imagine what people passing by in their cars think.
This next picture is of Gadget and Martine at (Martine’s) dinner time.
Martine and Gadget have sort of a “pact.” He lets her have her space in the house, so long as she provides him with extra treats. Here, he’s waiting for her to fulfill her end of the bargain and push some of her food off her highchair onto the floor.
Actually, the pugs are GREAT at cleanup. Any food she throws on the floor, and any food left over when she decides she’s finished eating, well, there’s a pug for that! It’s gotten so routine, that they just sit there and wait for the food to fall and for the tray to eventually be left on the floor for “cleaning.”
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We live in New Orleans. Not to say that New Orleans is hell, but when it snows here, well, it’s about as likely as hell freezing over. Oopsy didn’t want to go outside, but she did go out later, and I snapped a few pictures.
Notice how Gizmo sees the snow, and runs back inside, into Oopsy’s crate. Poor Gizmo! (but, you still have to go out to do your business)
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Martine is the size of a pug… and she begs like one too! She now is able to recognize that we’re eating food, reach out for that food, and make a fuss until she gets what she wants. These are some pictures of her doing just that.
Notice that she is just about the size of a pug, and she’s about the same weight, too. Last doctor’s visit (2 weeks ago) she was about 22 pounds, which is just slightly less than what Gizmo weighs.
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Here is a picture of Martine in the morning – after we’ve brought her from her crib to our bed. Actually, Gizmo and Gadget get to sleep with us, but Martine does not. However, in the mornings, I bring her into the bed and she will usually sleep for a little while longer. That’s better than one of us having to get up early to take care of the baby – it lets us get a little bit more sleep.
Anyway, this morning after I got out of bed, Gizmo and Gadget both snuggled up with her, and it was so cute that I just had to get a few pictures.
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This is just a quick post, only one video, and probably not as cute as it was in person, but it’s of Gadget and Martine. They’re looking directly at each other, and he’s licking her, and she’s laughing at him.
Enjoy!
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Martine is 11 weeks old, and she’s becoming more aware of the world every day. Those in the world, specifically her brothers, are also becoming more and more aware of her every day. Gadget is really shy, but he’s also extremely loving, and licking is one of his ways of expressing that. He’s started to want to snuggle more with Martine, and he’s started licking her feet whenever he gets the chance! He’s learning more about her, and he’s showing that he treats her just like he treats his parents.
Gizmo, on the other hand, does not lick. He’s a bit more possessive than Gadget, as he thinks he’s higher up on the totem pole. He knows that I’m number one, but he’s right up there in the #2 spot, with everyone else in the house below him.
When we go places, sometimes, he will “mark” Tricia, signalling that she is his, and those other pugs best be stepping away from her. Well, when we got home last night, Gizmo “marked” Martine. Ack!
Well, it actually wasn’t that bad. She was in her car seat still, and nothing got on that, just on the floor. We’ll be a bit more careful next time.
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For St. Patrick’s day, we had Martine wearing green. However, green does not signal “girl,” and she doesn’t have long hair or anything else to identify her as a little girl, so we put a little green headband bow on her. You know, “bow” means “girl.” That’s about the best we can do at this age without putting on a dress, which isn’t really your everyday practical wear as an infant. So, “bow” it was.
Anyway, this is the headband you see on Gadget. You see, Gadget is very cute, and putting cute things on him amplifies his natural cuteness. It’s just so to resist doing it. He usually doesn’t mind, although I suppose I could be persuaded to give him extra treats for putting up with letting me put stuff on him. (Don’t tell him that, though!)
Anyway, I’m finishing up my spring break now, although it’s more like a spring “catch up” than a “break.” Also, we will be going over to my parents’ house for Easter, so Gizmo and Gadget will get to hang out with Lexy. Speaking of Lexy, she simultaneously adores and is jealous of Martine. Lexy’s used to getting ALL the attention, and when Martine is there, my mother pays a little bit less attention to Lexy. She’s not quite as adjusted to Martine as Gizmo and Gadget are, so given a little time, she’ll adjust.
Oh, one more thing. I picked up a few Easter things for Urban Pug today, and we’re planning on another visit from the Easter Pug!!! I can’t wait!
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Here’s a picture I took the other day of Gizmo watching over Martine. I had her in her car seat / stroller, sitting right next to the sofa where Gizmo likes to sit when we let him. (though we do try to keep them off the sofas in the front of the house as that’s where visitors will sit)
Gizmo hopped up there and it looked as though he was watching over Martine. I’m not sure whether to think “protective” lookout or more like… “royalty looking over his subjects.” Somehow I think it’s more the latter.
Anyway, one more interesting thing. The Pugs go from being entirely indifferent to the baby to being intensely curious. Today, Tricia was in bed, and Martine was in her car seat / stroller right next to the bed. Now, Gadget’s usually laid back except under certain circumstances, he will just get really happy or excited and roll around and play for a few minutes, then go back to normal. Well, tonight that happened, except I think something inside his noggin “clicked” and he realized what exactly this little thing was, because he just wanted nothing else but to look at her.
He climbed through the covers and over Tricia to try to reach where Martine was sitting, and once he got there, he just wanted to lick her head. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with a lick or two, but this is Gadget we’re talking about, he’s a licking machine and she was sleepy. So, we had to keep him back a little bit, but he just had this HUGELY happy expression on his face, and he wanted nothing else but to watch her!
None of his behavior was at ALL aggressive, he was just happy as could be. It’s as if just then he realized, “wait a second, this is a new PERSON!!!! I LOVE PEOPLE!!!!”
And yes, he loves people (when he’s not too shy to show it).
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One of the baby things recommended to us was a product from a company called Tiny Love called the Gymini. Martine’s a bit too young for it right now, but we decided to put her down on it and see what she would do.
Result?
She liked the music, but didn’t really understand how to play with any of the rest of it. However, Gadget was just fascinated with watching her wiggle around, and seeing him creep up to the edge of the mat and just peek at her was just too cute of a photo opportunity to pass up.
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