Living in Pug Heaven - A Quick Trip Around the Block

Surprise visits are always a joy! I received a call at work from my mother today - asking if I could go up to Kim and Cathy's to stay for a bit. The situation seemed kind of odd, but I agreed. It turns out that not only is Cathy bedridden, but Kim pulled a muscle somewhere in the top half of his leg and can hardly walk unless heavily medicated. It was quite the sight to arrive here and see both of them in bed, overwhelmed and glad to see that I had arrived.

Walking into the Taylor Moore house was almost depressing - I remember just a few short months ago being greeted by a mob of no less than 18 pugs, wondering to myself if I really had what it takes to do the work of two people on my own. Today when I arrived I was greeted by only 7 pugs. What was once a mob has dwindled down to the smallest group - the show dogs went back to the people they are co-owned with, Wahini is with Sue, Kahuna at my house... There are also a few adults that are either at my house or have been placed in new homes.

Anyone who has ever visited the Taylor Moore house knows how noisy it can be - a giant roar of pug whines, barks, and grunts has turned into a rolling lull. It almost makes me miss the chaos.

Feeding them all was a breeze - with only 5 to put into crates and the two to feed in the kitchen. Washing dog dishes took less than five minutes(it took me longer to unload the dishwasher).

I am not sure how long I will be here for - however long it takes for Kim to get better it seems. I hope it will at least be for a few days - I would love to get some things taken care of to help them out.
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Good news and then some not so good news.

When I set out to start writing in the blog I found that it is much tougher to do these things when you sit down to do it. It starts to really hit home what is going on as you write it out. This past Sunday I had a wonderful one on one visit with Cathy. The Chemo has really been taking it out of her and she was exhausted so we just laid in her bed and had a few giggle's and then some tears as we talked about how things are going for her. She had a CT Scan this last week as it was her mid Chemo treatment and we were anxious to hear the results. Unfortunately the news is not at all what we had hoped for. The good news is that they feel this Chemo has slowed how fast this Cancer is growing, the bad news is it is still progressing. As you can imagine this has been taken pretty hard. They are going to start a new Chemo treatment this next Tuesday for 3 treatments. It will be only a One day treatment instead of 3 long days in the hospital which will hopefully be easier on Cathy as well.
Please continue to keep Cathy in your thoughts and prayers. She loves the notes and cards she has been getting to. Her and Kim are spending a few quiet days away from home to themselves right now and Alecia and Aron are up watching the pugs.
I will write more as we learn more. Also, I have 3 retired bitches of Kim and Cathy's to place in great homes if you know of any awesome people looking for adult pugs. They are 3, 4 and 5 years of age and Spayed, UTD on vaccinations and housebroken. i will have them here and do the placements from here as well.
If you would like to send a note or Card to Cathy here is the address again:
Cathy Moore
11637 NE 112th Street
Kirkland, WA 98033
Thank you for keeping her in your thoughts and for all that so many of you have done.

Living in Pug Heaven - Sticks and Stones

It seems apparent that my mother and I are both quite horrible at keeping things updated!

All 17 pugs here in Pug Heaven are doing just fabulous! Vanilla Bean has started to eat again, which is fantastic! In previous stays she had been quite picky and getting her to eat was like trying to get a pug to move off the couch. Sir Claude the great is still off at the dog shows, seeing the nothingness that is Montana.

Sunday my mom and I made a trip up to the Norton's (that is a vet clinic, for those of you who don't know), and decided we wanted to see Cathy as she got home from Wenatchee. My mom suggested we go to Shari's for coffee seeing as how Kim and Cathy were an hour out, and I decided I would rather take the time to mop Cathy's floor! All of the dogs were with them, which made it a breeze. A clean floor, 3 pug puppies, a pizza, and some cookie dough later, mom and I finally left. Today's picture and blog title were inspired by the letter Z, for Zac Attack. The one pug responsible for the 10 pinecones and 3 rocks under the couch. Here he is eating a stick!

We will be here through the weekend, where I plan to undertake some other projects. Updates to come!
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Living in Pug Heaven - "And you have to eat this!"

Aron and I arrived here at the Taylor Moore house just after 10pm on this fantastic Labor Day. I had an absolutely fabulous long weekend, and I hope everyone else did as well!

Cathy is going back in for chemo tomorrow, so Aron and I made it here just in time for dinner! Kim was more than willing to let me take over the feeding ritual, despite having just walked in the door.

I should be able to do a bit more blogging this week, as I don't believe there is anything special going on such as a BBQ or our Summer's biggest local show. This weekend, of course, is the Puyallup Fair! I will be volunteering on Saturday and Sunday night in the Pug booth for SPR.

Having been here for only two hours or less, I have learned two amazing facts about our younger pups... Alexander is turning out just like his mother, Peanut. When he is done eating he just bails out of his crate like he has nothing to lose. The only downside to this is that his crate is not a Third Story High-Rise, but a Second Level Sequester... And try to catch a little launching pug is like trying to catch a greased pig.

Kim also told me that Vera is talented enough to poop IN her food dish.

What a fantastic week we have ahead of us!
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Living in Pug Heaven - Puggy Profile #1, Wicked Wahini

I decided while I was here a few weeks ago that I wanted to take the time to profile each pug between the adventures in the Taylor Moore house. While something comical is practically guaranteed to be happening here, some nights are slower than others and don't quite warrant a full blog post.

Tonight I didn't get much time to be at the house, Kim took Aron and I to the Whidbey Island Kennel Club picnic, where we were treated with fantastic food and general dog show politics. Once we got home I had a few minutes to relax, then it was on to feeding and facebook time!

Those of you who are my friend on Facebook may understand why tonight's post is about Wahini - for those of you that aren't, you will soon find out.

I've heard from numerous people that you always want to be careful of what you name your pug. Many times a pug will grow into the persona that it's name puts out, much like my mother's little pug, Trouble. Wicked Wahini is certainly no exception to this rule.

Wahini is the one and only black pug in the Luna Pug gang. She is arch nemesis to Peanut, and she enjoys running away when you try and pick her up.

I remember a few years back hearing Cathy tell people about how Wahini had jumped into the refrigerator, and was unknowingly locked inside for a short period of time. She has also jumped into the dryer, though she never went for a tumble.

When she was younger she had come to visit our house a few times, where Blake gave her the nickname of Swahili, simply because he couldn't remember the name Wahini.

Tonight, after the pugs had eaten, I realized that Wahini was on the couch, growling at any pugs that came near. As I moved closer I realized it was food aggression - but I had no idea what there was to be aggressive over... Moments later I noticed something long and feathery hanging out of Wahini's mouth.

I think Wahini ate a bird.

I can't imagine what else would be small, black, and easily torn apart by a viscous fridge-jumping pug. I stared in disgust as she held feathers under her paw and ripped away whatever was at the other end, like a homeless man with a chicken thigh. I couldn't fathom getting close enough to see what exactly it was, but Wahini was very proud of her catch.

I told Kim to keep an eye on her so that we can make sure she doesn't get sick. I'm not sure what a bird would do to the intestinal tract of a pug.
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Second Round!

Cathy's second round of her 3 day Chemo has started today and she had to be admitted for it because it is pretty intense. She is doing well, but really tires easily. They found her oxygen level also isn't up so that may be contributing to it as well. It looks like she will miss the Specialty unfortunately, but she knows she has to do this. Hopefully we can pick her up later Friday afternoon and bring her back to Enumclaw so she can watch some of the shows.

Living in Pug Heaven - It's hot as h*ll outside!!!

We're bbaaaaacckkkk!!

I know a few of you have been on the edge of your seats awaiting the return of Living in Pug Heaven, and the time is finally here! Aron arrived at the Taylor Moore house around 430 this afternoon, while I took my sweet time packing and getting Miss Dot. I arrived around 9:45 and was greeted by the entire gang, each and every one excited to lick my toes.

After dropping Dot off and bringing my things inside I felt inclined to go say hello to all of my pugs. I kneeled down and promptly got knocked back into the counter after being bum-rushed by no less than 15 pugs. Lara begged to be picked up, repeatedly launching herself up my leg. Claire stood at my side and licked my leg, Cypress jumped and nipped at my fingers, and Mac rubbed himself against my leg in a cat-like fashion. In all honesty, I think I was more excited to see them then they were to see me! I wanted to hold each one and give them attention.

I spent some quality cuddle time with the fabulous Hula and shared a few snuggles with Peanut. Shortly after I arrived it was time to feed the pugs and boy were they ready! Tomorrow we will be going to a BBQ and who knows what is in store for the remainder of the week! For now, I am all pugged out and ready to crash.
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In between treatments

In life you always have your friends and then your friends in life who are truly treasures. Our friend Tom Henry is one one of those. He went to the Cathedral and had some Holy water blessed for Cathy and sent it up along with a beautiful Pug Limoge and a gorgeous orchid from us and Julie Mayer. Tom, We love you and you are a treasure.
Cathy and I had a wonderful visit and our friend Julie Mayer spent part of the time with us as well. We attended the Garage Sale benefiting our Pug Rescue for a bit and then left as Cathy still tires a bit easy. I brought her some Paisley scarves in different colors which we had a lot of fun with and also dug out some wonderful knit hats she has which was perfect timing as she just started losing a few strands of hair today. Sue McCluskey and Pat Putman drove over and had a brief visit with her as well. It was good to see Cathy enjoying her company, but we all realized she was tired and needed to rest a bit. Thanks to all of the wonderful friends she has for all of the notes,cards and gifts of support! It has been incredible!
Kim is doing a marvelous job taking very good care of everything and the pugs. He is getting Cathy all set up with her own Laptop for in the room as well!
Diana