Pug Thoughts

Johnny committed suicide in 2015. Hopefully, you understand that he was more than just the way he died. He was my little brother's best friend since kindergarten, and by extension, like a brother to me. He was funny, and could be a smart-ass, but he could also see the best in people that I couldn't even begin to understand. I told him he was my "Patron Saint of Lost Causes" because he had a habit of adopting people that most people would consider "lost". He read books the way some people drink fine wine. Johnny wrote this about his dog, and I just wanted to share it because it still makes me smile.


Pugs are like little angry men who shit on your floor whenever they are left alone too long. My pug's name is Pugsley- a name that lacks as little imagination as my self respect when I am overheard calling him in public. Regardless of all the annoyance he brings me, I love him immensely. He makes me smile when I look at him; he makes me feel loved when he is lying next to me. I talk to him when no one is around, and I pretend he has clever answers to the things I say to him.

I love his little circle run dance he does when I’m about to let him out or feed him, although it can also be quite tiresome at times. He knows me very well and knows exactly how to get me to do what he wants or at least make his feelings known about any particular subject of importance such as when he needs to poop or whether his stomach could use some more dog food.

He almost died on me twice. He gets these little stones in his bladder that block his urethra and then he can’t pee and his bladder almost burst. I have to feed him special food to keep the stones away. It’s fairly expensive and I know he is going to die someday, but I can’t imagine a world where I didn’t do everything in my power to keep him alive for as long as I could. I know some day I’ll have to make a choice between his comfort and my fear of losing him, but I know that day isn’t today and I feel blessed for it.

Pugs are goofy looking dogs. Completely unfit for any environment that doesn’t include blankets to cuddle in and food that doesn’t fight back. They have a squashed snout that allows them little leverage for biting power and any animals they could catch are probably the burrowing variety so they would only have to jump in their hole to escape their slobbery doom.

Pugs are quick though. Pugsley can outrun me easily at any distance and although he is older and his stamina is not what it used to be, I’m sure he could keep up with my fat ass on any prolonged run. Maybe that speed would keep him fed in the wild, but a lot of animals are fast. He has a light coat and his feet freeze in the snow so winter would be his doom anyway....

If you like this, you might also like...
Patron Saint of Lost Causes
Oh the Places You'll Go!

photo credit: m_arty_c 11 - Usual Suspect via photopin (license)