Coley's forever home

Sorry we left out the most important part of the story of Sluggo. Yes, Coley did find a great home. Gail's daughter-in-law, Jen, fell in love with Coley. She had a pug about the same age named Zoe (who is actually the sister of Annabelle - remember Coley nursed her puppies, too?) So Coley lives the high life with her puggy sister Zoe and a new sister, Jessie, who is a German Shepherd, but doesn't realize how big she is because the puggy girls boss her around.

Coley is also hard at work on becoming a therapy dog like Murphy. All she has left to do is learn to sit, which is proving to be a challenge. Why should any pug sit on command anyway? (Psst, Murphy, we get cookies when we sit. Oh, that's right Duke.) Scratch that last comment, readers.

Here is Coley with her sisters Zoe and Jessie. (Coley is the one in the middle.)

Blasts from the past

Hello again! Since Wilmas has sent so much traffic over to our blog. we thought we'd share some pictures of Murphy's foster brother Sluggo. His mom Coley came to us on Christmas eve, 2006 (before Duke). She was pregnant and her old owners told Mommy's rescue organization to come and get her or they'd leave her in their abandoned apartment. She came with her brother Winston, who they were going to put down, just because he was 12. Winston went to a foster home in MA and Coley came to live with me (Murphy).

Mommy and Grandma ran out on Christmas Eve to make sure her stocking was full. The next day, the family came over and gave Coley lots of love because it was Christmas and because she just seemed to blend in.

Mommy met a pug breeder who offered to help her with Coley's litter. Gail was very experienced with pugs, she's been breeding them for years. So in mid January, Coley went to live with Gail so Gail could keep track of her temperature and know when it was time.

On Feb. 2, Groundhog's Day, Gail called Mommy and told her it was happening soon! After a brave labor by Coley, three puppies, two girls and one boy, were born.

Mommy isn't sure which one Sluggo is in this picture, but she thinks he may be the one on the right. Mommy said the puppies were so small, they looked like little hamsters. Sluggo was the middle child. He wasn't breathing when he was first born, but Gail give him a good rubbing with a blanket and he was crying his little puppy cry in now time. Coley had all of her puppies before midnight, just as a light snow began to fall. Mommy and Gail were tired, but they were so excited to see that Coley and her babies were doing so well.

Coley was an excellent mother. She cleaned her pups and fed them like an attentive mother. She was so tired, but you could tell she was so proud. She stayed at Gail's for a while, while the puppies grew. They did have to go to Mommy's for a week while Gail was at a dog show. Mommy took time off of work and slept on an air mattress at Grandma's and our house, so she could check on the puppies every two hours. I (Murphy) of course, like a good foster brother, slept on the twin mattress with her and checked on the puppies each shift.

Before we knew it, the puppies had opened their eyes, were eating solid food, and were play fighting with each other and their mom. Coley got a little sick, but the vet fixed her right up. Coley was raising her babies alongside Gail's pug Annabelle. Coley even climbed into Annabelle's bed one night and fed her puppies. Coley couldn't fight her maternal instinct!

As the puppies told bigger, Mommy knew it would be time to find them homes. Sluggo's sisters went to NJ and MA and Sluggo stayed with Mommy and me for a while. Mommy even thought about keeping him, since he was the last one and she loved him so. I loved Sluggo. His name was Howie went he lived with us. I showed him all about being a pug, including how to lift his lead, steal toys and get into all sorts of trouble. That's what big brothers are for! Here we are, up to something! (And Mommy said to excuse the dirty wall there!) I look like something devilish is up, huh? That was usually the way with me and my bro Sluggo.

But Mommy said I also kept him occupied so he didn't get into too much trouble. And even when Sluggo did get into something, Mommy had a really hard time staying mad. How COULD you with this face? (I taught him this look!)

Mommy and I took Sluggo to our pug meet and introduced him to the gang. She had an idea in the back of her head that if she couldn't give Sluggo a home, she knew who could. All it took was a little convincing, along with some of Sluggo's charm. As you can see, despite their objections that they already had two lovely pug girls, they were hooked! (Come one, how could you not be!)

This is Sluggo and his mom, sucking up to Kathy, Sluggo's new mom. She and Todd LOVED Sluggo. He was pretty cute back then. And so after a week, Mommy and Grandma took our boy to meet his home and to his new siblings, Wilma and Bridgitte. They took to him immediately and as you can see, they all lived happily ever after. And even though Mommy loved Sluggo, if she hadn't of found him his new home, we never would have had room for Duke. And this is a good thing because God knows NO ONE else would put up with his antics. (Hey!) Just kidding. Love you bro!

How it all began . . .

So how did Mommy and Daddy become pugged? Well, it all started a long time ago, long before Duke and Daddy came on the scene.

Mommy some how got it in her head that she had to have a pug. She loved how pugs looked and yearned to have one. But Grandma and Grandpa were skeptical. They said she didn't need a dog. (She didn't WANT a dog, she wanted a PUG!)

But one day Mommy brought Grandma to the mall to the pet store to show her a pug. (Please note, Mommy knew that she would NEVER get a pug in a pet store, but she had to melt Grandma's heart somehow and a live one would do just the trick!) Well, Grandma's heart melted and she knew that a pug had to become a part of the family. So Mommy called a breeder (we'll talk about that 'breeder' in another post.) And eight weeks later she got me, Murphy., in August of 2006.

Look at how cute I was! This is my first cookie. And my first toy. (I loved that toy, I wonder where it went?) Anyway, soon after that, my mom learned about pug rescue and she fostered pugs for a while. This is where you take in pugs whose owners have to give them up and find new, forever homes for them.

I've had lots of foster brothers and sisters. We even had a litter of puppies and one is still my good buddy Sluggo, brother of Wilma the pug.

Then Mommy met Daddy in 2007. We were looking after Bonnie, a little girl pug who had mange. Mommy found a perfect home for her (with another former foster brother of mine, EJ) and the house was quiet. Heck, even I missed having someone to boss around. And then Daddy, who was of course pugged by then, decided he'd like a black pug.

And before you know it, the Duke of Whirl (aka my bratty little brother) came in July of 2008. Wow, this month he's been here 2 years! I love my brother so much. As you can see on the home page, we snuggle together. And we play a lot, too. His only downfall is that he gets into a lot of mischief, much of which I get blamed for. (That is not true! Don't believe a word Murphy says. He's usually the one in trouble. Should I tell you about the time he ate a container of nuts??)

ANYWAY, now we're a two pug family. (Umm, Meow?) Sorry, two pug and one cat family. We have to mention our sister Hippie or she'll beat us up. She's the toughest cat we've ever met. And she's a rescue, too!

So Mommy and Daddy got married in September of 2009, complete with a pug cake topper and we're now one big happy family with our skin sister, Cella, who comes to visit us on weekends.

So that's the story of us. Hope you enjoyed!

And We're Back!

This is Murphy and the Duke of Whirl, formerly of murphythepug.com. Our friend Wilma the pug has inspired us to restart our blog. She's actually Murphy's girlfriend. (Duke is sweet on a fawn girl named Peneolpe. She'll be a year at the end of the month. He needs a young one to keep up with his whirling, twirling ways.

More later. We hope you enjoy!