Sonia Wise Eyes, Sonia adjusting to her new home, February 11, 2008, all photos © 2008 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
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Her full name is Sonia.
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She came to us via a friend who loved her but couldn’t keep her; the friend’s father was dying.
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Sony is 10 months old.
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She doesn’t come when you call her. She forces you to run after her, and then it becomes a game of Catch Sony.
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She snorts and snores. I never thought snorting and snoring could be cute, but it is when she does it!
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She has transformed us into small dog folk. We never thought we’d own a small dog. We’ve always had big dogs.
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She’s a lap dog. She was bred to be a lap dog.
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She’s well-mannered. Sleeps in her bed and doesn’t get up until we get up.
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Hardy for a small dog. She once hiked eight miles.
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She’s hilarious. Loves to make us laugh.
The only thing we know about pugs is what we’ve learned in one week through on-the-job training. We never expected to own a pug but now that we do, we love being pug parents.
So, for any pug people out there, what should we expect? Is every pug destined to be the size of a small Sumo wrestler? Will Sonia ever come to us when we call her?
redravine.wordpress.com 
I can’t answer any pug-specific questions. She’s cute, though! And good for you for taking in a dog in need.
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SONIA IS BEAUTIFUL! That last photo cracks me up!
How lucky to have each other!
yb, 4,5 & 8 sound remarkable like my husband… 😉
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LOL, H. I hope you’re a heavy sleeper!!
We feel very lucky, Sam, to be asked to take her. (And that she liked us enough that the owner felt like the fit was right.)
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YB, funny, but I had just been on flickr looking at some of your photos there. I also check QM,s every now & then. I had just seen these photos but didn’t know the story. Imagine my surprise when I check into redRavine & saw this post! I especially like the last photo! I hope you & your family enjoy your new addition! You are to be commended for taking Sony in for your friend.
My niece & her family have 2 pugs Breeders) & her mother has one also. I will ask specifics & let you know any insight they can provide. Great story! D
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How funny. It’s fun to look around on Flickr. I wish I had more time to spend more time there myself. About every other week, though, I look through all my contacts’ recent photos. Whew, such talent!!
Oh cool that you have pug relatives. Mostly I’m want to keep Sony active and healthy. She LOVES the outdoors. Jim told some friends who came by yesterday that she’s actually like a big dog that way. (He who dislikes any dog that can’t be taken out on a mountain-biking trip.)
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heather, you crack me up. I’m so glad your husband has a sense of humor!
diddy, I downloaded all the Art Ice Shanty photos yesterday into Flickr. But I haven’t had a chance to finish up the titles and tags and release them. I created a separate set for them. I still hope to do a post that is mostly photographs on it. There is one more week of Ice Shanty Art!
ybonesy, I love the last photo of Sony (I like calling her Sony). Hey, how do you decide when you are going to call her Sony and when to call her Sonia?
You know what’s funny – the marks she has on her head, those rings and lines between her ears and around her eyes, Mr. StripeyPants kind of has those, too. Strange.
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I’m pretty sure she’ll almost always be Sony. Maybe because I have a good friend named Sonia (and would never have given a pup the same name), I have a hard time calling her Sonia. In fact, when I try to, I often call her Sophie instead (which makes no sense, but I do). I also have taken to calling her “little you,” which is what I called both my daughters when they were tiny infants.
StripeyPants is a tabby, right? Does he have excess skin around his head and face, like Sony does? Or are the marks in his fur such that it almost replicates the effect of having that extra skin?
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I think he’s a tabby. Sadly, I don’t know my breeds! I’ll have to ask Liz. But, nope, he doesn’t have extra skin – only those kind of dark marks in the same kind of shapes as Sony’s skin. It makes you wonder about those patterns and how they evolved on him. Did Pants’ ancestors have extra skin there? I have no idea.
Hey, when you say Sony is a lap dog, does she actually like to sit on your lap? Or is that just a phrase to denote a small dog. I always wondered that. I know next to nothing about dogs.
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Sony is very well-trained, but we are giving her some vices. Such as, she does sit in our laps. She’s sitting on Em’s lap right now. I think she sat on her previous owner’s lap, but not up on furniture.
I learned through a quick google search that pugs were bred to sit in the laps of Chinese and Tibetan royalty. So they were truly bred to be lap dogs. They are also prone to becoming very overweight as a result of the inactivity. I’m sure there are active people who own pugs and keep them active, which is what we plan to do (and what her previous owner did). But they’re so muscular, I wonder if no matter what they will bulk out, even if you keep them moving.
But to answer your question, no, it’s not just a term to denote a small dog. BTW, Rafael and Otis have been pretty jealous of Sony. Jim was outside sitting on the ground the other day, just taking a break, and Rafie came up and tried to sit on Jim’s lap. Rafie is so big that he knocked Jim over on his back.
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Liz and I watched a show on dog breeds and had seen the Chinese and Tibetan royalty relationship to the pugs. I think the monks had them in their monasteries, too, didn’t they? It’s interesting to read about their ancestry.
That’s funny about Rafie trying to sit on Jim’s lap. Ah, I bet they are going to be quite jealous! Kiev is often jealous of Mr. Pants and we have to make sure we dole out the attention as equally as we can. Kiev is so elegant. But Pants is so playful and cute.
BTW, I asked Liz and Pants *is* a tabby. She said when he had an operation once, they shaved him down to the skin on his stomach and those marks that are on his fur go all the way down to his skin. So if he were one of those hairless cats, he’d still look like a tabby! 8)
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That last picture is super cute. Our dog is a pug/chihuahua mix. We call it a ‘chug’. Jordy’s a very good dog, but as far as training we’ve learned the most from ‘The Dog Whisperer’ on t.v. (Actually my grandma watches it, then tells me how to train the dog. Oddly enough, this second degree instruction works really well.)
I guess the most important thing for training is walking your dog, and how you walk them. If a dog leads you by the leash, then it has assumed it is the leader of the pack. They’ll take this position if no one else is taking it. So even though it feels like tug of war, it’s really important to make your dog walk beside you, until it learns to do this on its own, and dont let her rush through doors ahead of you. Establish side-by-side early so she doesn’t think she’s the leader. It’s really hard to make a dog come when you call or do what their told when she think’s she’s head of the back. This hierarchy is built into the dogs behavior, they *want* to know their place in the pack, they need order and structure to be healthy.
Soft hearted humans don’t often understand that dogs don’t get offended by a stern voice of command. When you tell your dog to come, *expect* her to come. Be authoritative. That energy travels through the voice. I didn’t believe my own expectations would alter how the dog behaved, but it did.
Last big thing is reinforcement. Don’t pay attention to your dog when they’re engaging in behaviors you don’t like, like nervousness and whimpering in the car, or howling at the t.v. A kid would need comfort in that scenario, but the dog needs a brief indication of disapproval and then to be ignored. They do respond to positive and negative attention like anything else, but the easiest way to mess up a dog is to treat it like a human and coddle it. Dog wants and needs to be treated like dogs.
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amuirin, isn’t the Dog Whisperer great? (Oddly, he was on a King of the Hill we were watching last night 8) ) It’s amazing to watch him with the dogs and in pack situations. He really walks his talk.
And even though cats are not pack animals, we can use some of the discipline techniques he talks about – admonish once by voice, then ignore bad behavior, don’t give attention for it, etc., and it stops. Show you are in control. It’s so much about the transfer of energy.
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Really good advice, amuirin. Especially with these small, adorable dogs, it’s easy to talk to them like babies or indulge them. In fact, I’ve probably been doing exactly that!
The Dog Whisperer is on a channel that we don’t have, being as how we don’t have cable. But I have a friend who absolutely loves that show and wishes the Dog Whisperer would come to her house and help with her dogs.
All our dogs, even Sony, lead us by the leash. I guess we’ve let them become leaders of the pack. Rafie is the Alpha. Otis can be intimidated easily even though he’s the biggest. I wonder where Sony will end up relative to the other two dogs.
QM, I don’t know about the monks. I’ll have to do more research on the pug’s background.
I think the tabby cat is the most classic cat. That’s amazing about the stripes going to the skin. Zebras are that way, aren’t they?
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Sony could come live at my house any day. A face to love…
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i’m your lady.
we have two pugs, a sister and brother: sister pickles and mister peepers. they are 4 1/2.
your pug will always be stubborn. your pug will learn things and pretend to forget them and force you to train her again and again. she may pretend not to ‘get it’ at all.
unless there’s a food reward. and then she’ll get it. then forget it until there’s another food reward.
more than anything, pugs want to be with you. they often imprint on a single person (like duck chicks) and often it’s a female.
pugs do tend to be overweight but it’s more b/c of their appetite than lack of energy. they act hungry all the time. don’t be fooled!!! we insist on keeping ours at healthy weights b/c it helps them live so much longer and it requires strict diets. same amount of food every day. and for treats? pieces of carrot. with the occasional splurges.
pugs shed terribly even though people assume they don’t.
ours do great with exercise. people assume that small dogs can’t have endurance. but they can. someone in my pug club took hers running with her.
[i tried to slip it in, but yes, i am a member of a pug club. i joined when we first got them and went to a couple play dates. i haven’t been since just b/c life is busy. but i’m still on the mailing list just in case.]
maybe i’ll post pictures on my site in honor of your new family member.
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YB – Sony is adorable! I’ve never owned a Pug, but my Dad rescued a starving little Pekingese, back when I was in high school. The movie, “Lady & The Tramp” had just come out, and we named her Peggy,(after Peggy Lee, who did the singing for the Peke.) She had the same googly eyes and flat face of a Pug. Must share a story about her. My mother was entertaining her book club, and a member was giving her book review, when a very audible snore resonated through the room. Everyone sneaked looks around at each other, to see who the rude person might be. My mother jumped to her feet, exclaiming, “I’m sorry; it’s only Peggy, our Peke, she’s napping behind the sofa!” Sure enough, Peggy soon made her appearance, and soaked up the adulation of the ladies!
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My dog, Fromage, believes he *is* a pug. His best friend is a pug who has been mentoring him for most of his life.
Through Stewie and his person, we have met an astonishing number of pugs and learned a number of important pug facts.
One thing that always blows my mind is that it seems that all pugs HATE having their nails trimmed. Hate it hate it hate it, to the point that it has to be done by the vet.
Another thing is that it’s super-important to keep them trim and not over-feed them, no matter how cute they try to be to win treats. Overweight pugs develop terrible health problems and suffer enormously.
Through pug-sitting for another pug friend, Regis, I personally have learned that pugs have incredibly hot little paws that they like to set against you while they burrow under your covers while they snore.
Also important to note how many pugs look like the Buddha. Or like frogs.
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Thanks, Barbara. Now I know who to call if I need dog-sitting ; – ).
From Sony’s previous owner, I learned that there are pug clubs and pug meets. In fact, I already located the Albuquerque pug website. So, polkadotwitch, I too might join up now and again, especially because it must be so fun to see multiples of pugs playing together. Oh, and I’m glad to hear about the carrots-as-treats idea. I inherited a coffee can of bacon bits and such, which, if we keep using to coax Sony into the house when she’s being coy about coming near us, are going to turn her into a giant pug.
Elizabeth, funny you should mention the hot paws tidbit. I notice that Sony’s little feet reek of corn chips. I mean, I kind of like smelling her feet because they harken back to a particular time in my life (sitting on a beanbag chair, eating the generic version of Fritos, and watching Star Trek). The smell must be so strong due to the heat in tham-thar paws.
Good to know about the nail trimming. I hadn’t realized she’d probably need a trimming now and then.
Hey, oliverowl, I worked from home a few days last week to help Sony acclimate. I called into some meetings, and there was Sony by my side or feet snoring away. I had to clarify to people on the phone that if they heard snoring, it wasn’t me, it was my new pug. Man, are they loud! Which is why Sony sleeps with the girls and not with us 8) .
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YB, I haven’t spoken to my niece or sister-in law yet, but I recall that when I visit my brother & his wife, if they feed “Buster” while I am there, he will lay down on his belly with all four paws spread out on the floor & eat from his dish that way! Very odd!
There used to be a great show on PBS called “Good Dog U”. People would take their problem pooches to the host & he would help them solve their particular problems with their dog. Great show! Wish I had paid better attention to it now that we have Abbey (the lab). She listens to J better than me, no matter how stern my voice is. (Guess she knows I’m a push over!) Oh well, she is a great watchdog, however if an intruder ever did get in she would surely lick them to death!
Your other dogs will eventually warm up to Sony. It takes time & patience…D
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I hope so, diddy. Rafie has snapped more than once at her, and he’s usually such a social and happy-go-lucky dog.
I think my two big dogs would be fierce if an intruder came. They both have huge barks. They hardly bark, but when they do, everyone jumps.
This way you describe Buster eating — it seems like he really enjoys his food and wants to languish in the feeding.
polkadotwitch – this thing you said about pugs imprinting esp strongly on one person…well, guess who? I keep telling Jim that I think it’s because I remind her of her previous owner. She just gets so animated when she sees me. Jim says she just loves me, which, of course, makes me feel great. There’s no feeling like that of being adored 8) .
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i have had 3 dogs all at once. We raised Otis (shepherd) for the seeing eye, and then the house was quiet when he went for training. so we got hamlet. (golden) and we got another seeing eye pup tony, the lab. Then Otis flunked out and i had 3 dogs under 3 years old in my townhome.
This prompted the rule of no more dogs than hands to hold leashes…
but, what we did learn, was when dogs fight, the humans have to stay back and let them sort it out. they are actually making their pecking order, and if you intervene, it sets the wrong dog as your alpha dog. the alpha dog keeps peace in the house after that.
Hamlet is a bit aggressive and we also learned to watch what sets him off. food is the number one thing. he is what they call food aggressive. we had to let the shepherd learn to defend himself, and put hamlet in his place. that wasn’t easy.
Sony is very cute, and the other dogs will figure it all out. it took ours about a month.
I agree, there is nothing like being greeted at the end of the day, or the beginning, by a loving dog.
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reccos62, I didn’t know Otis was for seeing eye training. I like your rule, no more dogs than hands to hold leashes. Hey, what do you think about the human element in the pecking order? That humans have to establish themselves as the leader of the pack? Did you work with that concept at all in your training? Just curious.
oliverowl, what year was that your mother had her book club? I wonder what they were reading then. Do you remember them giving their book reviews? Or were you ever a part of it? Curious again. I guess, I’m just the curious type.
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QM, I never was at any of the book club meetings, as they took place while I was in high school, (in the 50’s,) and maybe while I was in college. Peggy’s appearance is the only episode I remember my mom telling us about. If she told me what they were reading, I have long forgotten! Sorry.
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oliverowl, that’s okay. I was mostly just curious. Was your mom a writer, too? Or did she just love to read. My mother is a big reader and kind of passed that down to me, inspired me to read a lot. I think it’s interesting how some of these things get passed down. When Mom and I were in Georgia last June, we did discover another writer in our history. I can’t remember his name right now. But I think he was a poet.
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You guys now have a farm for sure! What next, a baby goat?
She’s cute. I like smaller dogs (especially beagles).
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Hey, didn’t the beagle win best of show this year? I think Liz and I saw something on Sunday Morning or one of the weekend news shows. Who wouldn’t love Snoopy? 8)
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Oh yeah, I saw that, too. Beagles are great. A dog’s dog.
Hey, MM, glad you stopped in. You need to get over to this post…
https://redravine.wordpress.com/2008/02/02/vote-for-punxsutawney-phil/
…and put in your vote for Rio Grande Rosa, the prairie dog candidate for President.
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Hey, MM, as far as what our next animal will be…NONE. Except to get Dee’s horse, Dooley, over to this place (he’s boarded now at a friend’s) and POSSIBLY another horse to stay with him. But that horse won’t be ours; just a loaner to keep Dooley company, as horses are pack animals.
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QM,
I’m the only one in my immediate family that attempts to put words on paper. However, my father’s mother was a Dickens, and Charles is supposed to be lurking in the ancestral shadows. My digging for roots has only taken me back as far as a great-great grandfather, Edward G. Dickens, who was born in TN, in 1815. That would make him a contemporary of Charles, so we are not direct descendants of Charles; if we are related, it would be as “cousins,” probably very distant ones. Maybe some day, I will get this mystery solved.
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oiverowl, you could have titled that last comment “beat’s the Dickens out of me!”:) Anyhow, you probably are willing to fly (no pun intended!) I am not. But, I can tell you that J & QM have roots in TN as well, so maybe a trip here & then a road trip to TN are in the future? Just food for thought!
YB, I couldn’t agree with reccos62 more about the comments she made. There is a pecking order & your dogs will sort it out. Watch, but don’t interfere unless harm is inevitable. It happens even with our mixture of 2 cats & a dog. Ivory (pure white cat we call “The queen of Sheba” & everyone who has met her knows that looks aren’t everything!), Uno (pathetic cat with one eye, abused by former owners, she thrives here, loves everyone she meets & they love her back!) (well I should add that she Ivory have NEVER bonded!), & of course Abbey (our beloved & for the most part obediant & very loyal Labrador Retriever) Who couldn’t like her? I will say though, that sometimes I think Uno & Abbey enjoy ganging up on Ivory & they seem to put her in her place in the pecking order! D
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Oh & by the way, my father bred & raised beagles as long as I could remember, so they were always a part of my childhood. He gave it up in the early 80’s when his beloved “Jack” died of old age. Beagles Rule! D
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oliverowl, so it sounds like you might have distant roots connected to both Mary Oliver and Charles Dickens. 8) What a great combination to pull from, a legacy of great writers and poets! And I had no idea about your Tennessee link.
As diddy mentions, we have some history there as well in our family. Mom and I almost took a trip to TN last June, but we had packed so much into the trip, we just ran out of steam. I do want to go back there though. I was young when I lived there, but that time period had a big impact on me, in so many good ways.
We’ll have to see what materializes for trips over the next few years. So many places to go, so little time!
diddy, I had no idea your family raised beagles!
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Oh, oh, speaking of pecking orders, I have something to report. Jim called me a bit ago to say that Sony and the roadrunner (who might be Rodney but might be a different one) just had a stare-down. Yikes!
diddy, cool about the beagles. They seem like such great dogs…Snoopy and all, you know. I’ve always had mutts. In fact, Sony is my first non-mutt. If I were to continue with this purebred thing, I’d probably like a beagle.
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I have a funny video of my sister’s beagle catching a scent this past Christmas. They are funny dogs. Something just goes off in their head when they catch a scent…so focused and determined. Yes Diddy…beagles rule!
Groundhog Day was on a Sunday this year, so it passed without me knowing about it. Darn! Last year or two years ago, I made Tania a Groundhog Day card. I found it the other day. Still a funny card in my opinion.
I mentioned a goat because I saw a baby goat the other day up in the hills were I was riding my bike.
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YB, the beagles I grew up were great. When they are pups, they are indeed adorable. My mother is a retired psychiatric nurse from a state owned institution. I would visit her & residents when a litter was old enough to be away from the mother dog. It was so rewarding & quite amazing the way the residents reacted to these visits.
That darn roadrunner is at it again!I hope Sony puts him in his place!
MM, yes beagles rule (their bark can be annoying to some folks, however), but they are very gentle & kind.
QM, You are learning more & more about me all the time & vice versa! & by the way, the male beagle named Jack’s favorite mate was named Jill. How corny is that? I imagine one of my brothers cam up with that one. I was more clever then & once named a dog “Brown Dog With White Paws” & a white cat “Abbey Cotton” , a chihuahua “Fluffy”…D
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http://www.lesliehawes.com/blackdog/
OK. I couldn’t stand it. You all gotta go see my Dickens!
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Dickens is adorable, leslie. Is he a border collie?
Also, you cook some gorgeous Valentine’s Day dog biscuits. I wish my cookies or anything I baked came out that good-looking.
diddy, are beagle barks kind of hound-doggy? I like the names you’ve come up with. Fluffy for a chihuahua — ha!! My girls are the best at names. Dee wanted to name her little sister “Diamond in the Rough,” and when we parents said No, that won’t work, she gave the name to her first bunny.
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My ‘dickens’ name is Deuce, and those are Beggar Dog cookies out of the box. 🙂 🙂 I just played with them and lined them all up like that. When I doodle talking on the phone, I draw hearts in that exact pattern.
We think he’s a border collie, but he came from the dog catcher, so we don’t know for sure.
Did you see the picture of the tree that looks like a pug?
http://www.lesliehawes.com/blackdog/
scroll down some
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Sorry that link was wrong. Try Feb. 6th entry.
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Wow, I saw the stump. It does look like a pug dog, but in an obtuse way I can’t quite put my finger on.
Deuce, not Dickens. I’ll try to remember that. He’s really cute. I’m impressed that he has his very own blog and that he updates it more regularly than most people do theirs.
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[…] hafta be planning to watch the Oscars to play. Anyone can make guesses right up till they announce the first winner. If you hate Hollywood, and hate the Oscars, Jon Stewart is the host so you might like it anyway. […]
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Some folks believe that newborn kittens, just like newborn humans, find comfort and security in the sound of their mothers’ and their siblings’ heartbeats. That the heartbeat, real or simulated, improves their chances for survival. I can’ t help but believe that this must also be true for the rest of us, including, if not especially, the elderly among us. There is comfort and healing in the very heartbeats of those we love,— spouses, children, grandparents, lovers, pets— and the closer to the heart we keep…
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I agree with polkadotwitch. You have found yourself a stubborn little friend. I have four rescue pugs, all as adults (well, youngest was 1 yr) over about a 3 year period-2 female, 2 male. Once Sony knows and responds to her name, you can call her pretty much anything & have no problems. I think she does not come as it is a great game of chase for her which is fun, fun, fun. In a controlled area, try ignoring her initiation of the “chase” game. As others pointed out, pugs are very food motivated. Maybe some little healthy treats when she does come or offer a new toy if she is a toy type dog. Also, as she gets older, she will become more and more attached to you. Mine are all hopelessly devoted to us & now always come (one had been feral & starved). My oldest female had no known name when I got her at 5yrs. Her name is Isabeau. We call her Izzy, IsBug, Bug, Buggy, puglet etc. etc. etc. These cuties seem to demand a disgusting aray of over sweet actions on their owners part. I think you/she will be fine!
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I love that name — Isabeau. It’s quite beautiful as it is, plus lots of fun in all its nickname iterations.
I finally decided to enroll Sony, myself, and my two daughters into dog obedience school. We started last Saturday. I think this is going to help, too, as we have allowed and perpetuated some bad habits. I also noticed that while Sony doesn’t come to the “come, come” or “come here” commands, she is super responsive to “let’s go.” It was amazing to watch her immediately stop being distracted by some dogs at the fence, turn and join me back to the house one day when I inadvertently said, “Let’s go, Sony.”
So, I’m learning more about what she already knows, plus working to be a better owner for her. My daughters wanted to join me since they also spend a lot of time with her. We’re all pleased as punch to have her. She is adorable. She’s grown on my husband, too.
Thanks for stopping in and leaving encouraging words. I can see why you love pugs.
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