Chewing Therapy

The cold weather just won't break and the pups have really had it with all this being inside all the time. We have been trying different chew toys and treats to keep them occupied. One of their all time favorites are Merrick Flossies so we have been stocking up. Lola loves to lay next to me and chew away as the pictures above show. She sort of zones out and is quickly and peaceful. Moby usually starts with one chewy and quickly tries to steal Lola's, you can see from the picture above he is getting ready to take it. Doesn't he look like a little angel? Lola then cries til you get it back, you can see in the last picture she is just starting to get upset as Moby has not only stolen her chewy but her spot on the counch. Sibling rivalry!

Towards the end of January we noticed a pencil eraser sized lump on Moby's back right paw. I took a picture and sent it to our vet who said it was most likely a histiocytoma - benign tumor which can spontaneously appear on young dogs and will disappear over time without treatment. The tumor grew rapidly and would open and bleed when Moby was running in our backyard. We debated having it removed but the risks of putting a pug under anesthesia are too great unless necessary so we are going to wait it out. It doesn't appear to hurt him but he does lick it at night when it tends to swell and get very red in color. Hopefully we see an improvement in the next couple weeks.

New Jackets

The winter weather is still blistering cold so we bought the pups new jackets. Neither of them are all that thrilled since these ones have sleeves which I think are slightly less comfortable. I am never one to make them wearing something ill fitted or constricting but the weather has been so cold and our walks so short that they needed some extra protection. I think they look sort of Asian inspired and the hood are absolutely hysterical on them. You can tell from the photos Moby is really annoyed with me and Lola is much more forgiving as long as she gets an adventure outside.

Deep In Thought

One of Lola's favorite things is going for rides in the car. She loves to sit in the backseat and look out the window. These are just a couple pics from my phone I snapped on our travels. Moby isn't as big a fan of the car because he has to sit in the backseat which makes him pretty mad.

Allergic Reaction

Sensitive Lola has yet another mysterious allergic reaction. Her right eye blew up as you can see from the pictures and she also broke out in small red hives all over her body. My amazing step-sister vet gave her a mega antihistamine and as steroid injection which seemed to the do the trick. A few doses of Benadryl later and she's all better. The worst part of all was that she just wasn't herself, she was clearly irritated and uncomfortable, and didn't have much energy. After her shots she came home and took a long nap. Hopefully it doesn't happen again but if it does we are prepared with Benadryl at home. Poor Lola, it's always her!

Below is a picture from her first reaction which we think might have been caused by an insect bite. You can see the left side of her face was swollen and drooping pretty bad. She looked so sad!

The Big Freeze

With the temperatures dipping in the teens during the day, the pups have been forced inside most days. There is about a foot of snow on the ground, covered with an inch of ice so walks have been treturous and brief. Moby has been cuddling up on his blanket next to the new heater we got. The closer her can get his face to the heater, the better. Poor little tike.