Magda the Pug

Magda had maybe her first major traumatic experience the other day. There were the two bee stings and she actually got hit by a car (I was not there for that) but just bounced off – in her childhood. It didn’t change her personality but I am responsible for a big event in her life. I am “fostering” a cat from the shelter. I put it in quotes because I actually adopted it but after this event he might be going back if he doesn’t shape up in two months. So calling it fostering makes me feel better. He is a big tom cat that recently was spayed. I had held Magda in the guest room with him a couple times and he didn’t seem all that interested. In fact he smelled her butt and then gave it a head butt. About two days ago I made a huge mistake and put her down on the floor. It was within seconds that he was on her and had her pinned upside down under the bed. She was screaming which I had never heard before. I was screaming and trying to extricate one of the animals. Demon Spawn – the cat – wasn’t even hissing but just beating the crap out of her. Finally I was able to scruff him and get her out of the room. Her tail was down for hours no matter how many treats and hugging I gave her. She ended up having one puncture wound on her back, a mild scratch under an eye and a few superficial scratches on her belly. Luckily I have antibacterial eye ointment and was able to patch her up with the anti-staph neosporin.  She still won’t go downstairs to the basement even though the cat is locked up in a room.  She has also given a few yelps when we have held her which might be because she is sore.  I feel terrible.  I almost took the cat right back to the shelter but I feel that I have a personal obligation to give it time and see if I can make this work.  If anyone can give this cat a chance it is me.  I was disappointed that it won’t be weeks but months in order to see if he can integrate into the family.  The night it happened I was so bummed that I wanted to just go to sleep at 7:30pm.  Looks like she isn’t get infected anywhere but I am keeping a close eye on it.  I am really lucky that she didn’t have her eye scratched since that is a notable way that pugs lose eyes.   The crazy thing is later after it happened she wanted to snuggle up with me not T.  I would think she would hate me but instead she has been coming to me for comfort.  I think she forgives me but now I need to forgive myself.

Sorry there hasn’t been a Magda update in awhile despite her getting into lots of adventures.

I just lost my cat Mousey suddenly so have been dealing with my grief.

Holiday pug, originally uploaded by catwrangler.

Magda received a new scarf and leg warmers for the holidays from my penpal from HS. The scarf is the only thing that she wore for the rest of the day. She also got a nice holiday bath.

Rainy Day Magda in Coat, originally uploaded by catwrangler.

We have vowed to take Magda for more walks. I just took her in the drizzle and she hated it. She wanted to walk in the street and not the leaf littered sidewalk. She has this nice OP styled coat but her girth grew. So I had to sew elastic on it.

Bad behavior, originally uploaded by catwrangler.

This is Magda at 10 weeks as she masters the pulling on the pantleg. Thankfully she rarely does this anymore. There are no new pug photos as she is enjoying her stay at the dog sitter. We received an email that said after a 45 minute walk and play she was still ready to party. She loves going to the dog sitter so we never feel guilty about leaving her. The cats on the other hand make me feel really guilty. I really miss them.

Tired pug, originally uploaded by catwrangler.

She looks so perfectly cream in this photo.

She isn’t allowed in the bedroom that much since it is cat territory.  There is a little gate which keeps her out in the hallway where she can look in the bedroom.  She now has 3 beds out there.  The standard big dog bed, her cat bed and now this little bed up on the bench.

She has a method to wake us up in the morning so she can go outside and then get her breakfast.  She shakes herself so much that her dog tags jingle.  There is no ignoring this.  Right now breakfast contains dry dog food, a small amount of peas & carrots and a dollop of pumpkin.  She also gets a ground up pill to stop coprophagia.  I can’t say it really works but it is worth the effort.  She does it in two different situations.  Sometimes she eats it when she has gone somewhere she shouldn’t have in the house (to cover up the evidence).  Then in the yard – she does it for the hell of it.  Sometimes she likes the attention of us chasing her around and getting her to drop it.  Really the only way to stop it is to be diligent about picking it up.  Since she goes in the ivy outside – it makes it a minefield to walk through to pick up all the poo.

But look at her?  She is worth it?  Right.

I has got cute, originally uploaded by catwrangler.

This is also a very old picture of Magda where she is maybe 10 weeks old. She hated this collar thing but it was so cute. I am always surprised how her face is exactly the same as she ages. You can tell right away what they will look at and their facial expressions.

Today I took her to go pick up her Mr. Pugsley treats at Crown Hill Pet Shop. She was trying to charm everyone and suckered me into buying her a new fleecy sweater. This one brand is really good because it is so comfortable that she sleeps in it.

After this we went to the park for a walk. Thankfully she showed no interest in the many mushrooms.

I can’t wait until she gets old enough and calm enough for me to train her as a therapy dog. In many ways she has helped me a lot because I have been known to have anxiety around people but you just have to talk to everyone when she is around.

1 Pug Zone, originally uploaded by catwrangler.

In Santa Barbara, there is a pug fundraiser at a mansion up in the Riveria. They have a fenced in yard so the pugs get to run free. This is the sign on the gate to their home. I’ve never seen a barky territorial pug except in Mendocino. We were babysitting Basenjis and these pugs at this one house would not stop barking at them. It was mean vicious barking too. That is the only time I have ever seen it.