Take Down on Pug Mountain

My first pug, Louie, has had a tough go of it lately. He's coming off his third operation in three years -- for the same ailment, an infection in a bone in his ear -- and this time, the recovery has been slow. For awhile there, we were worried he wasn't going to get better. But he's turning the corner. He's only 7 or 8 years old, only middle age for a pug, and he's a tough guy, perhaps from his years living on the streets of L.A., where he was found before he came to us.

Our new pug, Chamuco, whose name means "Little Devil" is full of piss and vinegar and wants nothing more than to follow his big bro around the house except when he wants to "play". This means biting Louie's legs and neck and trying to get his dander up. More often than not, it becomes two pugs rolling around the carpet. This is what puppies do. But mature dogs don't always like it too much. Louie puts up with it mostly. Sometimes he hides under the table to get away from the devil.

But every once in awhile, he fights back. Here is one such moment, captured on my husband's iPhone.


I feel so proud.