Our Greatest Costume Moment

This is from 2011 and it wasn't Halloween, but we had to share it because Bob dressed as Harry Potter is just to cute for words

Pumkin Puree for Pups

"So this thing is going to become a treat for me?  That makes that hat almost bearable."

Most informed pet owners know about the powers of pumpkin as a gastrointestinal cure all, but did you know its also loaded with vitamins and anti-oxidants.   In fact pumpkin is one of the most goof proof kibble add-ons since nearly every tolerates it well.  I've added pumpkin to the dogs food for years, but I have never cooked fresh pumpkin.  I thought this would be a good year to try.

Pumpkin Puree for Pups
  
1 small baking pumpkin, 2 to 4 lbs
2 cups unsweetened apple juice, carrot juice, or apple-carrot juice blend
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional, but cinnamon has many health benefits including lowering blood sugar and boosting cognition)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Slice the pumpkin in half with a sharp knife, or what I used a jack o' lantern carving knife.

Scoop out the stringy bits and seeds (saving the seeds to roast later) and lay the halved pumpkin on a baking sheet.   Bake for 45 minutes.  By this time the pumpkin will be soft and the skin will come right off.   Cut it in chunks and put it in the blender, if you are lucky you will have a Vitamix, but any old blender will do.  Add the juice and cinnamon and blend on high until pureed.

 Top your dogs kibble with generous dollops.

Happy Howl-O-Ween-A Very Busy Halloween Weekend

Now here's the thing, our mom is pretty nuts about Halloween. I mean she owns a ton of horror movies, loves to eat candy and carve pumpkins, has a box full of vintage Halloween decorations, and she starts planning thr pugs Halloween costumes on November 1st.  So since last years celebration was washed out by Hurricane Sandy she was determined to make up for it this.   First she got up really super early and made apple cider donuts.  She was all proud of herself because she had never made donuts before.

 We put on our best begging faces and managed to get a taste.

 Now they were tasty, but we kind of agree with Dad when he questioned whether they were worth the effort since you can buy pretty good donuts at the shop.  Mom, however, is sold on them as a yearly treat.  After our donuts and our walk it was time for our yearly pumpkin of goodies.  Now we were pretty upset about this because Mom and Dad filled it with our bark box treats.  Which is totally unfair.  We get a Bark Box every month so it stands to reason that for Halloween we should get a Bark Box AND a treat filled pumpkin.  Mom is blaming this one on Dad who apparently said we did not need both.

Weasley saying "What the #?!# these are our Bark Box goodies!"

 There was still some cool stuff in the pumpkin so we guess in the end it was OK.  After the pumpkin it was time for the pugs to get ready for the Halloween parade.   Mom and dad used to bring all five doggies but it got to be too hard to control us in all the Halloween chaos so it now falls to the pugs to dress up and Norbert and Bob are lucky enough to get to stay home and then eat the treats we bring back.   For this Halloween the pugs wore the same costumes as last year, since they never really got to use them because of the hurricane.  They were the Three Pugateers:

The costumes are from Matti's Millinery and Costumes on Etsy  and they really are the  best costumes we have ever had.  She makes great stuff.  Mom is already drooling over the Renaissance Tudor pet costume  and she says she kind of wishes she was rich and had some Victorian event to go too because she would love to wear one of the Victorian people dresses too.  Anyway, our pet parade was at Canis Minor in Pavonia Newport in down town Jersey City. 
We arrived in style:

There were lots of doggies in costumes, but it didn't take us long to size up the competition and realize that really, no surprise, we were the cutest.

We participated in the parade but figured it was pretty much a moot point, since we were the clear winers.  Sadly it was so windy that tubby lost the feather in his cap.  However, that was made up for when we did indeed win, best group, and we got a twenty five dollar gift certificate to the store and we will be in the local paper.

 Clearly we are the cutest.

The best part was when we got home from the parade mom and dad gave us and Norbert and Bob lots of treats.  Maybe, they were feeling guilty because that night they ditched us!  They went out to the Halloween show at the Landmark Loews Theatre.  We wanted to go too but apparently no dogs allowed.    Its one of the last big movie palaces left in the whole country and since its a non-profit they occasionally show old movies there. We would love to see the inside because Mom and Dad both say its amazing.  They took some blurry pictures

 We hope mom didn't get any costume ideas for next year from the movie, it was  Bride of Frankenstein

A Thankyou to Our Friend Nailah

We were lucky enough to win a Pet Botanics treat roll from our friend Nailah at

The Adventures of Puppy and Cat Blog.  Mom used the tasty treats to get this cute picture of all five of us, not always the easiest thing, but we were willing to stay for those treats.  They should come in handy during our Halloween celebrations this weekend.

 

Breakfast With Pug! (and A Not Wordless Reminder To Suoport Local Bussinesses)

One of the best parts about living in the city is the plethora of dog friendly outdoor dining options.  Sadly until recently there has been none in our neighborhood, we live in Jersey City a suburb of Manhattan and our section is not the most glamorous or trendy to say the least.  Happily, a restaurant opened about a year ago that is very tasty and dog friendly.  Honey Bakery, its just a few blocks from our house and sells delicious Russian food and some Korean treats as well. Here is a link to an article about the restaurant. We first discovered it during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy when they were one of the few places able to make coffee.  They were so nice about giving us a cup on the house.  I've decided to make a commitment to go more often as its so important to support local businesses.  Who wants all the neighborhood eateries, doggie boutiques, and book stores swallowed up by faceless conglomerate mega-chains not me (and those places are rarely dog friendly!).

Monday Mischief-Attack of the Cutezilla!

This adorable Godzilla sweater with its detachable tail and hood is one Halloween costume we have gotten plenty of use out of.

 Tubby has worn it, Weasley has worn it, and when halloween is over we remove the tail and the hat portion and use it as a regular sweater.  Its one of the best dog clothing purchases I ever made, and I have bought a LOT of doggie clothing, and honestly the pugs really don't seem to mind wearing it all, its so soft and comfortable they actually like it (well maybe not the hood part).   Sadly the Etsy shop that made this adorable item, Bean Town Hand Made, is now defunct.  The good news is that the shops designer, Ann Burton, has a new book Patterns for Pooches

with the patterns for all of her adorable creations.  It retails on Amazon for $13.66.   Sadly its a crochet book, and I don't crochet (though I can knit a bit).  While I am dreaming of some day learning to crochet, mostly so I can make some of these patterns, I am definitely a bit too swamped now.  I know a lot of my fellow bloggers are crocheters though and I'm sure you would be happy with the patterns in this book and your pooches would be all the cuter for it.

The Sun Shine Award

Our friend at Us on Cloud 9 nominated  us for the Sunshine Award.  First we have to acknowledge the nominating blogger, thanks Cloud Nine!  The rules are: share 11 random facts about yourself (or in this case your self or dogs or cats), answer the 11 questions of the blogger that nominated you and then create your own 11 questions and nominate 11 bloggers.  Here it goes:

11 Random Facts

1) I am an only child grew up in the country so I am used to spending a lot of time alone and enjoy it.  I'm not close to any extended family so I can be pretty uncomfortable at large gatherings, though if they are dog related that sure helps!

2) My parents were not animal people, particularly not my mom.   I didn't grow up with a dog, though I did have two cats and lots of birds, reptiles, and guinea pigs.  I never really spent any time around dogs as a child, but I still loved them  and wanted a dog more then anything as soon as I grew up I got one. John, Urban Hounds Dad, grew up with miniature dachshunds and cats. My parents gave me and John the money for Tubby as a wedding present.

3) My late Dad, was the person who suggested we get a pug for our first dog.  He had two pugs when he was growing up and thought they were the perfect small, city friendly dog and he was right.  Pugs are prefect for us (no offense to Norbert and Bob who are also perfect).

My Dad was photo shy so I have no pictures of him on the computer, but he loved pool so Tubby's jacket is a good tribute

4) Both Tubby and Norbert were born on Staten Island.  Tubby in his breeders house and Norbert in the local shelter there.  We never lived on Staten Island so this of an odd coincidence.

5) Ping has never played with toys, ever, when she was a puppy we bought her a ton of toys and she never played with a single one and its continued over the years.  We have no idea where her aversion to toys come from.

6) Ernie, one of our cat has three legs.  We adopted him from a Vetrinary Hospital.   Some college students found him with a badly broken leg and he had to have it amputated.  He got a very bad infection after surgery and almost didn't survive.   Today he is 10 years old and aside from a heart murmur seemingly healthy.  He is pretty shy but on occasion super cuddly.

7)I'm both very talkative and very shy.  I'm pretty nervous in social situations unless I know the people very well, and due to nerves I tend to start blathering and interrupting.  I have been trying to work on that terrible interrupting habit.  One thing I love about the internet is you can socialize with the computer and that is much more comfortable for me.



8) The Urban Hounds Dad has a PHD in Biochemistry so he is a Doctor.

9) My favorite non pet animals are bats.  I think they are very interesting and kind of cute with their pushed in faces.  I love seeing them congregating in caves and arch ways.   I'm not a fan of some other rodents though as I'm terrified of rats and not at all fond of mice. 

10) I never ever drive, ever.  I have my license but I am a terrible driver.  I walk every where or ride my bike or take public transit.  I'd love to live in the country some day but the driving would be a problem.

11) I really want to own a Sphynx cat some day.  I first met one about 8 years ago and fell in love.   I love how warm and cuddly they are.  Some day far in the future when  my current cats are no more I am going to get one, I have a list of breeders and of supplies the cat will need and I have already named him-Mr. Spock.

Now for Cloud 9's Questions

1) What's your nickname and how'd you get it? The humans in the house don't have nick names, the pets have tons.   Baby the Cat is Baby Cat, Scooter the cat is Scoot Scoot, and Ernie the cat is sometimes called Ernie-Bob Cripple Pants because of his three legs and because we like Sponge Bob (I know its a little mean.)  The dogs have lots of nick names.  Tubby is called Fatula, Sir Porks-A-Lot, Tub Tub, and Fubby because the vet once spelled his name with an F.   Norbert is Norby, Big Norbs, and the Fruitarian because he loves fruit.   Ping is just called Ping Ping sometimes.   Bob is called Rhino Pig by his dad and Hippo, I know very, very mean, the worst part is he comes for Rhino Pig.  He also sometimes called Porko Rosso by his dad.   Weasley is called Pugerprise, Weezy, and Plumper.

2) If you won the lottery, what's the first thing you'd buy?  My house!  I want to pay of my mortgage.  Then if there was enough left over I'd by a weekend country home, maybe a log cabin in the Adirondacks.  If it was the super lottery I would by some miniature horses and a place to keep them because the Hounds Dad is not into mini horses.

3) What was the last thing you splurged on? Vintage clothes!!!  I bought a lot of reproduction Vintage Clothing after working summer school and now I have to pay of a credit card bill.

 

4) Favourite chip flavour? I like the New York Cheddar Kettle Chips.  The Hound's Dad likes all chips.  The hounds like cheese puffs.

5) What's your favourite movie?  The Wrath of Khan.  I love Star Trek and I think this is the best Trek movie I can watch it a zillion times and never get tired of it.  I also love Top Hat with Fred Astaire.  The Hound's dad says he doesn't really have a favorite movie.

6) What are the 3 closest objects to you? A plate with a half eaten bagel, the computer, a take out coffee cup.

7) Where would you want your next vacation to be? Since I have so many pets I rarely go on vacation but I have always wanted to go to Iceland.  I think its so beautiful and other worldly, it reminds me of Fairy Tales and the Lord or The Rings.

8) Who is your favorite author and what's your favorite book by them?  Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

9) What's your favorite season? Autumn! and most particularly October because I think its the most beautiful time of the year and because I love Halloween: Scary movies, Candy, Costumes and everything else that goes along with it. 

10) If you had $10,000 to donate to any charity, which charity would you choose? I'd either donate it to my local animal shelter or to the National Downs Syndrome Society.  I'm a high school special education teacher and I work with a lot of individuals with Downs Syndrome.

11) What's your favorite piece of clothing? I have a lot of clothes and I'm vintage style obsessed. When I turned 35 I made a pledge to start dressing just as I liked and not worrying what anyone thought so I started building my vintage wardrobe.  I'm sure lots of people think I look like I am in costume, but I'm happy.   If I had to pick one favorite item it would be my reproduction 1930s pewter satin blouse from Time Machine Vintage on Etsy I just wore it to a wedding. In fact I like vintage clothes so much I write about it on my other blog The Old Fashioned Way.

My Questions:

1) What/who was your first pet?

2) What is the last book you read?

3) If you could live anywhere in the world were would you choose?  

4) What is your favorite TV show?

5) If you had a time machine were would you go?

6) Who is your favorite fictional character?

7) What is your favorite Holiday?

8) What is the last book you read?

9) What is the last movie you saw?

10) What is your favorite food?

11) What is your favorite non-pet animal? 

The 11 blogs I am nominating:

1) What Remains Now 

2) Murray's Mouth 

3) A Day In The Life of Pugs 

4) Dip Dip and The Bridge 

5) A Tail of Two Cardis 

6) Idaho Pug Ranch 

7) My Furry Interesting Life 

8) The Three Little Pugs 

9) Stewey Unscence 

10) Gorogoro and Nikoniko 

11) A Wonderful Dog's Life