by Alyssa Murphy

Created on: August 04, 2010

"Oh! You're pug people!" 

I was taken aback when an older teacher at my school exclaimed this with delight when I told her that my husband and I had rescued a young fawn pug named Zoey.  Her eyes lit up and it seemed somehow my dog had connected me to this woman on some deep level.  I was glad for the friendliness, but I was not a pug person, was I?

Zoey has proven to be a dog with more character than any I have ever had.  I grew up with large dogs and wasn't sure if I would like a small dog as much.  My husband and I got her because we both love dogs, and we hoped to prolong the amount of time before our mothers would start pressuring us for grandchildren.  When people ask, "do you have kids?"  we smile and say, "no, but we have a pug."  It's like magic.  For some reason, that makes it okay to enjoy our first years of marriage.

Zoey may be small in stature, but she doesn't know it.  She viciously combats her stuffed rabbit, cat, and your feet if you aren't careful not to move them under a blanket.  She is very protective yet sometimes misguided.  She has protected my husband and I from parked bulldozers, large stumps, old carpets, and motorcycles.  She walks proudly with her pirate collar and takes offense to anyone questioning my husband's manhood for having such an adorable dog.  Once a couple guys sneered and said, "Nice dog, buddy," and Zoey turned and planted her feet and huffed at them.  She doesn't take anything from anyone.

She has her sensitive side too; don't get me wrong.  When my husband had to go away to train, she would curl up next to me and look pitiful with me.  She always seems to know when to be quiet and when to play.  My husband and I often wake up with a "pug hat" in the morning.  She has discovered that the softest place is our pillows and our heads keep her warm.  I don't know if I could sleep well anymore without her pug snores.  She'll sit and be held and is very very tolerant of kids.  She especially likes toddlers because they drop tasty things on a regular basis.

I have had dogs all my life, but none has captured my heart like my little pug.  She is a lot of what makes dogs amazing all in one little body.

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