On the first day of Christmas...

If you have not realised it already - Christmas is here. This week Christmas came early for pugmugs.co.uk. We had our first order from a shop. It's a wonderful little shop in Bermondsey that sells dog couture and now they are the first proud stockist of PugMugs. Do pop along and show your support if you are in the area.

With all the excitement of the order I totally forgot the fast approach of advent. This resulted in me forgetting to get the twilight advent calendar I've been wanting and it appears (to my surprise) that all the tescos in East London have sold out of twilight advent calendars. As a result I have decided to make my own advent calendar and suprise suprise this year's theme is PUG!

Unfortunately I am too lazy to make pug shaped chocolates and to even make a cardboard calendar. However, I have decided to share my calendar with you guys - my fellow puggers. So here is the first door. Close your eyes and imagine the calendar in front of you. Search amongst the 25 windows for the one you want - the first window - there it is with its perfectly perforated edges. Push it gently, get your nail around it and ease it open. What do you see?



1st December 2010

Come back tomorrow for the second window!

Vee

Pugulthood

Apologies to all you Puggers out there awaiting a new post from me - I have had better things to spend my time on recently. But I refuse to abandon you all, so here is a thought that has been running through my mind.

Babies. I have never really been a baby person often trying to avoid eye contact on the bus with a bonnie child that expects me to fall at its tiny toes in admiration of something so small. Don't get me wrong - I find them adorable but I won't go out of my way to seek one out. My lovely neighbours have just had a baby and I now find myself thinking about them more than usual. There is something about the little digits, the squat features and the vulnerable nature that makes my heart melt. This is the same for nearly all animals in the world.

They are just irresistable - I'm talking lion cubs, penguins, chicks... However, I have noticeed that there is one animal that produces a baby that keeps my heart firmly in solid form - you will be shocked to hear this but there is nothing in a pug puppy that makes my heart melt. In fact, I would rather not look at them until they have reached full maturity.

I have spent the last few months thinking this through and I think I know why I can not stand the society of a pug puppy. A fully grown pug, to me, represents perfection. Nothing could be cuter - it is therefore impossible for the pug puppy to be able to compete with his older counterpart. As a result, when seeing them, I feel repulsed with frustration, they are so close to perfection whilst being at the same time so far from it.

The only solution I can see for this dilema is to keep all pugs away from me until they have become adults. I therefore suggest pug farms where all pug puppies go and are kept out of my way until they groow up and then they can be released into the wild and chased by yummy mummies across H'Heath where only the fasters, deadliest mums will succeed in catching themselves a pug. I think it is the best solution for all.

Pug of War in Politics

Election fever seems to be gripping the nation (well as much as it ever will - after talking about the Christian/Syed drama in Eastenders, the lack of planes currently above us and how this is turning out to be a pretty nice April, we move on to the conversation of 'who are you voting for in the election?').

I am stuck - a classic floater - I seem to be changing my mind every minute. I have given up reading the paper, as I find each article pulling me this way and that. I vividly remember the last General Election. I was still a student and was looking forward to ticking the box on the paper and making my contribution to British Democracy. However, when I got to the polling station it suddenly dawned on me that I had - amidst the excitement - forgotten to decide on a party. If I'm to be totally trueful I had forgotten to read any papers, research any political policies or paid any attention to the election. I was struck with fear. What if I made the wrong decision? What if my vote was the one that mattered? All these questions were wizzing through my mind and then the answers came...

I walked round the corner in my North Islington constituency and was greeted by what I can only describe as a 'party political PUGCAST'. A beautiful tan pug dressed in gold (seems this pug was a liberal) strolled up to me (owner in tow) and handed me a leaflet. Right there my vote was won. Any party that has a pug on the front line was a party for me. The pug looked proud to be in the colours of the Liberal Democrats and quite frankly, if it's good enough for him, it is good enough for me. My vote was won.

Now, I'm not saying that I am voting Lib Dems this time round. What I am saying is that my vote is easily won so listen out Brown, Cameron and Clegg - get some pugs out there and I promise the swingometer will swing your direction. Bring on the pug of war!

Vee

Close encounters of a PUG kind

I had an early morning meeting the other day. To be honest with you I was not looking forward to it. Somehow I had managed to arrive an hour early for the meeting and had to sit in a coffee shop looking lonely and depressed. It was one of those miserable days when there is rain in the air but not quite enough to allow you the use of an umbrella but enough to create a mullet/mohican crossbreed of a hairstyle.

Finally I went to the meeting. We were greeted at the door with a quick 'hello' followed by a 'I hope you don't mind dogs'. Immediately I had visions of a great dane running towards me like a long lost child only to discover that I am not its mother, but still, it will like to stick its nose right into my crotch. I therefore braced myself - but I had nothing to fear. There was no sign of this beast. Then, suddenly out of nowhere - a little black bundle of fur started running my way. Everything seemed to go into slow motion. We stood in a room no bigger than 10 ft across but this little black ball took a good 20 seconds to reach me. It took about half this time for my brain to get into sync and realise what was coming directly towards me. Then the three letter word left my mouth and everyone in the office abruptly looked at me - PUG!

It was beautiful - I say 'it', pugs seem to be genderless to me. They are neither 'he' nor 'she' they are just pug. This pug was a black one. I must admit to you all that before I met this pug I had a racist tendancy to fall down on the side of a tan pug. I always felt that you see more of the pugly features on a tan. That might be true, but black pugs are amazing. They are a bundle of fur with two black snooker balls dangerously poking out. I was in love. It was strange - I immediately scanned the room for exit points and congratulated myself on choosing a bag that day that was big enough to fit a pug in but not too big to hit people on the bus with. I had a decision to make. Run with the pug, start a new life - as far away from here where no-one would recognise me, or turn my back on it. The pug's dark fur was like a black hole attracting my love and desire - I needed that pug. Then I realised -'what sort of life can I give it?'. We would be on the run, not knowing where the next meal was coming from. I could not put it through that - slowly my back turned. I hope I made the right decision.

Three reasons why I do not own a PUG.

I love pugs. When a pug crosses my path I can not keep my eyes of it. The perfect little body, the face that looks like it is permanently pressed against the patio doors. I can not get enough of them. My company is even based on them (pugmugs.co.uk). However, when people ask me if I have one, I always (and will always) answer no. 'But why?' they ask, and here is the answer.

1. Hold on - don't let go.

The first reason for my lack of a pug companion is a fear of harming it. I look at a pug and am often overcome with a desire to hug it and keep hugging. My fear is that I will not be able to stop hugging. Normally this will not be a problem. However, pugs are well known for having breathing issues. I believe it stems from their puppy hood. My brother told me that when a pug is born they look like most other dogs. But at some time between their birth and being 6 weeks old, the dog puppies have a severe accident. Some run into closed patio doors, others have car doors opened in their faces whilst some simply try and kiss their own reflections in the mirror and take too much of a run up to do this. Whatever the accident, the result is always the same - the little flat face of a pug. This flat face, although adorable, gives most pugs a breathing issue. It is this breathing issue which stops me from from hugging them. I am scared that I might hug the life out of my pug.

2. 'You have your mother's nose'.

I was once chatting to two dear friends about my love for pugs. The conversation was heading towards a natural conclusion when one of my friends (you know who you are) said, 'talking of pets that look like their owners'. The room went cold, I looked at him in horror, he attempted to take it back but we all knew that on some level he thought that something in me resembled a pug. I love pugs - I think they are beautiful but in a 'they are so ugly they are beautiful' kind of way. I do not want people to say 'you remember Vee, the one who looks ever so slightly like a pug'. My conclusion from this episode is that if I keep as far away from pugs as possible then no one will make that connection between myself and them. That is the second reason why I am pugless.

3. Money.

Have you seen the cost of a pug puppy? They are more expensive than me (and I am not cheap)!

There you go. I have said it. It is now on record as to why I do not own a pug. Enough on the matter.

Vee