Miss Maggie has appointed herself gatekeeper, disciplinarian and all-around ruler of all of the other pugs. She doesn’t really interact with Munchkin that much.

Every time there is any squabble amongst the kids, Maggie intervenes and tells everybody off. And if Phebes gets a bit too rambunctious playing with her toys, Maggs lets her know about it and puts a stop to it. Occasionally it gets out of hand and we need to step in but almost always they sort it out and Maggie has the last word. It’s funny to see Phoebe and Charlie’s little faces when she does this – it’s almost like little school kids who know they’ve been naughty.

Maggie has one habit we can’t quite understand. Every now and then, for some reason, she will sit in front of the doggie door which leads to our back patio. When she does this, none of the other dogs dare to try and go outside. She’s never acted aggressive towards anyone wanting to go out, but nobody even tries! I’ve even seen Denny sit down and wait for her to abandon her post before trying to venture out. Not sure what her motivation is, but she seems almost regal sitting there overlooking her court.

Perhaps she thinks she needs to earn her keep in order to stay here for good this time? Silly girl, we’re not letting you go anywhere ever again! Now just relax and cuddle with me on the sofa.

Life just doesn’t get any better than this.

We love you guys!

Yes, our little Phoebe turned 4! Pretty good, especially considering she was scheduled for euthanasia at age 2 due to her recurring UTIs. NOW who has the last laugh? Our healthy, happy, hyper little Phoebe-Lou-Who!

She’s so funny, she’s really got the knack of opening the presents! All I have to do is hold the present still and she’ll take care of ripping the paper to shreds.

Of course there HAD to be a squeaky ball…

But wait, Phebes, there’s more! You can play with that later. First you have to open the other presents.

Like the squeaky stuffed animal…

and the bouncy balls…

Oooh…and there’s something that smells good in here…

It’s TREATS!

Yep, all for you baby. You deserve it. Happy birthday Phoebe!

Love,

Mummy, Daddy & your furry siblings

As the saying goes, life goes on. We’ve had a couple of unsettling months here, but despite all that we figured our furkids still deserved a Christmas celebration. We decided to have a very quiet, low-key Christmas with just us and the furry ones.

This was actually Maggie’s first Christmas with us, so we had to make sure she enjoyed herself. I’m not sure she completely understood everything that was going on though.

But of course the other guys know all too well what Santa brings:

Yes, they all gathered ‘round to see what the big guy brought them this year:

Of course there’s always someone wanting to jump the queue. This year Charlie was a bit over-eager and had to be reminded to wait his turn.

Denny always waits so patiently for his turn…

We know that Phebes is always a bit hard on her presents, but this year she was particularly brutal to her new toy. That thing had the squeaker and half it’s stuffing ripped out within 1 minute of being opened!

And then she moved onto Maggie’s present…

But Maggie got to wear a pretty sash, so she wasn’t too bothered. Doesn’t she look pretty??

Of course everybody’s favorite presents were the biscuits! After everyone had a taste we had to put them away for fear that somebody would over-do it. Denny and Charlie were devastated.

So there you have it, our Christmas with our puggies. This year especially, we are grateful for having them here with us, healthy and happy.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. I tried my hand this year at making a chocolate pecan pie (sugar free, of course) It turned out nicely. So good, in fact, that we’re making another one for New Year’s Day. Here’s the Christmas one pre-baking:

I’m no Martha Stewart, but Richard doesn’t seem to be complaining!

Happy New Year everyone!!!! I just KNOW that 2009 is going to be better.