Daisy was born May 29, 2005 in Pennsylvania. A Pug was not my first choice in dogs. I prefer the big, golden retriever-lab type like I grew up with. Matt on the other hand prefers smaller dogs and always wanted a Pug so a Pug it was. After a lot of research, we found a breeder in Pennsylvania and took a road trip with my parents. Originally we were going to get a male dog. When we arrived at the breeders home she had a lot of cute puggy puppies. This is what we saw...
Umm..hello can we take them all!
We played with all the puppies and this one little puppy seemed to grab at us.
Take me home!
And that is all it took... those cute white paws and her fun personality. So much for our male Pug we were going to name Rocky. We left with a little female Pug, originally named Cherry, who became a Daisy before we hit the interstate.
Needless to say we all fell in love.
My mom wouldn't give up Daisy in the car ride home.
My nieces/nephew had a new friend.
Matt & I became a mommy and daddy. We still haven't decided which was more draining... 3am puppy wake up calls or baby wake up calls (by the way, all were beyond worth it!)
Daisy trained easily and quickly. She graduated puppy training school with honors! She loves carrots and popcorn. Her favorite things to do are sleep, sleep and sleep. She loves to sleep on us, on a pillow or at the bottom of the bed. Throw in a session of toe biting and a walk around the block and she is one happy Pug.
We do think however she has little bit of a "who she thinks she is" ego. She tends to bark at all the big dogs in the neighborhood, thinking she rules the block. However, when they approach her to say "he-wo" she runs away!
When the babies came home from the hospital, Daisy took to them right away and vice-versa. We think they have found best friends in each other. Ryan likes to feed Daisy his food and Katie loves to chase Daisy around and laughs when Daisy has one of their toys. We think one of their first words will be "Daisy, no!".
It saddens us knowing Daisy will have a shorter life span than the average Pug. She has a Portosystemic Liver Shunt (click here). Basically, it is an abnormal vessel that allows blood to bypass the liver. As a result the blood is not cleansed by one of the bodies filters: the liver. Her only physical signs of her PSL is her size. Upon meeting her for the first time, many think she is still a puppy. She is on a special diet, no protein. I know, kind of ironic Ryan is on a lo-pro diet! She was not a good candidate for surgery, hence the reason she is not spayed either. Our vet, as well as research, shows the average life span could only be a few years. There are other dogs who have lived long beyond and we hope Daisy is one of the lucky ones.
There is nothing like having a dog. Coming home at the end of the day, or any other time, and being greeted by the 4 legged family member can brighten any one's day. They sense when you need them the most and a little snuggle goes a long way.
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