A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Scrunchy joined our family on May 16, 2001. He was born on Friday, March 16, 2001 on a farm in Holland Texas. His mommy was "one of the nicest pugs ever," according to the breeder.

The day we got Scrunchy (Sir Scrunchums of Braesgate or Xiao Gou Gou in Chinese) was the happiest day of Declan's life. He had been asking for a pug since last June, when he met his Aunts' two pugs in North Carolina. We have many, many pug images around our house, and even subscribed to Pug Talk magazine, long before the actual pug showed up.

Scrunchy (shown as an adult at left) is not exactly a show dog. He is very dark for a fawn pug, with lots of black on his head, legs and back, and his head is rather overly round. He has a white spot on his chest, plus a few white chin hairs and a white toe. All in all, most memorable looking. Plus, he is the SWEETEST puppy in the world. His big sister, Gwynneth, the Welsh Corgi, loves him very much, as well. The "dog and puppy" show has replaced television viewing as our favorite family room activity!

His hobbies (as a puppy) included eating, sleeping, chewing, chomping, biting, making horrible smells, and eliminating. And being petted. His favorite toys so far are chew sticks, a rubber ball with a bell in it, and a plastic hedgehog, though anything he is NOT supposed to chew on it is popular, too. We are just grateful the other dog hasn't destroyed all the toys. He finally wears his collar, and he loves to go for walks with Gwynneth.

UPDATE: It is now 2005 and Scrunchy was THREE in March. We are adding more photos to show how he has grown (um, perhaps a bit too much) and what he's been up to, as well as to share some other photos of the menagerie around here (see Chi-Chi at right). We still love him, and he still has many of the same hobbies, including eating, eliminating and chewing. Pestering cats and licking men's legs are his latest fascinations.

Photos, We Want Photos, Dog Gone It!

Here are more photos of our little pal. Newer photos, near the bottom, will feature some of our other animal pals. Click on the little pictures to see them enlarged. By the way, his eyes are not blue--that's just the reflection of the camera light. His eyes DO look like they are looking in two different places, though.

May 22, 2001 9.5 weeks old	I sure love Declan	Look at my white spot!	Sittin' with my mommy	I love my chew toys!
	Looking like a scared rat	I am supposed to lick when they say "kisses"
May 24, 2001 With his "big sister"	See my sharp tooth?	Gwynneth and I love to fight.	Note that I am dominant.	I am small but powerful. GRRR!
	Sock tug-o-war!	I almost got it!	Mine, mine, mine! (I heard the kids saying that)	Trying to get Joe the cat to play with me. It isn't working, no mater how cute I look. (Sorry it is so dark)
May 28, 2001 10 weeks old: Visitor Day! We were trying to get better pictures of him.	I love eating my friends' shoes. Josette's are yummy.	You can tell me from Marty because I am too young to drink.	OK, now I am getting cuter, huh?	Though I will never make it into the show ring, I thought it would be a good idea to practice my stance.
	Kiss me, I am so cute.	Mommy is crazed about me, too.	Of course I came to Declan's birthday party: I am the big present!	I am still doing this. Can you tell I have grown in 4 days?
June 8, 2001 12 weeks old and 7.9 lbs.	MMM, wonder if this poisonous mushroom is any good?	Declan can still pick me up!	Grr, I'm gonna kill this tree one of these days! Note my new collar and rabies tag. I am so grown up.	It rained, and we found some tasty water--so much better than that nice fresh stuff in our bowls!
July 17, 2001 almost 4 months and LOTS bigger	This two-year old boy and I have so much in common! He must be a puppy, too!	Jeffrey says, "I am not a puppy."	I hope he comes over again so I can leap all over a human one more time! In the meantime, I have plenty of chew toys.
July 18, 2001 4 months old!	I am getting closer to Gwynnie's size, but she still gets the toy. GRRR.	Mommy, throw this again, we haven't slobbered on it TOO much.	Mom, why did you put in this gratuitous extreme close-up???
July 19, 2001 with Jude, our house guest	Forget about Evil Eye Gwynnie, I'm gonna eat my tail!	Nothing is better than a nice lap nap.	Those scary eyeballs are peeking out.	You don't even have to be my mother to love this face.
August 13, 2001	This beanie baby looks just like me. I think I will sleep with it.
2004	This is Chi-Chi, Declan's Chilean Rose tarantula that his friends at the Farm generously gave him in fall 2003. Thanks, Farm folks...	Frightening close-up of our pal Chi-Chi.	Scrunchy the Adult, March 2004, having lost 5 pounds on a diet. He is still a large pug, with long legs	Hey, he lost two more pounds and a tooth (broke one chewing something) but is still cute
parade of other pets	Seamus, age ten, can't decide whether to knit or watch TV	The last photo of Joe the cat, who left this world on December 28, 2004. He was born in March 1987.