Petey the Pug

I had a dog as a kid, named Princess (I was creative, even back then! ha!), that I bought from the Louisiana SPCA when I was ten years old. Think about that-I walked into the SPCA with $100, picked out a dog, paid for her, and left-I was ten.... Nowadays, you need to pass a background check to adopt a pet... I had to give Princess away to a neighbor when I was 15 because we moved to a new area so I could go to a better school and our landlord wouldn't let us have dogs. Princess lived out her days with a loving owner. I, though, longed for a dog for years.....

When I was 24, I moved to a house in mid-city New Orleans and I finally had a landlord that didn't care if I got a dog. Since we had no yard, I wanted to make sure that the dog I picked would be happy indoors and wouldn't grow too big. I bought a book on dog breeds and just started flipping pages. When I got to the pug page, I knew I had found the right breed. I think pugs are gorgeous, personality-laden squish-faced beauts, so I knew I had to have one.

When I went to pick up Petey, the man turned, handed me this tiny little three pound ball of ridiculous cuteness, and that was that-I handed the man his money and never looked back. Petey literally fit into one of my hands. I brought him home and the minute my dad saw him he was hooked.

Petey is about to turn 13. He is winding down his life, and I know that I won't get to be with him much longer. His health started deteriorating when we evacuated for Hurricane Katrina-he almost died on the way to Jacksonville, FL. The stress from that permanently weakened his heart and he has trouble being in cars now.

Petey spends his days hanging out with my dad, who lives with me now that he is retired. My dad calls him Mr. Buddy. He bops round the yard a bit and mostly tries to stay out of Bebe's way (she loves ramming into him).

Petey is the sweetest pug, with a perfect double curl tail and a linebackers body, who will be greatly missed when he moves on. I cherish every day and year I get to have with him.

UPDATE: My Petey died in my arms this August 2013. He didn't feel well all day and then came into the living room, did his final triple-circle, and then went to critter heaven. My dad stayed up until five in the morning digging a spot for him in our yard, which is hard Yazoo clay. Rest in peace my baby boy.