10 things I love that begin with B

I saw this game on Napoleon & Rukia's blog and asked Nevis to choose a letter for me. I got a "B".

1. Bowl. With food of course! I like to eat from a bowl rather than a plate. (and it's me, Coco's mom, just in case). I also like to use a lot of bowls when I cook. When it is time to clean up I regret to have used so many bowls.

2. Barn. I love little towns with barns, fields, farms and animals. The more rural the better.

3. Beach. With lots of sand and warm water if I am planning to take a bath. If the water is cold, I will just relax in the sand (with a sweater).

4. Beer. Probably the only alcoholic beverage that I can still drink without falling asleep right after the first glass.

5. Bicycle. The only sport I can practice. And I love it! (I wish I could do it more often)

6. Books. I used to read a lot when I was younger, and now I am trying to get back to it.

7. Bed. Where I spend HOURS either reading a book or surfing the internet from my phone (I am kind of lazy).

8. Blog. I have been reading pug blogs for a year or so, and now that I have my own blog I have to admit that I am addicted to this thing.

9. Beauty. Everywhere I go, I become aware of the objects and people surrounding me in a very special way. I like to sit in a corner and perceive everything. And find beauty even in the simplest moments or things. It makes me feel alive and happier.

10. Buildings. The reason I brought the digital camera that I now have, is because it was the best at the time to photograph buildings (or still objects). That's why my pug pictures come out blurry... My parents were architects and I think I inherited their habilities. But... I chose another field (related to my entry #2). I went to college for a while looking forward to get a second degree in Architecture, but won't be able to do it (it is a 4 years full time program). Maybe Interior Design...


Now, I asked Coco what 10 things beginning with "B" he loves the most. He said he could only think of one:

"Bugg"

The Pool

By the end of fall, some parks in Fort Lauderdale open their pools for dogs for a weekend. Last year, we went to a couple of parks where Coco met some old friends and swam. My mom gave Coco a Frosty Paw, which he enjoyed slowly but surely.

"I know you are bigger, dude, but I am NOT sharing my Frosty Paw!"

By late november, the organizer of our local Pug Meetup group brought a Thanksgiving dinner for us and our pugs. It was a very nice gesture! I had never had a typical american thanksgiving dinner before. It was great!

While most pugs were playing, Coco didn't miss the chance to beg for some food. It always ends up with me apologizing to strangers. And not being able to get Coco off their legs, anyway.

"Give me your food or... or GIVE ME YOUR FOOD! Sorry, no options here."

For Christmas it was my turn to go to Canada to spend a few days with the family. One more time, Coco could not come. I really missed him, but at the same time I was glad that he didn't come because I spent the whole weekend inside my sleeping bag. It was WAYYY too cold for me. As always, Coco sent some gifts to his cousin Lu. Coco really needs some suggestions from a girl friend now that he is trying to conquest Dixie's heart.

Travel Time

I love to travel. Who doesn't? What I have not been able to do yet is travel with my pug. On last year's Labor Day I went to a farmer's market in Canada and brought a firefighter's costume for Coco. Back at home, I tried the costume on Coco and showed it to my husband.

"What is that supposed to be?"

Turns out that the costume does not look anything like a firefighter's uniform around here. What do you think?

For my last year's birthday (mid november) my mom was visiting me. We woke up early and took the road towards Key West. We had breakfast in Midway Cafe, where dogs are allowed inside the restaurant. I always share my vegetables with Coco, this time a pickle. He played with the pickle a little bit, licked it and left it on the floor. Before leaving our table I placed the pickle on my plate, along with the used napkins. There was a group of bicyclists having breakfast too. Guess what? When we were leaving the restaurant one of them walked to my table and ate the pickle!

"Eeeeeewwww!"

We couldn't go all the way to Key West because I am too lazy to drive that long. We went to a beach halfway instead. The water was too cold for me, but perfect for Coco. It is very shallow and he feels confortable going in and out, with me close to him.

He spent the whole morning walking around, sniffing and swimming.

Then, Coco met Chloe. It was love at first sight. Or smell. But it didn't last for too long because she lives in Atlanta. Poor Coco.

Back at home, I had to rest for a while. I was so tired! When I woke up, there was a surprise at the table. Someone cooked for me!

Someone also cleaned up the dishes after dinner.

Thank you Coco!

The Park

Even though I like my job, I am still not used to spending too many hours at the office. I have always been an outdoors person. The weather in South Florida is very hot during summer and not that cold during winter - and I love it.

But Coco... he doesn't enjoy summers too much. I take him out at noon everyday for a little walk and he does well. But longer walks are hard for him. Even on a breezy night.

I still try to plan some activities, which he enjoys a lot, just having the precaution to bring lots of water and keep my car close by so we can get inside and cool off with the a/c.

A few weeks ago we went to Oleta River State Park. I had never been there before but heard about it because it has awesome mountain-bike trails. The park is also pet friendly. What to do?

Of course I left the bike at home and went to the park with Coco. It has lots of beautiful nature trails, but we couldn't get out of the car for too long. It was extremely hot!

Coco wouldn't move from this spot. Of course, that little branch didn't provide much shade.

There is a beach at the park but that section is not pet friendly.

"I love nature but can we go now? Please?"

The week after, we went to Hollywood beach. Coco liked to swim before. Now he gets all scared... I don't know why. Maybe because the first times I took him to the keys, where the beach is shallow. Even if he doesn't swim, he loves the beach!

"Can we go for a walk now?"




I couldn't sit for a minute. Coco spent the whole afternoon walking all over the beach making new friends.


"Sand tastes really good, doesn't it?"

My First Award!

Our new friend Clover gave us the Kick Ass Blogger award. Thank you Clover!



The blog has been up for two weeks only, and I now have lots of new incredible friends! I am going to pass the Kick Ass Blogger award to the five commenters that have commented the most (is that redundant?): Napoleon & Rukia, The Devil Dog, Melissa and Emmitt, Winston & Clementine, and Puddleglum.

Now, some pictures of Coco enjoying his favorite treat:

" Ñam ñam crunch"


"What are you looking at?"


"Stop bothering me!!!"

"Coco, what are you doing? there are no treats in there. ewwwww poop! Leave it!"
(Unfortunately, Coco didn't have the chance to attend a single class at Petco.)

The Pug Meetup

On March of 2007, I took Coco to the first regular Pug Meetup. It is in an air conditioned facility where the pugs can ran and play without leashes. They were celebrating one of the member's birthday with a cake. Guess who ate the most...

Do you see the pug with the huge belly? Everyone thought that Coco was pregnant! THAT was very funny... because he is a boy. He had grown a lot since then, and the belly doesn't look that bad anymore.

"Am I cool, or what?"

The Pug Picnic

On February of 2007, Coco was already a member of the local Pug meetup group. He was finally ready to attend!

The meetup was scheduled along with the Pug Club of South Florida's anual Picnic. Instead of Coco getting to know a few friends, he met hundreds of pugs and people!

There was a costume contest, pug acrobatics contest and a kissing contest. It was a great event!

"Hi, my name is Coco. Nice to meet you".

Back at home, Coco behaved very well and slept like an angel.

This year Coco almost got the first prize for the handmade costume contest. I made a typical peruvian attire but Coco couldn't wear the chullo (I don't know how to say that in english) because it covered his ears and he gets nervous if he can't hear very well. At the last minute I found a mariachi hat, so he went as a mexican.

Coco was a gentleman to let the ballerina pug win this year's contest. Maybe we'll get a prize next year!

Coco actually went to say hi (and congratulate her, I guess). She was really beautiful!

The P! True Story: Coco (The End)

With surgery, there was a little hope to save the left eye and his vision. Right after surgery began, Coco's mom received a phone call.

"Coco is not doing very well with the anesthesia... I'd rather remove the eye and wake him up immediately". That was the worst scenario that Coco's mom had imagined, and now she had no choice. The oftalmologist had a chance to close the right eye a little bit to avoid more ulcers on it. After picking him up at night, Coco's mom spent many hours petting him. She felt so bad for him...

A little bit after midnight she went to sleep. Then she remembered that it was her birthday. Instead of a celebration, all she had in mind was to find a new vet for Coco. And very soon, because his monthly cortisone shot was due in a week.

Some friends recommended a vet close to the house and her work - it had to be that way because she knew that in case of an emergency Coco would need assistance right away. At least she was used to that. The new vet was a young woman who had previously owned a pug, a one eyed dog and was a good friend of Coco's internal medicine specialist. What else could one ask for?

Two weeks later, Coco's mom still felt very sad about him loosing one eye. She had a prior commitment to spend Thanksgiving with a relative that lived across the State. And she couldn't cancel it. She knew that she would have to trust this new people someday, so she left Coco in the new vet's boarding facility during the weekend. On Monday morning, a phone call woke her up. Coco's right eye was not good. The new vet had spoken to the oftalmologist already but it was not getting any better. Coco's mom had to run again to the specialist's clinic (which, by the way, was very far away).

Coco's mom was desperate. What was wrong with this little dog? He was only one year and two months old. Why was it always like that with him? Emergencies were more part of his life than regular walks around the block. It wasn't fair for him. It was clear that he was suffering. What was the best choice for him (not her)?


She was lucky to be surrounded by these incredible professionals. They didn't let her think about "that" option. It wasn't necessary to go to that extreme. Coco was going to be fine. All of the doctors that had seen Coco before spoke to her and explained that even though things were difficult lately, things would change.

The oftalmologist suggested a procedure to try to save the right eye. Vision was already lost. The ulcers were hurting Coco a lot and they wouldn't heal completely because of the cortisone he was taking to treat his addison's disease - which he would need for the rest of his life. The oftalmologist was still waiting for an answer as to what to do.

"Just remove it".

And that was the best desicion Coco's mom could have ever done. She now has a very active, healthy and happy pug, who will give her life purpose with his unconditional blind love.

The P! True Story: Coco (#5)

Good news for Monday. Coco was fine and his mom finally got a referral to an internal medicine specialist as suggested by the vet's tech. Coco's vet was still on the moon...


The specialist heard Coco's mom carefully. He knew right away: "it's addison's disease. He was probably on a comma on Saturday."

What a relief to finally know what was going on! After the required tests, the specialist explained that Coco could lead a normal life with treatment and avoiding stress as much as possible. Not hard at all.

Soon after, he was back to his own mischievous self.


Unfortunately, Coco developed eye and skin problems alternately during the next six months. The skin cleared after a very long treatment but the eyes... If it was not the left eye, it was the right one. With the corneal ulcers Coco had to use a cone and avoid the sun. It was a hot summer in Miami and this restriction meant no Petco classes or plans for outdoor fun.


Coco's mom was starting to feel frustrated. It seemed that with this little dog, no short, medium or long term plans could be made.


Coco's mom scheduled a vet appointment on halloween and the ulcers were better. They went to South Beach at night. She had never been there for halloween, and it was so much fun! The place was packed with disguised people and dogs, so they spent a good couple of hours just enjoying the view.

The day after, she saw an article on the newspaper about a past pug halloween party... how could they miss it? She didn't know about the pug meetup - or any meetup at all - and she wanted to join so bad but she preferred to wait for Coco's condition to be stable. After all, he had to be hospitalized twice after the diagnosis. Apparently, his electrolytes levels would take a while to adjust...


It was early November and Coco's left eye still had an ever-growing ulcer. His mom would take him every single day to the vet. One day she realized that this person had long given up with this dog. How could she be so blind and not notice this before? She had been losing her time for so long, putting Coco's life at risk. This was way too much. And then she remembered... there was an oftalmologist at the specialist's office. There she run. Too late.

The P! True Story: Coco (#4)

By the end of winter, Coco was prescribed three preventive drugs for whatever disease the vet supposed he had (two different diseases, actually). Coco's mom was not happy with the vague diagnosis, and had thought about getting a second opinion for a while. But Coco's condition was so variable that keeping him steady became more important at the moment. And the new prescription seemed to work. At least for three weeks.


The symptoms came back, this time faster than ever. He dropped weight incredibly soon and his mom spent - once again - the whole night awake trying to keep his body as warm as possible. In the morning, Coco couldn't move. He was as cold as ice. He stopped breathing.

Coco's mom used to revive piglets that were drowned during birth in an intership back in college. Apparently, she reacts really quickly - almost unconsciously - to emergencies. Don't ask what method or technique she used. She just knows that it worked.

It was a warm Saturday and the vet's office - only 5 minutes away from home - was about to open. Coco was hospitalized immediately but, since it was a weekend, no visits were allowed. What an awful and uncertain weekend.

The P! True Story: Coco (#3)

As days went by, Coco felt sick again. This time, he wouldn't eat. He lost weight and one day woke up with his hind legs inmovilized. Now, what could that be? The vet had no clue for this one, though it was clear that Coco needed some nutrients through the IV. He was hospitalized for two days, and both days his mom visited him during her lunch hour. Altough she wanted to cry, she didn't. Coco was glad to see her and he needed to be cheered up, too.

When she picked him up after his release, she couldn't believe her eyes. There it was, the playful and happy puppy running in circles around her! Running in circles? The legs were just fine.

For the next three months, hospitalizations were common in Coco's life. Although the vet took all sort of tests, he wasn't clear why his electrolytes levels would drop suddenly. Coco's mom did a lot of research but the symptoms were so vague... even the vet didn't know what type of specialist could help.

In between hospital visits, Coco was a very normal dog. He got up to date with his shots and went right away for a stroll in South Beach. It was a very cold day, but he enjoyed it a lot. He met lots of people and dogs and was impressed by them all. He was impressed by the pool, too.If they only knew what was about to come...