the pug life chose me

Pinterest (and the internet in general) is full of pugisms, such as the ever popular “I didn’t choose the pug life; the pug life chose me” with a corresponding pug life photo. And this made me realize – seriously, the pug life did choose me.

I was never much of a dog person. We didn’t have pets growing up (except for the summer we randomly had a duck, but that is another story…) My grandparents lived a few blocks away and have a Bichon Frise named Eric and we were the same age. Seriously, me and Eric the dog were born the same year, so I kinda grew up with him. But he was an old people’s dog and wasn’t very exciting. No offense, Eric. (Oh and anytime I meet anyone named Eric, I immediately think, “That was my grandma’s dog’s name.”) So basically I was indifferent about dogs.

I had a boss at my first job after college who was this old guy with a tiny Yorkshire Terrier named Tara who he brought to work. He basically made out with this dog and was obsessed with her. This was when I worked in London and her bed was from Harrod’s and she had crystal collars. Every morning, he would tell her to go greet us and I’d say a “hello” and give her a little pet. Because I didn’t freak out and make baby noises at her, he would then say, “Come on, Tara. Jackie doesn’t like you.” Sigh. So that’s a good example of my pre-pug dog life.

I slowly started warming up to dogs more and when I started dating Jarrod, he would talk about how he loved dogs and couldn’t wait to get one. For some reason, he had a thing for pugs, even though he had never had one. We visited his cousin in Nashville after we had been dating for a year. His cousin had found an old partially-toothless pug wandering around her yard. She took the dog in and eventually a neighbor told them that she was their dog Cheeto, but they didn’t want her anymore. People are awesome, huh? Anyways, his cousin kept her and got her back into better health. Watching that dog eat was the most entertaining thing I’ve ever seen and my old grinch heart opened up to this gross old dog. She was so lazy and chubby and snuggly and sweet. Maybe I was a dog person after all? (Here’s a photo of me meeting Cheets…)

Nearly two years later, Jarrod’s family surprised us with Bowie. I had agreed to wanting a dog but wasn’t quite ready yet. But Jarrod told his family that all we wanted for Christmas was a pug. So Bowie was a surprise I thought I wasn’t ready for. But once we got him, I was totally in love and obsessed. I then became the crazy pug lady who was posting 1 million photos of Bowie on Facebook and convinced Jarrod that we needed a second pug about 2 years later. I never thought I’d be the crazy dog lady but Cheeto (aka Cheets) convinced me I would be the perfect crazy dog lady. Bowie initiated me into the pug life and Rosie made me the unofficial president of crazy pug lady town. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Has the pug (or dog) life chosen you too?

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