Flat Puglet Project

FLAT PUGLET & CHESSIE’S MURALS
By Abbey & Michael

Flat Puglet was the perfect doggie-houseguest! He was quiet, well-behaved and didn’t pee anywhere he wasn’t supposed to. We didn’t even have to break out the vacuum or lint brush to get rid of him after he left.

Our dog Chessie died just before Christmas so it was good to have a dog in the house again (even if only a flat one).

When Flat Puglet arrived, we weren’t sure what to do with him. We’ve been missing Chessie something awful, so I thought I could share one Chessie’s favorite daily routines with Flat Puglet.

Every morning before work, I’d walk with Chessie to a nearby park. I’m a creature of habit so we’d always walk the same four blocks, passing a wall of murals along the way. Chessie always stopped to sniff around, forcing me to quit being in such a damn hurry and enjoy the artwork. I probably never would have stopped to really look at the murals if it weren’t for Chessie. Without her, I would have missed a lot of things in life .

Chessie wasn’t a recycled dog. I bought her from a pet store in the mall 12 years ago – long before I knew anything about Puppy Mills or Rescues. It will be awhile before we’re ready for another dog, but when the time is right, we will definitely be looking to give a rescue a second chance.

Here are some more pictures of Flat Puglet enjoying the art work (click to see bigger). The watermelon one is my favorite:

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Flat Puglet’s next visit will be to the home of Buford’s Bullies in Petaluma, CA. You can follow his travels as they happen by entering #43 in the Search box.

FLAT PUGLET TRIES AGILITY
By Arnie the agility pug

My mom got her Flat Puglet, and knew right where she wanted to take him. You see, I’m a recycled dog AND an agility dog. She wanted to show F.P. around my world, so she brought him to agility class. Every Wednesday, mom takes me and Gracie (another recycled Pug) to class at Placer Dog Training, in Granite Bay, CA (near Sacramento).

First, a little background:

Mom’s volunteered with Pug PROS (Pug Rescue of Sacramento) for over 10 years. She helps with fundraisers, has served on the board, edited the newsletter, and serves as a foster and/or hospice home. Through the years she’s had many pugs come through the door. Some stay for hours, some stay for years. Some leave for loving homes. Some stay forever, either by her choice or because of circumstance.

I came to live here after she received a phone call from the local animal control. The kennel administrator asked if PROS would take a pug that had just arrived as a stray and had not been claimed. Ordinarily, they would have allowed the general public to adopt me, but they felt I was unadoptable, and would just be returned over and over. I am very thankful animal control did the right thing and contacted my mom, knowing she would work with me and find me a great home, with the least amount of stress.

At the time I was, quite frankly, out of control. I spent my days in the kennel at animal control running along the block wall; running and running and running. Until my mom picked me up, with every intention of rehabilitating me to find a great home. But it didn’t take long for her to realize that I might make a good agility dog. Her vet thought she was crazy to adopt me, and told her to rethink her decision. Her friends couldn’t see my appeal, and doubted I would ever see competition. But she saw my potential.

My first year in my new home was spent just learning manners and control. Slowly, over time, I learned to control myself. Then came time to prep for my agility career so Mom enrolled me into a class at Placer Dog. It took another year, but eventually I started working sequences instead of running off to dig through everyone’s training bags.

Her patience dedication paid off. We now show a few times a month, competing in AKC and CPE agility. I have lots of pretty ribbons, some cool titles, and get to visit fun places. Mom isn’t crazy enough to think that I’m out of the woods yet. There will times when I forget to pay attention, run out of the ring, or visit people and dogs while I should be working. But I get better and better every time, and mom says that’s the important thing.

So… I started out a homeless stray that nobody claimed. But I’ve turned into a sweet, funny, willing, fast and fun agility partner. Where most people saw a dog that was hopeless, mom saw a diamond in the rough. She knew she had what it took to polish me into a brilliant companion. I’m glad she took the chance (and I’m pretty sure she is too).

Because agility has played such a big part in me being a good dog, we decided to introduce Flat Puglet to my agility classmates:

The picture in the beginning of this post is us sitting on top of The Chute, but in competition we go through The Chute not ON it. The Chute was kind of scary at first, but I figured out pretty quick that nothing bad happens in there AND I get a cookie when I come out! Here we are on The Dogwalk. This one is not as tall as the A-frame, but the board is skinnier, so it’s a little scarier unless you’re really careful. I usually run across it at full speed, but here I stopped to visit Flat Puglet for a photo op.

And this is us posing on The Table with me and my best friend Jack. Jack’s a lot like me – he has a hard time being good. We go crazy when we see each other at class and at shows. I’m the only one he lets share his bully stick while he’s chewing on it. The table is my least favorite obstacle. I have to stop running agility (hard), sit or lie down (harder), and stay that way for a count of 5 (hardest). I do it, but I don’t like it.

Anyway, I hope Flat Puglet had a good time at agility class. He sat in a chair and watched the whole practice (I did really good, luckily) and the whole class learned about the Flat Puglet Project. My instructor knew about Flat Stanley (she used to be a teacher) but had never met a Flat Pug!

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Flat Puglet’s next visit will be with the adoption coordinator for PugPROS, in the San Francisco bay area. Mom thought it would be appropriate, given Flat Puglet’s mission. You can follow his travels as they happen by entering “#20″ in the Search box.

SNOW ANGELS, POPEYE’S AND PEEPS. OH MY!
By Stubby

Flat Puglet arrived today and I was so excited to greet him at the mailbox!

He arrived the morning after a snowstorm.  Mom wanted Flat Puglet and I to make snow angels but we didn’t really understand how to make them so she made one instead. Flat Puglet then decided he wanted to be part of the snow angel and plopped himself down!

After playing in the snow, Mom took Flat Puglet to work with her. She works at the College of Lake County Writing Center. Flat Puglet welcomed students into the Center with his supercute expression!

When work was over, Mom took Flat Puglet to the grocery store (I am not allowed in the store so I stayed home).  Flat Puglet was instantly drawn to the asparagus display at the front of the store.  Mom thought maybe he was hungry after his long journey when he hopped out of the cart and into the asparagus!

Then Flat Puglet mysteriously disappeared while Mom was checking out broccoli.  After searching the produce section she found him in the scale.  See, he’s not tubby just like the real Puglet.

Flat Puglet obviously didn’t want to buy what Mom wanted and once again he was on the move.  A nice shopper helped Mom find him in the Easter section.  No Peeps for you!

Mom never thought that shopping with Flat Puglet was going to turn into a scavenger hunt, but every time she turned around, he was gone.  But she didn’t need a nice shopper to finally locate him because she knows his weakness:  Pirate’s Booty!

Mom and Flat Puglet’s next stop was the library. Flat Puglet really liked the library and checked out the Illinois travel books. And of course Flat Puglet’s visit wouldn’t be complete without a trip to my favorite restaurant: Popeyes!

He told me that the real Puglet told him all about Popeyes and as soon as we pulled up to the restaurant he jumped out of the car. I think he was more excited than I was!

I lead Flat Puglet right up to the door but neither of us could reach the handle. “Let us in!” we both shouted!

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Flat Puglet will be leaving Mundelein today for Elgin, Illinois. He is traveling to the home of Josie, Anakin & Izzy. Joise is a recycled pug (and her siblings may be too!). You can follow his travels as they happen by entering “#1″ in the Search box or clicking on #1 at the bottom of this post (next to the word Tags).

THREE AMIGOS RESTAURANT
By Robert

I’ve never met a pug that didn’t like food so we took Flat Puglet with us to a local Mexican eatery. His table manners were very good and unlike our own dogs, he made no attempt to snatch food off our plates.

Two children sitting in the booth next to ours were very curious about Flat Puglet (though for some reason they kept calling him Frank). I told them all about Flat Puglet’s mission to help recycled dogs and after about a million questions, the younger boy asked his parents if they could get a recycled dog too. I’m not sure if he meant a Flat Puglet or a dog from a rescue, but either way I think a little awareness was raised at the Three Amigos.

Mission accomplished!

The Flat Puglet Project was started by a real pug in San Francisco who wants the whole world to know how perfectly perfect a recycled dog can be.

It all started when he asked his human to flatten him with a camera so he could fit in an envelope and travel the world. At first Puglet just wanted to see where the Flat Puglet would go and what he’d do when he got there. But then he remembered the New Year’s resolution he made to help dogs in need. What if  Flat Puglet could do more than just travel?

What if he had… a mission?

Puglet knew there would be fewer homeless dogs if more humans knew recycled pets are just as good as new ones. If Flat Puglet made it his mission to raise awareness about adopting a recycled dog, all the perfectly perfect dogs in rescue would have homes in no time.

Now here he his, spreading the word! Like a virus – only cuter. And flat. But he can’t do it alone. To get the world’s attention, Flat Puglet needs YOU.