Our pets must be the strangest and most patient animals in the universe! First, there's Miss Sophie, who often enjoys rides in the "play" shopping cart or stroller. Sophie has worn many dress up clothes, often portraying "the baby" or "the grandma" or "the princess" in Emma and Grace's imaginary world. Sophie doesn't do much complaining...she kinda hangs with it! (I think she secretly loves all the attention.) Lately Sophie has been gaining a little too much weight. We think she's been dippin' into the other dogs' food, and we recently discovered that one of Emma's hobbies is sneaking Sophie bits of food under the table. Now, Miss Sophie is on a diet. :( We're worried she'll start to resemble a bowling ball. (Remember, this is the pug who ate up a tin of Christmas chocolate and ended up in the vet hospital overnight!) Already, everyone in the family has started calling her "Fat Piggy." Sophie doesn't care, as long as there's a warm lap to sit on. 
Then, there's Marty, the new guy. Marty was at the pound in Riverside (a death sentence for many dogs) and was found by a rescue group who had him in a cage in front of Petco. Danielle and I were on one of our "we need another pet" rampages...the often tragic result of growing up in a house full of pets. We had been looking at the pound online, and we decided to check out Petco. Once we saw Marty's 1/2 pug tail, it was love at first sight! We brought him home and he fit in immediately, ripping around the house and snuggling on the bed. Grace named Marty after the Zebra in Madagascar. Whenever Grace says his name, she says it with a silly accent, kind of like "Mawwwty". A bit British, a bit southern, with a twist of New Jersey. That girl cracks me up!
Marty is half pug, half....something. We think it's chihuahua because of his overbite (see picture), but then again he can jump as high as any Jack Russel Terrier AND he looks like a fox. He also has the habit of sleeping on his back, wherever he is.
One problem is that Marty likes to chase Miss Priss. Miss Priss is SO over Marty. She hangs out in my sink most of the time, and when she cruises around the house, she uses all high surfaces to move from room to room. Any floor time means Miss Priss is scurrying, which only adds enthusiasm to the chase. The only dog who likes Miss Priss is Sophie, (Fat Piggy) who gazes adoringly at her and sits next to her, as long as the other dogs aren't looking. Sophie's got a reputation to protect with the other dogs.
Recently, Emma decided to hook Marty up to the shopping cart like a reindeer. (He actually reminded me of that dog in The Grinch cartoon...) She put Sophie in the cart and they toured the house. What an entourage!
Acer Dog, old and raspy, is spending a lot of time snoring and sleeping. The rest of time, he barks at people (or noises) at the door. He recently had to go on "Puggy Prozac". (That's what we call it, anyway.) He was getting so worked up and his breathing is so bad that he sounded like a dying beast. We're waiting to see if Puggy Prozac works.
Aren't we Smiths and our pets a fascinating bunch?
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