PUG IT UP!

It's Dobby's FOURTH BIRTHDAY TODAY!

To celebrate, we're scratching his back, wiping the yuck out of his eyes, throwing him sticks (which he still doesn't think need to be brought back to us) and we're telling him over and over what a good smart dog he is. Best ever.

And, showing off pictures of him with some of his dog friends over this past year.

This is Ruby.

This is Ruby's puppy, Bruno. It's okay Dobby... the kid is not your son.

Dobby lost two of his best friends this year.

Jazz, the pretty dog who taught him how to behave when he was a puppy, and Nigel the cat who taught him about "personal space" both died within two weeks.

But we couldn't have the Pug feeling lonely. Pugs don't like to be lonely.

He has a new cat friend, whom he follows attentively. She even lets him wash her ears.

And, he now has Monty.

Jazz's family couldn't live much longer without a dog, and Monty has been with them for a few weeks now. He's a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, he's four months old now, his paws are each the size of Dobby's face and he has no clue how darn big he is.

Like Jazz taught Dobby, he's now teaching Monty.

Like, when to back the heck off, man!

And when it's time for a rest.

I think it'll be a great canine friendship! Even though Dobby has topped out at 22 lbs and Monty will likely be, oh, about 120 by this time next year!!

Out at the Little Valley, Dobby runs around with his slinky, super-fast pal, Seven.

Dobby has a hard time keeping up with Seven.

Aren't they handsome, good boys? This is a rare moment, with both sitting still!

The pug's pretty sociable. Recently we went for a visit, where Dobby made friends with Sam the Boxer. Sam's a farm dog. He doesn't get off the homestead much. They darn near wore each other out playing chase!

I think Dobby figures Sam's a long lost relative. With their wrinkly foreheads and long tongues, it must have been like looking in a mirror.

I used to only like big dogs. It turns out, I have a big dog- he's just stuffed into a little dog body.

He's my big dog, small dog, beach dog, town dog, farm dog, barn dog, bed dog (seriously I never thought I'd let a dog sleep on my bed!) and family dog.

All growed up now.