A pug in a reflective mood!

I've done quite a bit of Pug-sitting in the past couple of weeks, so I feel I am qualified to say that they are fairly easy to look after. They are a faithful, devoted and loving breed, although at times can be a tad over affectionate! They require very little (if any) exercise, and are easily amused by mindless quiz shows.

They can entertain themselves for hours barking at anything they feel doesn't have the right to walk, or drive, past the house. They will alert you to any "strangers" in hi-vis jackets, especially if they are carrying a large red post bag. They will let you know immediately if a cat walks past the window, or if someone rides past on a bike or scooter. They are particularly keen to share info on any suspicious looking vans, especially those selling ice-cream - just in case you didn't hear the tune yourself.

As guard dogs go, they are good at the 'alerting' side of the job. Not sure how they would deal with an actual intruder. I'm guessing they merely wag their tails and roll over for a tummy tickle. They are easily bribed with food, and they make excellent 'hot water bottles'. But there are, however, drawbacks.

It's not the actual pug itself that is the problem. No! It's the small, but ever increasing, army of puglets that lurk about in all sorts of places around the house. These must be barked and growled at. Incessantly. Some must be punched. Ned's arch-nemesis is the one that lives in the oven. He only really appears when the oven is on. He must be stared at, and snorted at, for as long as the oven is on. He is the one most likely to be punched by a puggy paw. The pug in the oven does go away, but always comes back again, and cannot be ignored.

Then there is the one that lives in the mirror in my bedroom. He is so offensive he must be covered up. This is the one that growls and barks back! There is the new, circular x2 pug which made an appearance a couple of weeks ago. My fault - it was silly of me to buy a small magnifying pug and keep it at Ned height.

Every black car passed on a walk contains a small, and usually surprised, pug in it's side. They must be approached with caution!

Computer monitors, ipads, laptops, phones, in fact any black and shiny object - they all contain a pug!

So after a weekend of pug-proofing, hiding and covering up the pug-army, a new one appeared in a most unexpected place. On a shelf near the bottom of my bed lies my stash of wool, in a large zippy-up bag that is plastic and see through. I just happened to turn it round to reveal a black ball of wool - and there he was - a small, but perfectly formed Ned replica!

You would think he would be glad of the company, wouldn't you? But NO!! They must all go!! Because if there is another pug in the room he just can't concentrate on growling at his own shadow!