IT"S A PUG"S LIFE

."Guess what?!" Excitement was coming down the phone in waves. My friend Jo was beside herself. "There's a pug who needs a new home" she continued.

In order to explain this state of hysteria, I need to tell you about Jo. She is pug mad. There are pictures of pugs on her stationery, mugs with pugs, T shirts as well, pictures and cushions, even a door mat with pugs on, at her house. The complete pug freak. She has four pugs of her own. It was on a visit to our vet with two of them that morning that she saw the advert taped to the counter in reception.

I advised her to calm down and tell me all about it. She took several deep breaths and continued. "It's a female, aged 11 months, black(unusual), and the small size of the breed. In the photo she looks adorable. Could you have her?"

I don't know if you know a lot about pugs. In case you don't, I'll clue you in. They are different and delightful, round heads with funny, squashed up faces, flat noses, small, folded over velvety ears, huge dark eyes and at the other end a short, curly tail. The body in between is square and squat and covered with a short coat. Standard pugs are biscuit coloured with black faces. They are not noted for their beauty but they do have bags of personality!

"Why does she need re-housing?" I asked. "The man who owns her has had a big promotion in his job that requires him to work long days. He feels that he no longer has the time to care for her properly. I'd take her but I've already got four". I thought fast. Familiar with other breeds, I'd never had a pug. Why not? In Jo I'd have a never-ending source of advice!

Never known to let the grass grow under her feet, Jo volunteered to go and see her. By that same evening I had all the information I needed and had made the decision to take her.

Are you still there? Good! As this is my story I will now take over. My name is Olive. I am beautiful. Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder and everyone who beholds me says I am beautiful and loves me!

The man who bought me as a puppy fell in love with me when he saw me in a pet shop window. For months we had a great time together, tons of love, lots of walks, hours of company. Then he got promotion in his job. There was still tons of love but the walks were much shorter and the hours of company became minutes. He was stressed out about it all. I was bored. I got depressed. He didn't want to part with me but what could he do?

He took a photo of me, wrote out an appealing advert and hoped for the best for both of us. It didn't take long as that evening Jo appeared. She seemed a nice person and was totally clued up about pugs. She asked to collect me the following day.

Early next morning I changed lives completely. I couldn't believe my eyes when I got to my new home. There was a garden! I'd never had one of those before! A cardboard box full of doggie toys. You could select whichever one you wanted. Two other small dogs to play with, a Yorkshire terrier and a Dachshund. In a very short time we became a trio, totally inseparable. We shared meals, treats, dog baskets, long walks and an awful lot of love.

As time has gone by I realize more and more that my original owner made the right decision, especially as we have heard that his promotion has now taken him abroad.