The day George entered our lives, something happened. Something big happened. He got the attention of our 8 year old son, Tristan, who hadn’t pet or paid much attention to any of our animals since he was a toddler. I can’t recall anything occurring that made him fear or dislike animals, and as a toddler, he loved our boxer, Duncan. I have some of the cutest pictures ever of the two of them loving on each other in the backyard of our Alabama home. But soon after those love filled photos were taken, Tristan changed. He just wasn’t interested in our dogs or cats. For years, I would watch his indifference and apathy toward our animals and it made me so sad because my husband and I are such animal lovers. At one point in our home, we had 2 cats, 3 dogs, a 2 year old and a newborn. We like chaos, what can I say? Now I know it shouldn’t have really bothered me that Tristan wasn’t into the animals, because not everybody is, right? People who don’t like animals are interesting folk. I just didn’t want my son to be one. I know I might sound crazy, but it broke my heart that he had no love or compassion for our sweet animals, and I tried my best to change his mind. I would have him feed the dogs and ask him to pet them sometimes. I remember begging him to pet our German Shepard, Nikita, on the head and it seemed to almost pain him to do so.

So after nearly 6 years of minimal animal interaction, a sweet pug, who we named George, entered the picture and changed everything. I had been wanting a pug for years and my dear husband finally gave in and got me one for my birthday last year. (Thank you, Joy, for sending him a link to those people selling pug puppies! You are the best!) We had gone to visit the puppies a couple of times before bringing George home and the only boy interested in the pug puppies was Samuel, our younger son. Sam was obsessed with the puppies and had all 5 on his lap at one point. He still talks about it today. I swear, both of  my children have memories like an elephant. On these visits, Tristan played with the breeder’s children and enjoyed the tree swing and surrounding area, which was just beautiful. He never once cared about the pug puppies, which I must say, are the cutest things on the entire planet. I have pictures and will prove it.

Well, when we got George home, we spent the day enjoying him and getting ready for puppy life, which can really be a shitshow. It’s super fun and they are adorable, but puppies are not for the weak of heart. Luckily, I thought myself an excellent dog trainer and believed this pug would be no problem. Nope. Not the case at all. George took a good 6-7 months to potty train, but from what I’ve heard, this isn’t too shabby. Anyway, back to that fun first day. The neighborhood kids came over to meet the pug and we were all just so ecstatic to have a new puppy. Puppies are pure magic, I tell ya. If you have never had one, I highly recommend it. As the day turned into evening, Sam and I were on the sofa snuggling with baby George. We were overjoyed and couldn’t get enough. And then the miracle happened: Tristan joined us on the sofa and asked to have the sleepy puppy lay on his lap. I was completely shocked. This was unbelievable. I immediately put the puppy on his lap and watched how sweetly and lovingly Tristan pet him and spoke to him. It was a breakthrough. This pug caught his attention and his heart. My heart exploded as I watched them together. I have to admit, I had my doubts that this would last, but I was proven so very wrong. Tristan kept on loving this pug and the sweet interactions between them warm my heart like nothing else in the world. I prayed for this. I wanted so badly for my son to experience the love of an animal. It is one of the most special bonds on the planet and it broke my heart to imagine him living a life without it.

Perhaps I am being a bit dramatic, but as I write this, my eyes are teary and my heart is full. I am so unbelievably grateful for this pug puppy coming into our lives. Watching Tristan and Sam play and love and feed and walk their dog makes this mama happy. It’s such a simple joy, but it took years to happen. Years of hoping and praying. George somehow managed to reopen the part of Tristan’s heart that connected to animals and I can’t thank him enough. George is the king of our castle these days and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Those of you who have pugs will understand. Pugs are magical creatures and our’s created a change in my son that I can describe as nothing less than a miracle. The Pug Miracle. It’s a thing. My son is proof.

Yes, I am a crazy pug mama, but now you can see why. Below are some pics of our sweet boy, George. Enjoy the cuteness. First two pics are of toddler Tristan with our boxer.