Wild Sonoran Pugs Spotted in the Chiricahua Mountains!!!

For the 4th of July weekend, Kerri, Cameron, Judy, Ryan, Kayla and I and the pugs and Judy's dog, Rex, went to Douglas. The 4th of July in Douglas is always a fun time. The weather down in southeastern Arizona is so much nicer than here in the valley. The monsoons are starting right about now and the afternoons usually produce a thunderstorm.

Cameron loves to go for the 4th because we can sit on the side of the house in lawn chairs and watch the fireworks.

Of course, our pugs love Douglas. They love the backyard and run around like crazy. They love to run up and down the stairs and can't decide which bed to sleep in at night.

Saturday we drove up to our cabin in South Fork in the Chiricahua Mountains. It was cloudy and cool and beautiful. There isn't any water in the creek yet as the summer storms haven't had time to produce any. We sat around and just enjoyed the weather and the scenery.

The pugs were a riot. We let them off of their leashes and they ran all over the place. I don't think they could believe the freedom that they had. Lucy, who is normally shy and a bit timid, was running everywhere. Pancho, who loves balls, was playing fetch with a pine cone that he found. And Pedro was in his glory. They were off exploring all of the smells and the wonderful sounds in the forest.

It started to rain. Because of the density of the trees, it must rain quite hard before we can really feel it. We had to move our chairs to the cabin porch as the rain got harder. It is so beautiful!!!

Many times these summer storms are accompanied by lightning and thunder. We didn't see much lightning, but it did thunder a bit. Judy has a fairly large white German Shepherd, Rex, who is a bit of a neurotic. He is not very excited to be around our rambunctious pugs. They think he is great, but that feeling is definitely not mutual. He was excited to be out, but wasn't exploring and running like our pugs. Well, the first clap of thunder hit, and there went Rex---directly to Judy's lap where he sat for the better part of an hour!! Try to picture this in your head--three pugs running wild; one German Shepherd sitting on his owner's lap!! It was so funny!! No amount of prodding was going to get this shaking dog away from his protector. Our intelligent pugs continued to run amok enjoying their new found freedom.

As the clouds grew darker, we decided it was time to head back to Douglas. We rounded up the pugs, got Rex off of Judy's lap, loaded the cars and drove back in an incredible rainstorm.

The three pugs literally collapsed in the back seat of the car and "snored" all the way back to Douglas. Hence their name, "The Wild Snorin' Pugs." They were so tired last night and today on the way back from Douglas. I think that they might sleep for days!!

It was a great way to celebrate the 4th of July!!!