Who’s that Good Dog?

Family: Ron Heckmann, Valerie Fahey, and grown kids Hadley and Henry

Pet: Milo

Breed: Pug

Age: 17 — one year shy of the oldest living pug, per semi-reliable web research

Adoption story: We had put off the dog question until our kids were in preschool and grade school, and Milo fit our need for size, temperament, and cuteness. He’s now the oldest living mammal in the neighborhood, we think, calculating dog-to-human years (over 90!). His days running all the way to Havens or Three Bears Park are over, and trips end after a half-block when he turns around and looks up to say, “I’m done!”

Interesting facts, according to his ‘siblings’: He is deaf as a doorknob, which is to his advantage as he no longer has to hear his own odd, strangled barks, but will treat us to a symphony of yelps, whining, and grunting when he is not getting attention, or perhaps has meditated on the meaning of life for too long and upset himself. He’s aged like a fine wine, and now more easily accepts cuddles and kisses and pats on his lamb-soft ears.

Dislikes: baths, nail clipping, getting woken up too early

Likes: playing, and making pug-sniffle sounds as he hoovers up tidbits on the kitchen floor