Flashback Friday - White Chang & Mao Yen

 

 

Mao Ling Yen was born on this day in 1989!

 

But before I tell you about MaoYen

I have to tell you about my very first pug

 

White Chang

 

I had been fascinated by the pug breed since I was a teenager
but had not thought much about having one until my daughter came home one day and said there was a dog that needed a home, could we take her.
I told her no as we already had two dogs, a lab and a lab mix.
Then she said the magic word,

it's a PUG.

 



 

They thought she was about 6 yrs old and we were probably her 3rd home.

She had to have been much older,

her eyesight was failing and she had other health problems.

She quickly became devoted to me as she slept by my side each night.

When she became almost blind her sense of smell would always find me.

I only had her about 1 1/2 yrs. before she went to the bridge

but she opened my life to the wonderful world of pugs

and I knew I would always have one (or two or more!) in my life.

 

When the local pet store (back then I had no clue about puppy mills and rescue)

had pug puppies for sale I had to get another

I was recently divorced and Mao Yen was a birthday present to myself.

 

She quickly became queen of the house!

 



 

 

In 1992 after I had met my husband

MaoYen had a litter of 4 puglets

 

 

A C-section and the stress of finding good homes for the puglets

was enough to convince me that breeding was definitely not for me.

We kept one, our dear Char Shu.

Now when people ask "Do you breed them?"

I say "No, I just love them"

 

Somewhere in between film and digital and grandkids

 I could not find too many pictures of

MaoYens' middle years but I came across this picture of her

after she had a growth removed from her head.

She was not too impressed with wearing the bandage wrap

 

 

The tongue was already making an appearence back then

and it was immortalized in this chalk drawing of MaoYen

my husband surprised me with one Christmas.

 

 

 

 

What a sweet old lady she was

 

Her last year or so was difficult.

She started acting lost and confused.

It gradually got worse. 

She would sleep in the day and wander the house at night,

finding herself in a corner and would not know how to get out.

Our Vet told us it was basically a dog form of Alzhiemers.

 



 

Medication helped her (and us) sleep

but she was no longer with us either way.

 

 

Just past her 13th birthday we said goodbye

 

Mao Ling Yen

11/23/1989 - 12/07/2002

 

I will be forever thankful to these two beautiful pug ladies

for coming into my life and showing me the joy of being owned by a pug

 

love, Mom