我們剛辦了個(gè)哈巴狗夜派對(duì)，現(xiàn)在要再次舉辦了

我們剛辦了個(gè)哈巴狗夜派對(duì)，現(xiàn)在要再次舉辦了

Hosting my dogs' cousins for a family reunion is not something I ever expected to be doing. And yet, there they were: A dozen pure-bred pugs gallivanting around our house as if they owned the place. There was Turner attempting to pee on a piece of furniture in the living room, while Heddy and Patti ran circles around him. My wife Elizabeth was giving another pug a manicure.

我從來(lái)沒(méi)有想過(guò)要在家庭聚會(huì)上招待我的狗的表親。然而，他們就在那兒:一打純種的哈巴狗在我們的房子周圍閑逛，好像他們是這個(gè)地方的主人。特納試圖在客廳的一件家具上小便，而海蒂和帕蒂圍著他轉(zhuǎn)。我妻子伊麗莎白給另一只哈巴狗修指甲。

The little puppies came to the kitchen expecting food. They got a bath in the sink instead. (Photo: Benyamin Cohen)

I guess I should back up a moment and explain how we ended up hosting this massive pug sleepover party. The fact that I even own a dog, let alone two, is a remarkable feat considering that growing up, for no apparent reason, I was deathly afraid of dogs. The dogs of my childhood pop culture memories – Snoopy, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Disney's "101 Dalmatians" – didn't elicit the same dread. They were merely fun creatures of fiction. In my preternaturally pea-sized kid brain, it was like how the general public felt about Winnie the Pooh: He's cute on paper, but nobody wants to bump into a real bear with no pants on in the woods.

我想我應(yīng)該回顧一下，解釋一下我們是如何舉辦這個(gè)大型的哈巴狗夜派對(duì)的。事實(shí)上，我甚至沒(méi)有養(yǎng)過(guò)一只狗，更不用說(shuō)兩只了，這是一個(gè)了不起的壯舉，因?yàn)樵谖业某砷L(zhǎng)過(guò)程中，沒(méi)有明顯的原因，我非常害怕狗。我童年流行文化記憶中的狗——史努比、大紅狗克利福德、迪斯尼的《101只斑點(diǎn)狗》——并沒(méi)有引起同樣的恐懼。他們只不過(guò)是小說(shuō)中有趣的人物。在我那顆豌豆般大小的大腦里，這就像普通大眾對(duì)小熊維尼的感覺(jué):他在紙上很可愛(ài)，但沒(méi)人愿意在樹(shù)林里碰到一只沒(méi)穿褲子的熊。

As I got older, and left the confines of a Fido-intolerant upbringing, I knew that my fear of dogs was completely baseless.

隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)，我擺脫了對(duì)狗狗不寬容的成長(zhǎng)環(huán)境，我知道我對(duì)狗狗的恐懼是毫無(wú)根據(jù)的。

Flash forward 20 years and I've now been blessed with several dogs who have enriched my life. When my wife and I were dating, she told me she had always been fascinated with pugs. She pointed out that no matter how bad her day was, she could always look at a silly pug face and instantly smile. We talked about getting our first pug after we settled into marriage, but instead I surprised her with a pug puppy at the wedding. That was nearly 16 years ago.

時(shí)光飛逝20年過(guò)去了，我有幸擁有了幾只狗，它們豐富了我的生活。我和妻子約會(huì)的時(shí)候，她告訴我她一直對(duì)哈巴狗很著迷。她指出，不管今天過(guò)得有多糟糕，她總是可以看著一張傻乎乎的哈巴狗臉，然后立刻微笑。我們談過(guò)結(jié)婚后要養(yǎng)第一只哈巴狗，但我卻在婚禮上給了她一個(gè)驚喜——一只哈巴狗。那是16年前的事了。

Spike and Fergus are like two pugs in a pod. (Photo: Benyamin Cohen)

We stumbled into this strange world of pug pedigree in the summer of 2016 when we met a pug breeder in Ohio, about four hours west of us. By day, she's a nurse. But at night (and on weekends and every spare moment in between), she has been tirelessly working to perfect a line of AKC registered dogs known as Sheffield pugs. She has become such an expert in the breed that she's written medical articles about them and has herself become a dog show judge. For pug lovers like ourselves, it was like meeting the Wizard of Oz.

2016年夏天，我們偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個(gè)奇怪的哈巴狗血統(tǒng)的世界，當(dāng)時(shí)我們?cè)诙砗ザ碇萦龅搅艘晃还凸凤曫B(yǎng)員，那里離我們大約有四個(gè)小時(shí)的路程。白天，她是一名護(hù)士。但在晚上(以及周末和周末之間的每一個(gè)空閑時(shí)間)，她都在不知疲倦地工作，以完善AKC注冊(cè)的謝菲爾德哈巴狗系列。她已經(jīng)成為這一品種的專家，她寫了關(guān)于它們的醫(yī)學(xué)文章，她自己也成為了狗展的評(píng)委。對(duì)于像我們這樣喜歡哈巴狗的人來(lái)說(shuō)，這就像是遇到了綠野仙蹤。

Spike taking a nap from his other nap. (Photo: Benyamin Cohen)

Now that we have two pugs from this breeder, she has become part of our extended family. We've been to her house a couple of times and she's been out to ours as well. So when she inquired about staying over again, we didn't blink. She was driving from her home to a national pug show in Baltimore. She would be showcasing some of her best – including Spensur, a dog who specializes in agility competitions (something not always associated with the lazy, lap-loving pug breed).

現(xiàn)在我們有了兩只哈巴狗，它已經(jīng)成為我們大家庭的一員了。我們?nèi)ミ^(guò)她家?guī)状?，她也去過(guò)我們家。所以當(dāng)她問(wèn)我們要不要再住一晚時(shí)，我們都沒(méi)有眨眼。她從家里開(kāi)車去巴爾的摩看全國(guó)哈巴狗展。她將展示一些她最好的——包括Spensur，一只擅長(zhǎng)敏捷競(jìng)賽的狗(一些不總是與懶惰，喜歡寵物的哈巴狗品種有關(guān)的東西)。

For us, it was neat to see that a lot of them shared the same idiosyncrasies – just like in any family dynamic. Aunt Lexi licks hair off the carpet just like Fergus and Spike do. Although, to be fair, all these pugs look so similar. Honestly, I had no clue who was who. On more than one occasion, I picked up a pup and asked, "Is this my dog?"

對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，很高興看到他們很多人都有相同的癖好——就像任何一個(gè)家庭一樣。萊西姨媽舔著地毯上的頭發(fā)，就像費(fèi)格斯和斯派克一樣。雖然，說(shuō)句公道話，所有這些哈巴狗看起來(lái)都很像。說(shuō)實(shí)話，我不知道誰(shuí)是誰(shuí)。我不止一次抱起一只小狗問(wèn):“這是我的狗嗎?”

These 7-week-old pugs are getting their first bath. (Photo: Benyamin Cohen)

The humans had a breakfast of shakshouka from eggs laid by our hens that morning, and the dogs ate the same thing they do everyday. The dogs said their goodbyes as the humans packed up the car. We waved as the car left the driveway on its way to Baltimore, Fergus offering a meager bark as the van sped away. But this is not the last we'll see of them. Elizabeth will be meeting them at the pug show later in the week to help the breeder show her pugs. Win or lose, they will then turn around and head back to Ohio.

每天早上，人類的早餐是用母雞下的蛋做成的沙克舒卡(shakshouka)，狗每天都吃同樣的東西。當(dāng)人們收拾汽車時(shí)，狗狗們說(shuō)了再見(jiàn)。當(dāng)汽車駛離車道駛往巴爾的摩時(shí)，我們向他揮手致意。但這并不是我們最后一次見(jiàn)到他們。伊麗莎白將在本周晚些時(shí)候的哈巴狗展上與他們見(jiàn)面，幫助飼養(yǎng)員展示她的哈巴狗。無(wú)論輸贏，他們都會(huì)掉頭返回俄亥俄州。