[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-pugs-of-the-frozen-north-london-pug-walk":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"On Thursday in London, my co-author \u003Ca href=\"http://www.philip-reeve.com/\">Philip Reeve\u003C/a> and I celebrated the launch of our book \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/pugs-of-the-frozen-north/\">\u003Ci>Pugs of the Frozen North\u003C/i>\u003C/a> with a \u003Cb>Pug Walk!\u003C/b> \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_main_pugshot_crop_zps1geyomzk-f2a7ea83a1.jpg\" width=\"550\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nOur team at Oxford University Press had been getting very excited in the run-up to the Pug Walk, and had invited \u003Ca href=\"http://pugdogclub.org.uk/the-pugs-of-the-frozen-north-pug-walk-thursday-17th-september/\">The Pug Dog Club\u003C/a> to join us. I wasn't quite sure what to think: what would happen when we got so many pugs all in one place? What if it rained? What if some of the pugs got in fights? Would pugs mind a complete stranger picking them up and putting jumpers onto them? Would the owners get annoyed at me if I made them growl? We met on the Southbank in London, wondering what would happen. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_eye1_zpsjohzxbpa-6c230ea045.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nPugteam's \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LizScottPR\">Liz Scott\u003C/a> came down from Manchester with some marvellous knitted items for the pugs. Do you remember my blog post about all the \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/647498.html\">amazing knitted sea monkeys\u003C/a> at the Manchester Children's Book Festival? Well, Liz's friend Ally from \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/allyleeswonder\">Ally's Wonderland\u003C/a>, who had created those, took on the task of making pug jumpers! Here you can see the exciting packages:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ally_pugjumpers_packs_zpsgesfkvah-8a96cd1006.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/allyleeswonder\">Ally's Wonderland\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nBut would the pugs want to wear them? Here's club member \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/dottyscotty01\">Sam\u003C/a>, and Liz, putting a jumper onto little Benny Bean. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/alesha_pugdress2_zpsbbhueb92-ffd3a3c7a4.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOkay, what do you think, little pug? \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_pugface_zpslaygumxn-d2267c444f.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more pug photos under the cut!-->\\r\nYou know what I discovered about pugs? They don't seem to mind being dressed up... \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/alesha_pugdress1_zpsg7lv6diu-46331dd16b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOn top of that, they don't mind posing for photos. In fact, they seem to LIKE posing for photos, and they turn their heads so we can photograph them at all their best angles. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_blkpug_yellow_zps9yhxrnlu-9e6ce2f9cc.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nI believe they might be almost as vain as I am. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_pug_yellowjumper_zpszmp4dpid-6299cb4f60.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nAnd then the owners started handing us lots of their leads, and I thought, \u003Ci>Eek! What if they don't like each other?\u003C/i> But this was not a problem! The pugs were such placid little things, they sniffed each other and nosed about, but they seemed as happy as they could be. And gosh, were they cute. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/oup_pugwalk_puglick_zpsao0k9byb-2b851ecaf6.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe only time they got slightly ruffled is when someone came by with a slightly wolfish sort of dog - not a pug - and the pugs made little muttering noises and moved about restlessly until he'd gone away. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_pugcrop1_zpsviakm7hu-02ed22266f.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nWe picked up quite a crowd while we were there; everyone, it seems, loves a pug, and the more pugs, the better. Here we are with the pugparazzi. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_paparazzi_zpsfrgicrzw-2a105d0c1b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWould the pugs mind us picking them up? ...Not at all, we discovered!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_sarahbench_zpsl1verp75-d21d89a486.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nOh my goodness, they are SO FUN to cuddle.  \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/oup_pugwalk_cuddle_zpsyvvqpfrv-31d7ba5284.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere are two of the pugs, having a little chat.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_pugbench2_zpsxtcfmk8o-696bbe985d.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nSO CUTE.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_pugnosing_zpsybhhkcbg-c734884c6d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe read them a bit of \u003Ci>Pugs of the Frozen North\u003C/i> and they seemed to like that.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_pugread_zpsav4dizqe-f2d08b9588.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThen we took them on a little walk down the Southbank to \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Foyles\">Foyles Bookshop\u003C/a> (making many stops along the way). Oddly, I didn't see one pug do as much as a wee, they were almost strangely tidy little dogs.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_pugleads1_zpst6q0csxi-85b288d63f.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nAnd they're quite strong, there was a lot of power at the end of those leashes. Philip and I thought that perhaps Sika and Shen in our book might not have needed all 66 pugs to compete in the sled race to the North Pole; 20 or so might have done just fine. When we reached Foyles, we saw they'd created a big window display for our book! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_foyles2_crop_zpsw4mfx31u-3e0b03983f.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nWe took a group photo with the pug team. I wish I could remember all the names of the pugs. There was Coco and Tuppence and Princess and Pudding and Benny Bean... a proper grumble of pugs. (That's the collective noun for a group of pugs!)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_oup_owners1_zpszokrlkvy-c9e85893bf.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI got awfully attached to them.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_oup_owners2_zpsnjhpomo5-6189853e06.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's Coco and his lovely Colombian owner:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_pugowner_zpsvagrwxoi-a871c39903.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd this is Sam and her Benny Bean, who fell asleep in my lap while I signed everyone's books. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_sam_bennybean_zpsq5k2x5rm-d231d04930.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHe had his chin on my wrist but he never knocked my pen once. The pug club people were very friendly and it was fun seeing them chatting and exchanging numbers. Some of them are involved in the \u003Ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/PDWRA\">Pug Dog Welfare and Rescue Association UK\u003C/a>, and they'll be auctioning off some of our books, pug goodie bags and several of Ally's beautiful pug jumpers that you see here. (I'll let you know when they announce it!) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_benny_signing_zpsh5dci9yk-5500f3c391.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI was totally smitten. I used to think that if I was ever going to get a dog, I might get a labrador. But I think, living in the city, if I got a dog, now it would be a pug. I'm a Pug Convert.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_sarah_bennybean_zpsggirscr2-1960d3a795.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>Huge thanks\u003C/b> to Liz Scott and the \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OUPChildrens\">Oxford University Press\u003C/a> team, the Pug Dog Club, Ally's Wonderland, Foyles for hosting the signing, \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a> for taking photos (along with \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/keobaxendine\">Keo Baxedine\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/aleshabonser\">Alesha Bonser\u003C/a>, who passed my iPhone around) and Philip, of course, for writing such a brilliant book! Here's a closer look at Ally's jumpers:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pug_jumpers_zps6kpmeczf-2c0faa8195.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nYou can see they're directly inspired by illustrations in the book. Here's Sika, when she first learns Shen's dogs aren't the big sled-dog huskies she was hoping for:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ally_pugjumper3_zpsa2d4rpi9-f5ddc4a6b1.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/allyleeswonder\">Ally's Wonderland\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nAnd here's a pug with SNOBOT, Professor Shackleton Jones's robotic companion which proves very good at digging him out of a deep snowdrift.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ally_pugjumper1_zpsill8aot1-cffde7e13e.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/allyleeswonder\">Ally's Wonderland\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nHere's the fearsome Kraken of Kraken's Deep, which the 66 pugs defend Sika and Shen against:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ally_pugjumper2_zpsjn1e2qoz-5e1ce0956b.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/allyleeswonder\">Ally's Wonderland\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nAnd a yeti! I won't give away the secrets of the Yeti Noodle Bar, but it's a combination of much yumminess and terrible peril.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/ally_pugjumper4_zpsl5tg7tkb-5dab7ac9af.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/allyleeswonder\">Ally's Wonderland\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nThanks so much, Ally! You can follow her on Twitter at \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/allyleeswonder\">@allyleeswonder\u003C/a> and here's \u003Ca href=\"\\r\nhttps://www.facebook.com/allyleeswonder\">her Facebook page\u003C/a>. And you can see a few more photos on Twitter under the \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/search?vertical=default&q=%23pugwalk&src=typd\">#PugWalk\u003C/a> hashtag. (Ha ha, if you WANT to see more photos! I had such a hard time whittling this blog post down to, like, 200 of them.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/pugwalk_2pugstalking_zpspdvpyly0-5efc47e1b1.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI actually felt myself going slighty teary when I had to leave the pugs to go sign more books in Foyles, I didn't want to get Benny Bean off my lap or say goodbye to everyone. So all those pug owners, please give your pugs an extra cuddle when you read this and say it's from Philip and me. Cheers!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/danni_pugbench_zpspmx87you-50ab500040.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>\u003Cfont size=\"1\">Photo by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danniestar\">Dannie Price\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cb>**\u003Ca href=\"http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l27/jabberworks/Pugs%20of%20the%20Frozen%20North/danni_pugbench_zpspmx87you.jpg/\">Click here\u003C/a> if you'd like to learn how to draw a pug or download a free pattern to knit your own pug!**\u003C/b>","2015-09-18T21:20:00.000Z","pugs-of-the-frozen-north-london-pug-walk",[],"pugs of the frozen north: london pug walk",1776628727816]