For some peculiar reason, it seems that a lot of the nation's top masters swimmers are also pug owners.
Ande Rasmussen, Kristina Ulveling, Heather Rietz, and--well, ah, me--are all owners of at least one and in some cases multiple pugs.
I am hoping to do a little vlogumentary about the curious connection between swimming and affection for flat-nosed little dogs.
If you are, or know, a swimming pug owner, would you consider sending me some photos (resolution 640 x 480 at least) showing you and your quadrapedic wards? Please include your name, your dog's or dogs' names, and any theories you may have about the link.
The photos do not have to show pugs in the water, or wearing goggles, or decked out in a matching Speedo and Zoomers with its owners. But you can certainly send such pictures if you have them.
Send to Jamesthornton1@comcast.net or post them on your FB and/or USMS photoalbums. Just let me know where I can find them, and I will do my best to make your pug famous!
Is the Sharpei a relative of the Pug? I think they are cute...billy fanstone
Billy, same country of origin (China); same degree of cuteness; but alas different rungs on the food ladder.
Sharpeis, as I understand it, were bred to fight. Hence the loose skin. Another dog tries to grab a sharpei by the throat and gets instead a big fold of loose skin. While the other dog is trying to figure out what to do with a wad of hair in its mouth, the Sharpei just walks around and bites his attacker on the ass.
Pugs were bred to sit on laps, watch attentively, attract flees from off the bodies of us owners, and resemble somewhat homely babies.
I am not sure if there is a link between masters swimming performance and sharpei ownership. I am, on the other hand, pretty sure owning pugs makes you faster in the water, for reasons that are currently under investigation by me and perhaps other global pug swimming researchers.
Perhaps someday soon, we will have a scientific journal where we can publish our results. For now, my vlog will have to suffice.
Now a retriever, there's a real swimmer's dog. We who own retrievers (golden, labrador, flat coat, etc) just shake our heads in disbelief when we hear of other swimmers who own dogs that wouldn't even swim if their lives depended on it. Hell, my lab can swim faster than I can and she has a bum leg!
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Former Member
Is the Sharpei a relative of the Pug? I think they are cute...billy fanstone
Maybe I should broaden this to include other species...okay, go ahead and send me any dog pix, if possible, with the two of you swimming or in some vaguely swimming esque environment/pose. Otherwise, maybe I can get my brother to photoshop something...
I get it! Everything he touches turns to gold, right? As in golden shower?
Send a picture, I'll put him in the swimmers and their dogs movie.
Former Member
I don't have a pug, but I do have a dog. He's a 3-year old miniature pinscher named Maximus, but everyone calls him Maxi. Sometimes I think about getting him a companion and naming it Commodus or something...
now that I think about it... Commodus would have an interesting nickname...
Former Member
It is logical that masters swimmers have pugs. We have two.
Umbra, Ted Erikson's swimming dog: "even as a puppy she exhibited a Labrador's love of water and a Greyhound's love of running."
http://www.sdogv.com/swim.html
There was a dog.
Former Member
Maybe short little legs + non-existant nose = doesn't need much time for walkies, therefore lots of time available for swimming?
I'm doomed as a swimmer. Not only do I not have a pug, I don't even have a dog. And if I could have a dog, it would be one of those retired racing greyhounds, which are about as different from a pug as a dog can be. Oh well.
Yes but Greyhounds do nothing! They rest for the sprint and that's it. Very low maintenance...much like sprinters. Versus the neurotic distance swimmer and their hang up with "self image" and doing a 500 in 5:00 or what have you...people 5:05 is still damn good....:bolt:
