我们刚办了个哈巴狗夜派对，现在要再次举办了

我们刚办了个哈巴狗夜派对，现在要再次举办了

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.

我从来没有想过要在家庭聚会上招待我的狗的表亲。然而，他们就在那儿:一打纯种的哈巴狗在我们的房子周围闲逛，好像他们是这个地方的主人。特纳试图在客厅的一件家具上小便，而海蒂和帕蒂围着他转。我妻子伊丽莎白给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.

我想我应该回顾一下，解释一下我们是如何举办这个大型的哈巴狗夜派对的。事实上，我甚至没有养过一只狗，更不用说两只了，这是一个了不起的壮举，因为在我的成长过程中，没有明显的原因，我非常害怕狗。我童年流行文化记忆中的狗——史努比、大红狗克利福德、迪斯尼的《101只斑点狗》——并没有引起同样的恐惧。他们只不过是小说中有趣的人物。在我那颗豌豆般大小的大脑里，这就像普通大众对小熊维尼的感觉:他在纸上很可爱，但没人愿意在树林里碰到一只没穿裤子的熊。

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

随着年龄的增长，我摆脱了对狗狗不宽容的成长环境，我知道我对狗狗的恐惧是毫无根据的。

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.

时光飞逝20年过去了，我有幸拥有了几只狗，它们丰富了我的生活。我和妻子约会的时候，她告诉我她一直对哈巴狗很着迷。她指出，不管今天过得有多糟糕，她总是可以看着一张傻乎乎的哈巴狗脸，然后立刻微笑。我们谈过结婚后要养第一只哈巴狗，但我却在婚礼上给了她一个惊喜——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，我们偶然发现了这个奇怪的哈巴狗血统的世界，当时我们在俄亥俄州遇到了一位哈巴狗饲养员，那里离我们大约有四个小时的路程。白天，她是一名护士。但在晚上(以及周末和周末之间的每一个空闲时间)，她都在不知疲倦地工作，以完善AKC注册的谢菲尔德哈巴狗系列。她已经成为这一品种的专家，她写了关于它们的医学文章，她自己也成为了狗展的评委。对于像我们这样喜欢哈巴狗的人来说，这就像是遇到了绿野仙踪。

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).

现在我们有了两只哈巴狗，它已经成为我们大家庭的一员了。我们去过她家几次，她也去过我们家。所以当她问我们要不要再住一晚时，我们都没有眨眼。她从家里开车去巴尔的摩看全国哈巴狗展。她将展示一些她最好的——包括Spensur，一只擅长敏捷竞赛的狗(一些不总是与懒惰，喜欢宠物的哈巴狗品种有关的东西)。

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?"

对我们来说，很高兴看到他们很多人都有相同的癖好——就像任何一个家庭一样。莱西姨妈舔着地毯上的头发，就像费格斯和斯派克一样。虽然，说句公道话，所有这些哈巴狗看起来都很像。说实话，我不知道谁是谁。我不止一次抱起一只小狗问:“这是我的狗吗?”

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，人类的早餐是用母鸡下的蛋做成的沙克舒卡(shakshouka)，狗每天都吃同样的东西。当人们收拾汽车时，狗狗们说了再见。当汽车驶离车道驶往巴尔的摩时，我们向他挥手致意。但这并不是我们最后一次见到他们。伊丽莎白将在本周晚些时候的哈巴狗展上与他们见面，帮助饲养员展示她的哈巴狗。无论输赢，他们都会掉头返回俄亥俄州。