There are many dogs in the world. Even in the world of Edinburgh tourism there are a fair few, some guests asked me about this recently. But I fear no saturation as for all the dogs in the world, and for all the dogs in Edinburgh tourism, none compare to mine. He is the best Edinburgh tour dog.
Today we’re doing a deep-dive/photo dump into Augie and I’m going to say why he’s perfect. Let’s explore together.
What is Augie?
Augie, short for Augustus, got his name from Bob’s Burgers. It was the Christmas episode where a bunch of rich guys are building gingerbread houses. He is a hoggy Augie. I only call him Augustus when he is misbehaving which to his credit he only does when excited or provoked.
What breed is Augie the doggy?
Augie is a Jack Russel terrier crossed with a pug. They get called jugs, but that does not help things as that’s a word that means a variety of other things. He is not an intentional cross or a designer dog. But he is a very perfect dog regardless of the non-intentionality of his creation – he is the product of love.
The crossing has some interesting effects on his physiology and his behaviour. For example, many pugs have breathing difficulties due to excessive purebreeding which was intended to give them a more squished face look. Augie is free from this as the Jack Russell part of him gives him a longer snoot. In addition, most pugs do not chase balls because they don’t have the predatory instinct to do so, while Jack Russells were mousers so were selectively bred for their ability to catch mice.
There is a downside in that he does not chase actual mice. He also has the neediness of a pug, but the determined bark of a Jack Russell. But is there much of a reason to want a dog who loves anything less than completely?
It’s due to his desire to be with people constantly that I take him on the tours. I am his emotional support animal.
Does Augie like to be an Edinburgh tour dog?
Who do you spend the most time with?
Augie enjoys the company of being an Edinburgh tour dog. He gets to meet many people who all stroke him and tell him what a good boy he is. By coming on the tours, he touches David Hume’s toe for good luck every time and as a result is handsomely rewarded with sausage.
His easy size makes him very portable.
Why is Augie a good boy?
To ask a question of why Augie is a good boy feels one of these philosophical puzzles designed to trip a person up. But for me, there is an answer to this.
Augie came into our family’s life at an interesting time in December when it was just my wife and I. The same week we got him we discovered she was pregnant. It makes it very easy to remember how old Augie is because he’s roughly one year older than my daughter.
It was also, very significantly, only a few months before Covid hit and ground the entire world to a halt. Trapped inside with barely permission to go out, if I did not have a dog there’s a good chance I would have gone insane. I need to be outside and the dog was the best reason.
He was with my nearly constantly throughout the pandemic and this has translated to today as well.
Though we tried to train him to sleep separately from us and be able to deal with a few minutes of separation at a time, this has never completely worked with Augie. As a result, I have the pleasure and honour of sharing most of my hours with him in a day.
From Augie, I have learnt patience. I have learnt to develop a voice of calm and reason. It doesn’t work with my kids, but that’s okay, it also doesn’t work with the dog.
It does however work with me and internally I am more internally peaceful these days than I used to be.
This post is dog-friendly and Augie approved.
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