It was mid-October, 2002 the next time that slave robert and i were both at our Master's home during the same weekend. Soon after slave robert arrived, he handed me a small square object attached to a key ring and told me to keep it with me, play with it and become familiar with it. i wasn't sure what the object was until, with a smirk, he started to walk away and i suddenly heard >CLICK!< >CLICK!<. Looking back down at the object, a pug realized she had just been given a clicker. my Trainer had gotten one for himself and one for a pug to keep with her. In the infamous words of Astro, the Jetson's dog, "Rut Roh."

The next day, after finishing up some tasks, our Master permitted us some free time for pup training. my Trainer told me to gather up my pup things and meet him down at the dungeon. i put on the clothes i use for pup play and gathered up my gear. In truth, my heart was beating a bit faster than usual as i headed down to the dungeon. Inside the dungeon, my Trainer asked me to lay out my pup stuff and discuss the various items: explaining the purpose of each item and how some gear, such as the leather paws, were placed and secured on a pug. Placing his hands on my shoulders, with an intent look in his eyes, my Trainer then explained that we were going to start the pup session in an entirely different way than what i was used to. He explained that we would start with me still in a human mindset and go through a process of meditation and visualization and that there would be no expectations of me going into full pup space for this experience. i admitted that i was nervous but that i was willing to trust and let my Trainer guide me.

The first training session began with the instruction to remove all of my clothing. ACK! Generally, a pug wears full clothing while she is in full pup mode because it offers more protection against abrasive floors, so this was a bit disconcerting. Still, i complied. A leather hood was placed over my head, which blocked out all sight and muffled most sound. i was gently guided down onto all fours and led inside a very large metal pup cage which had a soft comforter lining the cage floor. i felt the cage door close behind me. my wrists were gently pulled forward and bound with rope that was secured to the cage bars directly in front of me. Rope was then used to bind my ankles to the cage bars in back of me. Several moments of silence passed. Now a pug readily admits she loves bondage: cages, rope and hoods are all wonderful things yet it was a struggle not to fall into a human, erotic headspace with those types of sensations. There is absolutely nothing wrong with an erotic mindset, however, for this pug it has always been a completely different headspace than her pup space and in those first few moments bound in the cage, i found myself struggling between the two mindsets. Soon though, i felt a hand on my head scratching through the hood behind one ear, then behind the other ear. While most sounds were completely muted, the sound of the scratching against the leather hood was amplified and echoed. i heard a distant voice say, "Good girl, good girl...", followed by the distinct sound of the clicker >click< >click< and then a few moments of silence: these were sensations and sounds my pup mindset could readily grasp and respond to. Verbal praises, clicking sounds, head scratches, reassuring pets and moments of silence were repeated intermittently and i found myself gradually drawn toward my pup mindset.

In due time, i felt the ropes loosen and slide away from my wrists and ankles. i felt the pressure of a hand carefully guide me back out of the cage. The carpet felt abrasive under my knees but i had no desire, no thought, of getting up on two feet. The concept of being up on two feet seemed beyond my ability at that point. While still hooded in darkness, i was slowly led forward then up one step through a doorway and across a short distance of hard, cool tiled floor. i felt the hood loosened and finally lifted from head. At that point, i wasn't in full pup mode though my mind had been pulling me in that direction. In fact, i wasn't sure where my mindset was because the emotional and physical triggers that i was accustomed to using to help draw out my inner pup had not been used. It was my Trainer, not me, determining how and when my pup would fully emerge from its internal kennel. A bit disoriented, i blinked and then gazed up at my Trainer and found a sense of reassurance in his eyes. The urge for the pug pup to fully emerge won out. In a way, it felt as if the pup was being called/coaxed out of its kennel by the Trainer and the pup, finally recognizing that call, came scrambling out to be where it felt familiar, safest and most joyful: with its Trainer.

The Trainer reached around a corner and moved something that began to make noise and then encouraged the pug to go forward toward the noise. Turning the corner, a pug felt some wet stuff fall on her muzzle, which confused her so she began to back up to avoid the falling wet stuff. a pug's retreat was short-lived as a hand on her haunch slowly but surely propelled her forward again toward the wet falling stuff. Sensing the inevitable, a pug tentatively placed one paw down into the area where all this wet stuff was falling and let out a whimper as she began to get wet. The Trainer began to speak in a soothing, coaxing tone while continuing to scoot the pug all the way into the walk-in shower. Finding herself completely under the falling wet stuff, a pug finally submitted and circled around under it. *pug sigh

Some nice smelling liquid was poured on a pug's coat and, as her Trainer scrubbed along her coat, the liquid stuff turned all bubbly. Realizing that the warm falling wet stuff didn't hurt, and hearing a pleased tone in her human's voice, the pug began to feel less anxious and a little more playful. *snortle a pug might have raced off to see if her human wanted to play 'catch the soapy pup' if it weren't for the fact that he was blocking her exit. So a pug began to wag her tail and shake her coat, causing a lot of the funny soft bubbly stuff to fly off: much of it landing on her human. Finally a pug pup was scooted back fully under the falling water until all of the bubbly stuff disappeared from her pup coat. a pug's Trainer reached over her head and suddenly the warm wet stuff stopped falling. The pug suddenly felt a cold chill and eagerly scampered toward her Trainer when he called her over. a pug shook herself off as her Trainer scrambled to wrap her in a soft fluffy cloth. After the pug pup was brusquely dried off, she padded after her Trainer through a doorway, clambering down into a big room where the air felt much warmer.

Squatting down, my Trainer held open another cloth and called me to him again. Still feeling a bit chilled, a pug scampered right over and was wrapped up again in a nice warm dry cloth. Gratefully wagging her curly tail, a pug did what any pug pup would do when wanting to show gratitude to a human they adore: she sneezed in his face! *ACHOO! a pug happily wagged and licked at her Trainer's face repeatedly until he began to laugh and try to unsuccessfully avoid puppy licks. a pug had no idea what her Trainer was actually saying since he was sputtering his words between laughter, yet his tone told her he was very pleased and happy with her so he must have appreciated her show of puggish affection. *snortle

At some point a pug's Trainer began to dress her in her pup gear. As the knee pads and foot coverings were slid into place, some of my human cognition rose up and it registered vaguely that something was missing: my Trainer had not put my cloth pants on me. i was initially thrown off by the feel of the knee pads without pants yet since i was still mainly in pup mindset, i was fully open and accepting of my Trainer's decision in that moment. There were a few brief moments when it became harder to maintain that pupspace as my Trainer tried to slide my sport tank top over my head and into place. i couldn't blame him: if you are not accustomed to wearing a bra, it would be easy to overlook the need to adjust cleavage up and into the supporting area of the top. Since this was not intended to be a session of uncomfortable sadistic breast bondage, i gave several unsuccessful attempts of pleading pup looks first at him and then down at a very unadjusted, smooshed-downward, pug chest. The discomfort began to pull me back into an increased level of human awareness. Not wanting to lose my pup space entirely, i finally took the matter into my own paws and made the necessary adjustments to prevent further distraction to my mindset. *pug sigh of relief. It is much easier for a female pup to romp around if she doesn't have to worry about her chest getting in the way of her paws, so a sport tank top can be quite useful for some female pups.

The only other slight pull out of pup space occurred when my Trainer tried to put my leather paws on without wrapping some sports tape around my wrists first. The sport tape is important since i tend to get blisters and skin abrasions from the leather paws rubbing around the wrist area unless the wrists are first wrapped with tape. i whimpered a bit and pointed my muzzle to the table where the tape sat. Not wanting to go any further out of pup space, i finally padded over and stuck my muzzle up onto the table and was able to nudge the tape off the table. my Trainer immediately realized what i had needed and praised his pup. *curly tail wag While i was pulled back into part of my human cognition during this process, i was still very much into my pup mindset. With everything being so different, i was feeling highly dependent on my Trainer and had a strong urge to get back into my full pup space as quickly as possible.

What happened next was a time of pup/Trainer interaction that this pug does not recall much of: it was a blur of sniffing around, scampering after toys, snarfing up treats and hearing occasional clicking noises and my Trainer's voice. i do recall, once or twice, my Trainer drawing a pug's attention up to his face, making eye-to-eye contact. There is also a warm fuzzy memory of padding up to my Trainer as he sat on the floor and then happily getting petted while drifting off into a solid puppy nap with my muzzle resting partially on his lap. *contented puggie snoresssszzzzzzzzz

i awoke from my pup nap in a haze. my human mindset was coming back but i wasn't really coherent yet: i was flying. Going into full pup mode can sometimes be a very deep mindset and can give me an endorphin rush. It can take a good amount of time to really come back from that headspace and be fully conscious again. my next memory was finding myself sitting inside the pup cage, nestled in the soft comforter feeling cozy and realizing i was talking to my Trainer as he moved about the room. my Trainer knew very well that i would feel safe and comforted being inside the cage. It's an odd feeling to suddenly hear your own voice and realize you were in the middle of talking and have no idea what you have been talking about. i finally noticed that i no longer had my paws or other pup gear on yet was not sure when the items had been taken off of me. The cage door had been left unlocked yet i remained inside the cage for a while longer, finally crawling out when i felt a bit more coherent.

After the session was over i realized that my Trainer's decision to completely change how i mentally and physically shifted into full pup mode, as well as some of the interaction, created a completely unfamiliar situation. The strangeness of that situation unconsciously evoked a need within the pug pup to remain closer and more attentive to her Trainer. It felt as if a different level of pupness had actually been tapped into during the session. Things had even looked and felt somewhat different from my prior pup experiences: i felt somewhat like a newborn pup just discovering things for the first time. There is no doubt that our bond as Trainer and pup was strengthened through the experience. *snortle