I met Sharon, a pug breeder, at a local dog show. I'm a professional pet portrait artist, and she stopped by my booth to commission a painting of each one of her pugs to decorate her living room walls. She mailed her photos to me straight away so that I could begin the portrait process. I must say, to get all those wrinkles exactly right was a bit of a struggle for me. It was like a jigsaw puzzle, connecting this line to that and figuring where one wrinkle started and another ended. When three of her paintings were completed, we decided on a time that would be best for me to drive over to her home to deliver her portraits.

I had never seen a pug up close and personal before. As I drove up her driveway, I saw a sign that read Pug Crossing.