Grooming and Washing Pugs

It might be a surprise to someone who has not dealt with Pugs, but they need a lot of care and grooming.

They have a short coat, but your Pug will end up with lots of dead hair, so you have to remove it. If you don’t, it will get everywhere in your house.

Grooming/Brushing Your Pug

How often to groom your pug

Most Pug owners find they have to groom their Pug about twice a week.

Things You Will Need

• At least one (dog) brush
• Dog Toothbrush and Dog Toothpaste
• Cotton Buds (Q-tip)/Swabs
• Nail Clippers
• And possibly vaseline, mineral oil, hydrogen peroxide.

How to groom your Pug’s coat

It is important to groom your Pug’s coat. If you do not regularly groom and brush it you will get dead Pug hair everywhere in your house or apartment, on all the floor and furniture!

It is, luckily, very easy to groom and brush your Pug’s coat.

Most Pug owners agree that it is easier to groom and brush your Pug if they are on some form of a table. Put your Pug on a table (cover the table with newspaper/a mat if needed, or if the table is not stable for your dog).

When your are brushing / grooming your dog be sure to check for fleas (or evidence of fleas), any bald spots, rashes, or other injuries. If you spot any you should see a vet.

• Brush in the direction of your dogs coat.
• Hold your dog with one hand, and gently brush him. It shouldn’t be hard to get him to stay still – they generally enjoy being groomed.
• When brushing your dog’s tail, unroll it (hold it by its end) and softly brush it.
• When brushing your dog’s legs, brush downwards. Don’t use long strokes.

Looking after your Pug’s ears

It is important that you spend time to clean and maintain your Pug’s ears. You can use cotton swabs/cotton buds (Q-tip).

Get either some mineral oil or (diluted) hydrogen peroxide. Put the cotton buds/swabs into the oil/hydrogen peroxide and swab the visible parts of their ears. You can do damage if you poke anything into their ears too much, so stick with only what is visible.

You can get a cleaning solution for dogs ears (your vet will be able to guide you with this) for cleaning their inner ear.

Things to look for when cleaning your Pug’s ears:

• Anything that looks like an injury
• Mites
• Or something that looks like soil/dirt – this can be from ear mites

If you spot anything that looks suspicious you should go straight to your vet to get it checked out.

Looking after their facial wrinkles & folds

A Pug’s facial wrinkles are what appeals a lot of people to the cute and funny looking breed. But they can be home to a lot of problems for your Pug’s health.

Food, dirt, bodily fluids (mostly from the eye) can get stuck in the folds and wrinkles. They can cause big problems if you don’t regularly clean out all his folds and wrinkles. If his face starts to smell then your dog already has a problem, and you should wash out his wrinkles/folds.

How to clean a Pug’s Facial wrinkles/folds:

• Hold him securely – you don’t want to poke him in his eyes or nose!
• Get a cotton bud (Q-tip)
• Dunk the cotton bud/q-tip in lukewarm water, and wipe his folds/wrinkles to get any dirt and grub out of them.
• Be careful when cleaning his smaller wrinkles (like under his eyes).
• Once finished, go over it again with a dry Q-tip/cotton bud to dry them out.

Be sure to do this for all his wrinkles and folds, even if they won’t enjoy it. They don’t often like their nose folds/wrinkles being played with, but you have to do it for his health!

If you spot any injuries/rashes/bald spots when cleaning his wrinkles, then take him straight to the vets!

Cutting your Pug’s nails

A lot of pet owners do not like to cut their animal’s nails – mostly out of fear of hurting them. But not clipping them can cause more problems!

You have to keep your Pug’s nails clipped quite short, otherwise he may injure himself (or other dogs/people), and it can be uncomfortable for Pug’s to walk with long nails.

A problem some face is that while Pugs like most aspects of being groomed, cutting their nails is never a fun time for a lot of Pugs. When you play with your Pug you should get him used to you touching and playing with his paws.

When clipping your Pug’s nails make sure that you only cut the ‘hooked’ part of the nail. Behind this is the vein in the nail (known as the ‘quick’) – if you cut this then it will bleed and be slightly painful for your Pug. If it does bleed, get a cotton bud (Q-tip) and dip it in some styptic powder, and wipe where it is bleeding. It should stop bleeding soon!

For a guide on clipping Pug nails, we recommend checking out the Youtube video below

How To Bathe Your Pug

Things You Will Need When Bathing Your Pug

• At least one Dog Brush
• 1+ Bath Towel, maybe a hair dryer
• Dog Shampoo
• Cotton Buds/Q-Tips/Cotton Balls
• Mineral Oil
• Sterile Eye Ointment

Preparation Before Bathing Your Pug

Before you start, make sure you get out everything you need. You also have to decide where to bathe your Pug.

• Most people bathe their Pug in a bath.
• Some people wash their dogs in a kitchen or large sink. This can be easier when they are puppies rather than adult size.
• Another option is outside, depending on the weather.
• Wherever you do it, it is handy if you have a spray attachment.

Make sure the temperature in your house/apartment is warm – you don’t want your dog to be wet and not be able to dry off/warm up quick enough!

Before giving him a bath, you should wash his face/ears/wrinkles (see previous paragraphs in this guide). You can put a small bit of cotton (but not so small you can’t get it back out) in his ears to stop water from getting into his ear canals.

To stop your Pug’s eyes from being affected from shampoo that gets in their eyes, you can get some sterile eye ointment (speak to your vet). Your Pug might not like it when you put that into his eyes though.

Make sure you have a suitable water temperature. Test it like you would for a baby – use your wrist, and if it feels too warm then add more cold water.

Bathing Your Pug: A step by step guide

• Put your Pug into the bath tub/sink/tub
• Apply dog shampoo to the Pug’s back/body (avoiding the head – you should wash the Pug’s head separately, beforehand), and lather it up. After a few minutes (read the instructions on the shampoo) wash and rinse it off until the water comes off clear (no bubbles/evidence of the shampoo still there)
• Once you have washed your Pug take him out of the tub/sink and wrap him in a towel. Use this (or maybe another towel) to completely dry him off.

It isn’t too hard to give Pugs a bath – most love the attention and fun!