Although puppy Pugs look a thousand times cuter than adult Pugs, they are a lot more of a handful!
A lot of people do not realise just how hard it is to properly care for a puppy (of any breed), and how stressful and not fun it will be!
The problem is that because puppy Pugs look so adorable, everyone wants one. And quite often people will get one without understanding how much work and effort it will take to look after it until it grows up. They have so much energy, so before you bring home a puppy (of any kind) you will have to puppy-proof your home! Puppies (and Pugs in particular) love to eat anything they can find. All food areas have to be hidden/secured away, electrical cables should not be accessible to the puppy, etc.
One of the hardest parts of having a puppy is housetraining, and teaching how and when to go to the toilet. Puppies can only hold in their bladders and bowels for a maximum of 3-4 hours, so every 3-4 hours you will need to let your puppy out so he go to to the toilet. Although it seems cruel at first, but getting them a ‘crate’ is the best way to train a puppy/dog how to use the toilet. Read here for a guide on crate training (even if you have no intention of training your dog like this, give it a read. A lot of owners think it is cruel, until they read about it. Dogs don’t mind being in a crate, as it becomes their ‘safe’ area. As long as they are being played with in the day, and the crate is the correct size etc.
To further make the point that looking after a puppy is very hard, please read these forum posts from the rest of the web:
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Helpful Forums
- “Is it hard looking after a puppy/dog?” on Yahoo Answers.
- “Puppies can be fun, but they are a lot of work. They have to be potty trained, taught right from wrong, they go through teething, sometimes chew things, etc…. Dogs need time and care too, but if you adopt one, you may not have to go through extensive potty training and other behavior training. So keep this in mind when trying to decide between a puppy and a dog”
- “If you don’t play with your puppy, walk it so it can get some of that pent up energy out, you could have some behavior issues to deal with. Terriers are full of energy. They are going to be energetic and need regular exercise and training. I would recommend puppy training class and other obedience classes to so you have a well behaved dog.”
- “How hard is it to look after a puppy?” on Boxer World.
- “Raising a puppy can be a very difficult time for an inexperienced person”
- “There are many other things to consider such as lonliness and training.
If you all work full time and the pup wont be getting to see anyone during the day, not only will it make toilet training near impossible it will be terrible for the pup mentally.” - “Looking after our very first puppy, Harley, the first few weeks was very much like looking after a new born baby.
Eyes had to be on him 100% of the time.
He was a little stuborn to house train (even though we didn’t let him out of our sight for about 3 weeks after he came home to us).
Crate training was horrible. He hated the crate and cried like a banshee every time he went in there. His kennel was moved into our room two nights after his arrival and is still in our room 7 months later :p . I spent the first two weeks with his crate near the end of our bed and I slept at the bottom of the bed so I could watch/hear him all night.
I don’t know how many times we had to take the crate outside to hose down in the middle of the night because of late night accidents.
We planed to get our puppy during the summer when we knew we would have plenty of time to spend with him (I was taking distance education courses at home so I could spend 24/7 with the new pup).”
- “I understand that puppies are hard work but in what way?” on Mumsnet.
- “I work at home, have no DCs (yet), live very close to open countryside and can honestly say it is the hardest thing I have ever done. I waited for years to get a puppy – did as much research as I could – and no matter how hard you think it’s going to be, nothing will prepare you! I’ve shed soooo many tears and wanted to send the puppy back so many times!It’s hard to pinpoint what is hard about it, and I’m sure you have done your research on what having a puppy entails, but imagine coping with it all 24/7 when you’ve had hardly any sleep (because puppy has been crying through the night!).Or, when you think you’ve mastered recall/walking on a lead/toilet training etc, only to regress the day after you start feeling smug!It is incredibly hard and constantly infuriating. Our puppy is now 6 months old and I still find the negatives outweight the positives, but hope in time it will get easier!”
- “It’s hard in the way that having a rampaging toddler is hard, but without the convenience of nappies. And at first, you won’t really ‘know’ or love the puppy, so it feels like a real slog. Your sleep will be affected, your house will be dirtier and possibly smell of poo (it will certainly smell of disinfectant for a bit), your routines turned on their head. My puppy attacks the hoover, the duster, the mop….so cleaning proves interesting grin. Going out needs planning with military precision, so that the pup isn’t left alone for too long. Something you love in the house will be eaten or destroyed (sorry). I think the hardest bit is just getting your head around the fact that all of this disruption is the beginning of possibly 15 years of being committed and tied to an animal. And the cuteness of a puppy wears off rather rapid when the little darling sinks its teeth in to your Achilles tendon at 3am after having explosive diarrhoea all over your favourite rug. It’s also worth remembering also that a well behaved, placid, obedient dog has to be shaped from one of these lawless ruffians. And that takes a lot of work. For example, Jasper is nearly 8 months old now and still tries the ‘hovering head of doom’ at the dinner table. Your pork chops are no longer safe, and a civilised dinner party is pretty much impossible (open plan house, don’t ask <weeps>).”
Make sure you know what you are getting yourself in for if you get a puppy Pug!
If you want an adult pug, they will be trained to hold in trips to the toilet, probably be house trained etc. A lot of Pugs that get put up for adoptions are given up because living circumstances change (they are an expensive breed to buy as puppies, so people do not just ‘end up’ with them then give them away later).
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