Be sure that everyone in your family reads and understands how to take care of a Pug before bringing him into your home. The better you care for your Pug, the longer, happier and healthier he will live. Loving Marley was just featured in the January/February issue of Pug Talk and is a great book for parents to use to help teach children about the responsibilities of bringing a puppy into the family.
Training:
At first, this may not seem like a care issue, but an untrained dog presents a great hazard to itself and to others. If your dog is not trained to come or stay by your side, he may run into the road and get killed, or at an extreme, cause someone to swerve and hit another car resulting in the deaths of two families. We recommend starting a training routine at home with basic commands and then going to a basic obedience trainer when your pup reaches 4 months of age. If your trainer makes use of choke collars, don't be fooled by the myth that they are cruel. While the word choke is in the name, you will never choke your dog with them. A good trainer will probably make use of them and teach you how to properly use them. We do not, however, advocate the use of shock collars for training (underground fences, however - not portable - are a great means of containment). Visiting your local library is a great and free way to explore the various training methods available. My personal favorite is clicker training.
Heat Exhaustion:
The most important special care consideration for a Pug is their susceptibility to heat exhaustion. Because of the short muzzle, the soft palate (the soft part of the roof of the mouth) can obstruct breathing, that, combined with a shorter tongue makes it more difficult for them to get rid of excess heat. A few hours outside on a overly hot day can kill a Pug or cause unseen internal damage. When taking your Pug for a walk on a hot day, be sure to take a container of water with an ice cube or two. Each Pug is different in their tolerance of heat, so start out slowly, keep an eye on your buddy and learn his limits without exceeding them. Also keep in mind that his limits will probably change with age.Signs of heat exhaustion are staring, weakness, protruding eyes and holding the head high as if trying to get more air. In extreme circumstances, he may lose consciousness and stop breathing. If you suspect heat exhaustion, give your dog a nice drink of water, pour some on his head and feet, and allow him to rest in the shade or carry him back to the car and let him enjoy the AC.
Exercise:
Like any dog, Pugs require exercise. In the past, we made use of local parks, but now we have our own trails on our property. We try to take our dogs for a nice daily walk, but as with everything, there are times when the weather or other considerations get in the way. On a mild day, your pug may be willing to walk a couple of miles and still have energy, but on hotter days, you'll want to reduce the time out and keep it to the morning or evening. Here's a piece of advice we gained from experience: you may want to keep a towel in your car as pugs are somewhat fond of water. We have a small stream that runs along our trail and, it turns into a rather good (and sometimes dirty) time for our dogs. As with humans, more exercise will result in a healthier, happier, and more well behaved dog. Just be sure to keep them in a travel kennel when driving them to a park; an excited pug in a car can be a serious driving hazard. As a side note, exercise as a puppy is important in having an nicely curled tail. The adult will still need exercise to keep the tail tightly curled, but the greatest benefit is drawn from the puppy stage.
Brushing:
Pugs do shed quite a bit and need to be brushed every week. It is also wise to brush your dog prior to taking a warm weather walk to make sure that there isn't excess hair keeping in extra heat. Of all the brushes we've tried, we found this one to be the most effective.
Eyes:
The eyes of a Pug are at greater risk of injury than most other breeds because they lack the protection of a long nose. Any change in the color of the whites of the eye should be examined. This can be due to injury, allergy or infection. Pugs are susceptible to allergies which can be treated with medicated eye drops prescribed by your vet. Other signs of infection are redness of the inner part of the eyelid or mucus discharge. Anything unusual should be looked at by your vet.
Nose Roll:
The flatened nature of the Pug's face creates a wrinkle above the nose that requires special attention. Pugs are always running about and sticking their noses into all manner of things when exploring. This pushes dirt and grime into the wrinkle which, if not properly cleaned out, can lead to an infection. The nose wrinkle should be cleaned each week and whenever obviously dirty. The wrinkle is cleaned using a damp, soft cloth, cotton ball or something from the pet store such as eye wipes (don't use q-tips as pugs generally squirm when getting cleaned creating a risk of eye puncture). After cleaning, thoroughly dry the wrinkle to prevent infection. Also, apply a very small amount of petroleum jelly to the nose when dry.
Ears:
The ears should be cleaned every couple of weeks to prevent wax build up. Your vet can recommend a medicated solvent such as Nova Cleanse which is dripped into the ear and then shaken out by the dog. After that, massage the ears and wipe with a cotton ball or towel. Again, do not use q-tips because of the high risk of ear puncture.
Mouth:
Clean the teeth regularly using a kit purchased from your local pet store and begin using it early to help your Pug become accustom to this aspect of grooming. Greenies, a special type of biscuit designed to remove tartar, are also recommended. At 6 months, your vet should inspect the Pug's mouth to ensure that all baby teeth have been replaced with adult teeth. It is not uncommon for an adult tooth to grow behind a baby tooth. In this case, the baby tooth will need to be removed by your vet which is most often done concurrent with spaying/neutering.
Diet:
We feed all of our puppies and adults Diamond brand food (Eukanuba is another great brand, but is a bit more expensive). After trying several brands, we've settled on Diamond based on its quality, agreeability with our dogs, and cost. While we don't allow cost to be the deciding factor in food purchases or recommendations, we don't agree that someone should pay more for gimmicks such as "Breed Specific" dog foods.As for frequency and quantity, puppies under 5 months should be fed 1/2 cup three times per day. Adults and older puppies should be fed 1/2 cup twice per day. These numbers are a guideline and each dog will have it's own metabolism and should be fed so that they have a slight hourglass curve at the waist when you look at them from above. Some pugs can be fed as much as they want during a meal, while others will have to be strictly rationed. We send our puppies out with a freezer bag portion of puppy food. If you plan on using another brand, mix the two over a seven day period to help ease the transition (changing dog food brands often results in loose stools).
Now for a word on kibble size. Like most, we used to feed our dogs small breed kibble for years. It just didn't seem right to us to put a large kibble in a small dog's bowl. After thinking about it for a while, we realized that the dogs weren't doing much chewing and therefore not receiving the tooth cleaning benefits of using dry dog food. We decided to try out a bag of standard size kibble and sure enough, the dogs were forced to chew their food. Meals went from a literal two minutes or so, to several. We still, however, feed our puppies small breed puppy food, but wouldn't discourage using a standard kibble puppy food for an older puppy.
Bathing:
Bathing should be performed sparingly. During the warmer months, once every 3-4 weeks; during the colder months, once every 4-6 weeks. Excessive bathing will dry out the skin and remove the oils that keep the coat soft and smooth. Dog wipes and conditioning sprays can be used between baths to help reduce odors.
Nails:
As a puppy, the nails should be clipped as often as possible. We recommend only clipping a few nails on each paw during a session so that it can be done more frequently. A dog that hasn't been accustomed to nail clipping will be one a terror when he grows up. As an adult, the nails should be trimmed when necessary.