Pug health Archives - Two Pug Tails

Are Pugs Easy To Look After? Pug Activity Level & Care Needs

January 19, 2022 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

If you’re considering getting a pug, knowing how hard it is to look after a pug is really important. Or maybe you’re considering dog-sitting for your friend or family member who has a pug. In either case, it’s a great question to ask.

Are Pugs Easy To Look After?

Adult pugs are fairly low-maintenance dogs. They want to be near you often, and they require a daily walk, daily food and fresh water, and regular nail trimming and baths. Their wrinkles need to be kept clean and dry, but that’s about the only unique care that pugs require versus other dog breeds.

I’ve blogged before about how pugs are clingy and how pugs don’t do well when left alone a lot. These are both very true, and if you’re asking yourself if you are a good match for a pug, it is important to consider how much affection you like to give and receive from pets. If you like a really independent dog who will do its own thing most of the time, a pug is not a great choice. They aren’t independent dogs.

Which many may assume to mean that pugs are high maintenance dogs…but that isn’t really true. They are clingy, but not needy.

What I mean by this is, you just have to be comfortable with your dog following you around, sitting near you or on your lap. As long as you’re happy with that? You don’t have to give them special care. They just want to be close to you as often as possible. They don’t necessarily need to be played with or given more one-on-one attention than other dogs. They just want to be close by you.

Pug Basic Daily Needs

Like all dogs, pugs have some basic daily needs. They should be given constant access to fresh water for drinking, and they need to eat at least once a day. Puppies need to be fed multiple times a day. Pugs should be taken outside multiple times a day to go to the bathroom. Pug puppies need to be taken outside more frequently.

Pug Activity Needs

Pugs are relatively low-energy dogs. Mature pugs are usually couch potatoes, and even younger adult pugs are usually pretty low energy. Pug puppies are a different story. They don’t have excessive energy when compared to other puppies, but don’t get a pug puppy if you want a couch potato – get an older pug.

Pug puppy activity needs.

Pug puppies will need a couple of short walks a day, and you’ll want to play with them regularly and try to keep them mentally focused, too. I got my pugs when they were adults, so I don’t have experience with pug puppies yet.

However, I’ve seen others say that the trick with pug puppies is to keep the from getting bored mentally, rather than tiring them out physically. Giving them their meals in a kong or slow kibble dispensing toy will help calm them down better than giving them tons of exercise.

Sometimes people think pugs are unintelligent dogs. I think the crossed-eyes and general “goofy” cartoon style that pugs are often drawn in contributes to this misconception. Pugs are not low-intelligence dogs, they’re considered to be pretty average intelligence compared to other dog breeds. As puppies, they need to be given “brain food” to calm their energy.

Adult pug activity needs.

Adult pugs are low energy dogs. They should still be given a walk each day, and playing with them, taking them to the park or dog park, etc is all great for their health. Some pugs are even athletic! However, they aren’t high-strung dogs who need tons of exercise. This is good news for apartment dwellers because pugs make good apartment pets.

I have a whole blog post about pugs activity needs if you want to learn more.

Pug Hygiene Needs

Like all dogs, pugs have some hygiene needs. They should be bathed at least monthly. Pugs have thick fur and shed year-round, so they require regular brushing. They need their nails trimmed frequently enough to keep them from getting too long. Pugs often have excess skin that results in wrinkle folds in their face or in other places on their bodies.

Any areas where their wrinkles form creases, they should be cleaned more regularly (in some cases, as frequently as daily) to keep bacteria from growing in those folds. Their ears should be cleaned about once a week. Some pugs have a lot of ‘eye boogers’ and those may need cleaned as often as daily. One of my pugs needed their eyes cleared of boogers a couple times a week, the other only had eye boogers on rare occasion.

Pug Training Needs

Pugs are known for being hard to train. This isn’t a result of their intelligence (they aren’t intelligent, though it’s a common misconception). They can be hard to train because they are stubborn! So they may know what you want them to do, but they may not want to do it. Potty training in particular is a common struggle for pug parents.

I got my pugs while they were adults, and they were house trained and had good manners, so training wasn’t necessary. However, if you get a pug that is a puppy or isn’t well-trained when you get them, you may have to invest a lot of tie into their training initially. Once a pug is well-trained, then their behaviors are usually easy to maintain.

Pug Health Needs

If your pug doesn’t close their eyes while sleeping (some don’t due to their eye and head shape) they will be prone to excess eye-boogers and dry eye. These pugs usually need daily eye drops.

As mentioned earlier in this post, pugs need a small amount of regular exercise, such as a daily walk.

All dogs should see their vet at least once a year for a regular check-up. Whether your pug will need o see the vet more often will depend on if they have any health conditions or illnesses.

If you’d like to learn about what health issues you may have to assist with if you get a pug, check out my blog post common health problems in pugs.

Like other dogs, it’s important to get them vaccinated, and to keep up with flea and tick and heartworm preventative medications.

Pug Emotional Needs

Pugs were bred to be lapdogs. As a result, they live to be at your side! They do not do well if left home alone, or not given much attention. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to be direct attention such as playing fetch with them for hours a day.

They are quite happy to get ‘attention’ from you by sitting near your feet while you do the dishes or work on an art project, or sitting on your lap while you watch a movie or play a video game.

Are Pugs Expensive To Look After?

How expensive pugs are to care for really depends on the specific pug. Some pugs can be sensitive to skin issues unless they are on high-quality, more expensive dog food. Some pugs will have medical problems that require frequent vet visits, which can be rather expensive. Other pugs may do well on affordable dog food and may have no health concerns. It really varies.

Personally, my pugs were not very expensive to care for until they were 14+ years old, when they started t have health issues due to old age. I bought them mid-level dog food which was around $60 for a 20lb bag but that would last over 3 months and would feed both dogs, so overall it was still quite affordable thanks to pugs being small and not eating a lot of food.

The other expense we had for them was flea and tick medications (averaged out to $20 a month total for both dogs), and the occasional vet visit, probably $300 or less spent at the vet each year. Overall, this meant the necessary expenses of owning both dogs was under $500 a year some years.

In their final years, we spent much more time and money at the vet, tripling or quadrupling those expenses.

Are Pugs Hard To Look After?

Pugs aren’t particularly hard to look after. Many pugs have a few unique hygiene needs (cleaning their eyes and wrinkles). Most pugs need to be around their people frequently (not left home alone too much). In all the other areas of dog care, pugs are either easier to care for than other breeds, or as-hard, not harder. Overall, I’d say pugs are a low to average maintenance breed.

Are pugs hard to dogsit?

Most pugs aren’t hard to dog sit. If you’re unsure about a specific dog and its needs, it’s best to ask their owner if they have any medical conditions/needs. You can also just ask their owner if they have any problem behaviors or unusual needs.ac Puppies are almost always higher maintenance than adult dogs. As long as an adult pug has been house trained, they are usually pretty easy to watch over.

Using Belly Bands On Pugs

October 23, 2021 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

There are affiliate links in this post.

For the last six months or so of my pug Frank’s life, he was urine incontinent. I had already dealt with diapering my female pug, Beans. At first, I tried to diaper Frank in the same way that I was used to diapering Beans. He was a bigger pug, and the anatomy difference from their genders made the diapers I used on her, not work on him. We found belly bands to be a better solution for Frank.

What are belly bands?

Belly bands are male dog diapers designed just to absorb urine. They wrap around the pug’s waist, so if they pee, the pee is absorbed by the belly band.

There are disposable and reusable belly bands available in various sizes for different sizes of dogs.

Why are dog belly bands used on pugs?

Pugs are known for being hard to train, so some people use belly bands on their dogs who are not housetrained. In some cases, pugs will not urinate while wearing a belly band, so this keeps them from peeing while inside. In other cases, they will still urinate but it will just be contained to the belly band rather than getting on your floors or furniture. In other cases, pugs become incontinent with old age or injury.

Our Story With Male Pug Incontinence

In our case, Frank’s urinary incontinence was caused from degenerative myelopathy. DM is less common in pugs than pug myelopathy, which is a fairly common condition in pugs, sadly. It’s a neurological condition that causes them to lose control of their hind legs, and then DM continues to work up their spine, eventually rendering them completely paralyzed. On the other hand, pug myelapthy only affects the rear end and doesn’t travel up the spine further, however it often still affects the bladder.

If your pug becomes incontinent as part of their myelopathy, it’s important to look out for signs that your pug is emptying their bladder fully. They may be unable to express their bladder fully and/or regularly on their own. I recommend checking out this article about helping your dog express their bladder.

While we sometimes assisted Frank with expressing his bladder, he was often able to urinate on his own, into a belly band. We had him wear a belly band full time just to keep him dry and our furniture protected.

Frank wearing a Teamoy L1 belly band.

Reusable belly bands for pugs

You can buy reusable belly bands on Amazon or other sites. These bands are made to be very absorbent and can be washed in your washer and dryer and then reused.

I didn’t really like the idea of the cloth portion being peed into. What we opted to do was combine reusable with disposable. We purchased reusable belly bands, but then we used adult incontinence pads inside of the belly band. Then when Frank peed, we’d just swap out the pad and he could rewear the belly band as long as the urine was contained to the disposable pad (and it usually was). Then even if he went an entire day without getting any urine on the reusable belly band, we still tossed it in the wash just in case. With this routine, he usually only wore 1 reusable pad a day. We kept six reusable belly bands and I do laundry about twice a week normally anyway. That system worked out well to where we always had a clean reusable pad.

Our favorite reusable belly bands for pugs

Pugs are often difficult to fit into dog sizing. They are technically a toy breed, so it seems like they ‘should’ be a size small or perhaps even extra small in dogs items, yet they never seem to be. They are short and stocky for being such small dogs!

Frank was a bigger pug, about 26lbs. The biggest part of his belly was 17 inches. We tried a few brands of dog belly bands that didn’t fit very well. The brand that we wound up liking best was Teamoy brand from Amazon, in the size L1. These are for dogs with a waist size of 16-20 inches. We had tried other belly bands that said they were a similar size, but they were much thicker and longer, so they would extend farther up frank’s belly.

The teamoy L1 belly bands are a bit shorter, so they didn’t go as high up his back/belly which allowed him more range of movement. They were also a thinner material that hugged his body in a way that just was a trimmer fit.

We used them with these adult incontinence pads and they worked well together.

Frank wearing a different Teamoy L1 belly band.

Disposable belly bands

They do make disposable belly bands for dogs. We never tried theme with Frank. We did try disposable dog diapers with beans, and they were quite challenging to get them to stay on. Based on that, my assumption was that disposable belly bands would be challenging to keep on, too. The reusable belly bands that we used had a strong velcro that is quite adjustable so we were able to get a nice, snug fit.

Can Pugs Go To The Beach? Tips & Tricks

October 16, 2021 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

Pugs are well known for not being very tolerant of high heat. They’re also known for not wanting to be left home alone very long. If you have a beach day planned, you may be wondering if pugs can go to the beach.

Can pugs go to the beach?

Pugs can go to dog-friendly beaches, and they may even enjoy the experience! You need to make sure they don’t overheat, though.

We live in Michigan, but we’re in the center, making us about as far from any of the great lakes as you can get within the state. As a result, we don’t go to the beach very frequently, as it takes a couple hours to get there. We never took our pugs to the “big” beach, as we would have been hours from home which wouldn’t be ideal if they got overheated. But we did take them to some lakes with us.

It’s definitely possible to have a beach day with your pug, but it requires thoughtfulness and planning.

How to keep your pug safe at the beach

Choose to go to the beach with your pug on a day where it’s not too hot. Consider what temperatures your pug tolerates while just being outside, not in the water. You may be able to take them to the beach if it’s a little above the temperature that they’re usually comfortable at, if you know that they will enjoy getting in the water to cool off. If your dog doesn’t like water and won’t be getting wet, you’ll want to ensure the air temperature is comfortable for them as-is.

Make sure there is shade. Some beaches may have natural shade that you can take advantage of, but if not, be sure to bring a large umbrella, tent or some other sort of shelter to create a shaded area for your pug.

Plan to have a responsible person by your pug’s side the entire time. If you and the other people going with you want to be able to be free to do what they want, that isn’t a good time to bring your pug along. Someone will need to be on ‘pug duty’ at all times. It’s important to keep an eye on them in case they overheat, and to keep them safe around the water.

Bring a dog lifejacket if they plan to get in the water. It’s rare, but there are some pugs who can swim, as I shared a video of in my athletic pugs post. Most pugs are “front heavy” because their shoulders are wider and heavier than their hips, and this makes it impossible for them to stay above water while swimming, without help. Even if your pug can swim some, it’s best to have a lifejacket to help support them in case they get tired while swimming.

Bring a portable water bowl. Keeping your pug hydrated while in the sun is really important!

Bring a dog shirt. If your pug gets hot, you can wet the dog shirt and put it on them to help cool them down a little.

Consider your timing. Going to the beach earlier in the day or later in the evening may result in better weather conditions for your pug.

Use dog sunblock. A common misconception is that dogs can’t be harmed by the sun because they’re covered in fur. While their fur does help protect their skin, it’s still best to use dog safe sunblock.

Bring dog waste bags. This is really basic pet ower etiquette, but pick up after your dog poops! Places that are dog-friendly often struggle with inconsiderate owners not picking up after their dogs. One of the best ways to keep places dog-friendly is to clean up after your dog.

Pack alcohol-free baby wipes. These ca be used to clean your dog’s eyes if they get sand or something else in their eyes.

Both of my pugs enjoyed spending time outside when it was nice!

When can a pug puppy go to the beach?

Dogs need to be fully vaccinated before they are around other dogs. This is usually at 4 months old. Once they’re 4 months old and fully vaccinated, you can take them to the beach.

Pug Always Licking Lips

August 29, 2021 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

Why pugs lick their lips

Dental problems, irritation or discomfort. Pugs are prone to dental problems due to having crowded teeth. Sometimes if a dog has a tooth that is bothering them, or inflamed gums, they may lick their lips in an attempt to relieve the pain or discomfort in their mouth.

Stress. Sometimes licking their lips is a nervous behavior. Yes, dogs can have nervous behavior similar to how people might bounce their leg or play with their hair. One of the ways some dogs cope with stress is to lick their lips. If you notice your dog licks their lips around other animals, while in the car, during thunderstorms, etc these are good reasons to suspect it’s an anxiety-based behavior. If it’s a stress response, you may also notice other signs of anxiety in your dog such as putting their tail between their legs, whining, crying or trying to get away from whatever is upsetting them. Pugs are especially prone to seperation anxiety, so you may find that your pug licks their lips a lot when left home alone.

Anticipating food or a treat. Dogs’ mouths can water when they are excited about getting something tasty. If you notice your pug licking their lips around dinner time or near their bowl, it could be the expectation of getting food.

Something stick to their mouth. If your dog gets something in their mouth that shouldn’t be there, they may lick to try to remove it from their mouth. For example, if your dog gets a piece of grass or hair in their mouth, they might lick to try to clean their teeth or tongue.

Nausea. Sometimes dogs will lick their lips in response to nausea. Nausea is more likely if you’ve recently given your pug new medication, switched dog food brands, or given them table scraps.

Partial seizures. Sometimes dogs can have partial seizures where they retain some degree of consciousness but may stare off and lick or snap at the air, as if trying to catch a fly. If you suspect seizure activity could be possible, be sure to see your vet.

Are they licking their lips or their nose?

Sometimes it’s tough to tell if your dog is trying to lick their upper lip or if they’re actually aiming for their nose. If your dog is actually licking their nose, they may be congested or have something stuck in their nostril. Pugs often have very narrow nasal passages so they can get stuff stuck in there, sometimes!

If your dog has something stuck in their nose, you may find them sneezing, rubbing their face against furniture, and/or inhaling deeply or reverse sneezing in an attempt to clear their airway.

You can purchase a baby nasal bulb to use on your pug, to help clear any congestion.

When does pug excessive licking become a problem?

I’d recommend making sure that the licking isn’t caused by a medical problem such as seizures or a dental problem. If the licking is caused by an infected tooth or gum disease, you’ll want to get that problem taken care of. If your dog is having seizures, that is important to seek medical treatment for as well.

If your dog licks their lips in a self-soothing way, that isn’t necessarily a problem. It all depends on how excessive it is, and whether it causes any skin issues. If they lick so frequently that they are getting their skin irritated or infected from constantly being wet, that would be a real problem. They do make anxiety medications for dogs that you can get from your vet. If their licking doesn’t cause skin trouble, it’s probably nothing to worry about.