Pug health Archives - Two Pug Tails

Pug Snoring

May 5, 2022 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

Why Pugs Snore

Snoring is usually the result of trying to breathe while the airway is obstructed. In pugs, their airway is small because they have flat faces and short mouths. Many pugs also have elongated palates. Basically, their facial structure increases her odds of snoring compared to other types of dogs.

Is it normal for pugs to snore?

Yes, most pugs snore a least occasionally.

Interestingly, my pug Beans had a harder time breathing than Frank did. Yet Frank snored more than Beans. Neither of my pugs snored all he time. I’d say they snored less than half he time that they were sleeping.

Causes of snoring in pugs

As I mentioned above, pugs are predisposed to snoring due ot being brachiocephalic dogs. There are other factors too though. SOme of those iclude:

The position that your dog is laying in can impact their snoring. Some positions keep the airway more open than others. Positions like laying on the back can increase the odds of the airway being obstructed and snoring resulting.

Allergies. If your dog has allergens, you may notice them snoring more when their allergies are flaring. Like people, if we have allergies it can inflame parts of our face which puts pressure on our airways and makes it harder to breathe quietly.

Obesity can be a factor. The heavier a pug is, the more pressure there will be in their neck and chest. If your pug is overweigh, trying to get them to a healthier weight may reduce their snoring.

Illness. If your dog is sick, they may snore more than usual or harder than usual until they recover.

Age. As dogs age, their muscles naturally weaken. When this happens to the muscles surrounding the airway, it may result in more pressure landing on their airway.

How To Stop A Pug From Snoring Or Improve It

Adjust their sleeping position if they are laying in a way that obstructs their breathing. You may try placing a small pillow under them to keep pressure off their neck. Gettig them a dog bed with a ledge they can rest their chin on may result in them naturally falling to sleep in that position.

Treat their allergies. You may be able to determine heir allergies through observing what they are exposed to when heir symptoms flare. If not, you may have to see our vet for allergy testing. Once you learn what they are allergic to, reducing their exposure to those allergens may reduce their snoring.

Watch their weight. Overweight or obese dogs are more likely to snore, so if your dog has extra weigh they may snore less if they lose weight.

Keep a clean environment. Keep their bedding clean, vacuum regularly and watch the air quality in your home to reduce allergens.

Stenotic nares surgery can open heir nasal passages and improve breathing in general, including a night.

Keep the room comfortable. Many pugs will breathe worse if it’s ho or humid. Using an air conditioner when it’s hot or humid can help them breathe easier.

Video of pug snoring

This is Frank snoring particularly loud (for him) one day.

When to be concerned about pug snoring

If their gums get really pale while they are asleep, his could be a sign that they aren’t getting enough oxygen.
If your dog seems to struggle to breathe while asleep.
If the snoring is excessively loud.
If he snoring has a really sudden onset.

How to cope with pug snoring

If you or others in he house find the pug snoring disrupting, you may try to reduce the snoring using the tips listed higher up in his article. If the snoring can’ be improved or fixed, here are some tips for coping.

Use a white noise machine. White noise machines can help somewhat drown out other noise, making noises like snoring less disruptive. You may try different types of white noise (Fan/wind sounds, storm sounds, rain sounds, etc) to see what works best for you.

Change where the dog sleeps. This is tough with pugs because pugs are clingy and want to be with their people. However, if you just can’t sleep while your pug is snoring, they may have to start sleeping with another family member or in a kennel or dog bed in another room.

How To Give A Pug A Bath

April 13, 2022 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

How To Give A Pug A Bath

Brush your dog thoroughly before the bath to reduce how much hair you’ll get in your drain.

Use luke-warm water, not hot or cold.

If your dog is sensitive to sounds, drawing all of the bath water before you bring your dog into the bath may make it a more positive experience for them.

Placing cotton balls into your pug’s ears (not too deep!) can help keep their inner ears from getting too wet.

A non-slip mat may help your dog feel more secure while you bathe them.

Some people find it helps pugs to stay calm if they put some peanut butter on the side of the tub for their dog to lick while they are bathed.

Talk to them calmly and positively throughout the experience to make it more positive. Reward them with praise and/or treats if they dislike bath time.

Use a dog-specific shampoo. I personally recommend avoiding the Hartz of shampoo because I’ve read a lot of online stories about how these cause seizures in some cats and dogs. Better safe than sorry! My pug Frank had sensitive skin so we had irritation with some dog shampoos, but his skin did well with Burt’s Bees dog shampoo I believe we used the oatmeal one at times and the hypoallergenic one at other times.

Use a water-safe brush to make sure your dog gets well-shampooed. We had the kong shampoo brush and liked it.

If you have a handheld shower attachment using this can help get a really thorough rinse.

Use a washcloth or cotton balls to dry out their ears thoroughly after a bath to avoid infections.

Thoroughly dry their face wrinkles to avoid infection or irritation.

You can use a blow dryer on no or low heat to speed up the drying process if it doesn’t scare your dog. Otherwise, just keep towel drying them.

How Often To Bathe Your Pug

Opinions on how often pugs should be bathed vary from about every 3 weeks to only once every six months! You want to bathe your pug before they get stinky, but not so often as to dry out their skin. We bathed our pugs monthly, just before we gave their flea medication.

Dog Shampoo For Pugs

Use a dog-specific shampoo on your dog rather than a human shampoo or soap. The PH levels of human shampoo are different than those formulated for dogs. Human shampoo is more acidic which is harsh on Pug’s skin. We liked the Burt’s Bee’s dog shampoo line, it worked well on my pug with sensitive skin, even.

How To Bathe A Pug Without A Bathtub.

If you don’t have a bath tub, you can bathe your pug in any container of water that you can get, basically. For a while we lived in an apartment that only had a stand-up shower, and our pugs really disliked the shower head sprinkling down on them. So we would fill a plastic tote with a couple of inches of water and bathe them in there!

You could use your kitchen sink if your pug will stay in place well. Even if you have a full sized bath, you may find that bathing puppies can be easier in a sink.

If you don’t have a tub or a tote, a kiddie pool is another option.

Do Pugs Like Baths?

Most pugs can’t swim, so they aren’t usually a big fan of water the way that some other dog breeds can be. Some pugs may enjoy their baths, but mine both disliked them!

Regardless of which pug I bathed first, the one that was not getting bathed first would go hide! Frank knew that if Beans was getting a bath now, he was next, and Beans knew the same if she saw Frank getting a bath first. Beans would huff and sigh when I first put her in the bathtub, but would accept her fate.

Frank on the other hand, would shake, wimper and cry throughout his bath usually. He’d also refuse to sit with me for a while after his bath, like he was mad at me. He was normally a huge cuddler so it was really something that he wouldn’t want to sit with us after a bath! Or worse, he’d refuse to sit by me if I bathed him, but would sit with Ryan…or if Ryan bathed him, he’d cuddle me after. It was like he thought whoever gave him the bath was the ‘bad cop’ and the other one of us was the ‘good cop’ that day, haha.

Can Pugs Have Nightmares? How To Help

April 8, 2022 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

Do Pugs Have Nightmares?

Based on research where they’ve studied dogs brain waves while sleeping, it is suspected that dogs have dreams because they have very similar sleep cycles to humans. If they dream, it is likely that some of those dreams are “bad dreams” or nightmares.

Scientists have used EEG testing to watch the brainwaves of dogs as they sleep. They found that dogs go through similar patterns of brain waves and brain activity like we do when we sleep. Like us, dogs go through a phase of sleep (REM sleep) where where their breathing is irregular, they experience more body movements and rapid eye movements, like we do.

We have no way of knowing for sure what dogs dream about. However, our best guess is that they dream for similar reasons that we do – to process their life events. This means they likely dream about things they have experienced, both good and bad. In short, that means they likely have a mixture of good dreams and nightmares.

Research has shown that small dogs dream more frequently than large dogs, and that puppies dream more than older dogs.

This also means that dogs who have been abandoned, abused or otherwise experienced trauma are more likely to have nightmares.

How To Help Your Pug With Nightmares

You may suspect that your dog is having a nightmare if they are sleeping and making sounds of distress. Maybe they whine or cry, for example. It can be tempting to wake them up to stop their nightmare. This is generally not recommended, because a dog who is awoken suddenly from a disturbing dream may growl or even bite out of fear as they wake up.

This wouldn’t really be the dog’s fault, it can be a stress response to the nightmare combined with the confusion of being awoken from the bad dream. So, it’s safest to avoid touching them or startling them if they are having a nightmare.

If you’d like to safely wake them up, you can try softly saying their name until they awaken. When they hear your calm voice, this can help them to close the gap between their dream experience and “real life”.

Your ability to control the frequency of your dog’s dreams or nightmares will be somewhat limited, but there are some things you can do to try to help. Giving them an enjoyable, comforting bedtime routine can help them drift off to sleep in a better mood, which may reduce the odds of a nightmare. Making sure their belly is full, their bed is cozy and free from things that scare them can be key. If your dog has separation anxiety when kenneled at night, you can try putting a piece of your worn clothing in their kennel so they can be comforted by your scent at night.

You may also find that helping your dog overcome their fears in real life may reduce their nightmares. We believe that dogs dream about things they experience in real life, as we don’t think they have the ability to imagine things different from anything they’ve ever experienced. This means most likely your dog’s bad dreams are about things they have experienced in person and disliked. If they are afraid of baths, they might have nightmares about baths, for example. If that’s the case, then working on making your dog more comfortable with getting a bath may reduce their odds of having nightmares about baths.

When To Be Concerned About Your Pugs Nightmares

If your pug “screams” while sleeping, growls or exhibits aggressive behavior, these can be signs of a sleep disorder. Some dogs with sleep disorders can eve walk around while asleep, or chase other animals or people. If you suspect this could be the case with your pug, try to get a video of the behavior and then meet up with your vet to show the video and discuss the problem.

Most dogs who have sleep disorders are young, 64% of dogs with sleep disorders are 1 year or younger. There are treatments available for sleep disorders so get to your vet so they can help.

Sources:

Do Dogs Dream — And What Do Dogs Dream About?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201010/do-dogs-dream.

Think Your Dog Is Having Nightmares? Here’s What You Need to Know.

Pug Farts | Why Your Pug’s Gas Smells So Bad

April 2, 2022 by emilyreviews Leave a Comment

Do all pugs have bad farts?

All pugs (well, all dogs!) pass gas or have flatulence or fart – however you prefer to word it. Not all pugs fart excessively or have super stinky farts.

Do pugs have audible farts?

Pugs do have audible farts! I was quite shocked by this the first time I heard our pugs fart. They are often quite loud, much like when a human passes gas.

This can be rather surprising if your pug passes gas when a guest is visiting. We’ve shared laughs with our friends ad family members when they first heard our pugs fart. For many, they’ve never heard a dog fart out loud so they aren’t sure if they should believe you when you tell them it was the dog.

Thankfully, my friends and family members have all just laughed along. We aren’t very serious people in general. However, if you were to host a business event or something that needs to stay very professional and classy, it may be worth considering if you should keep your pug away in case they pass gas that others can hear.

What Causes Flatulence In Pugs?

Like with people, flatulence in dogs is caused by swallowed air getting into our digestive tract that needs to get out, or by air being produced by certain gasses that digest our food.

Some of the reasons why dogs get gas include:

Eating too quickly. Air can be gulped down with the food, which then has to be released. Pugs have wide mouths due to their flat faces, so they can eat super quickly! Using a slow feeder bowl or a kibble dispensing toy may help.

Eating large portions. If you’re used to giving your pug just 1 meal a day, doing two meals a day that are half the size may help so they have less to digest at once.

Human Food. Table scraps (aka human food) can cause gas in dogs. Pugs are prone to obesity so it’s often best to avoid giving them human food anyway.

Their dog food. If they only eat dog food but still have bad gas, it may still be the specific food that they are on. Dog foods that are high in corn may cause worse gas in pugs. In many cases, cheap dog foods will have more corn so buying a higher-end dog food will often help. I’ll share my personal experience with this further down in this post.

Meats or other dog-specific sensitivities. Some dogs have their own sensitivities to different meats or other ingredients. You may have to experiment with different dog foods to find out what is the culprit for your dog. For example, if your dog has a lot of gas on chicken-based dog food, you may try switching to a lamb-based food instead.

Liver treats. My pugs absolutely loved liver treats! However, many people say that they cause bad gas in dogs.

Broccoli is one of the ‘human foods’ that are healthy for dogs. However, they often cause gas for dogs.

An imbalance in their belly. Like us, the cultures in your pug’s digestive system has to be kept at the right balance or it can wreak havoc. Your pug may benefit from probiotics if this is the issue. They make probiotic supplements specifically for dogs.

Tips To Reduce Gas In Your Pug

Exercise. Taking them for a walk after their meal can help stimulate their digestion to keep things moving which can reduce trapped gas. Sometimes gas worsens if a dog eats and then lays down after their meal, as the food doesn’t get a chance to move around. If your dog moves around after eating, it’ll aid their digestive process which may reduce gas.

Healthy diet. Try to make sure they have a well-balanced diet and don’t eat too quickly.

Fiber. A spoonful of 100% pumpkin per day can add fiber to your dog’s diet and may reduce their gas. It can also help with their stools!

If you aren’t able to get your dog’s flatulence under control through these basic measures, or if your pug’s gas seems to be causing them pain or discomfort, it’s time to see the vet.

How I Helped My Pugs With Stinky Farts

When I got my pugs, their former owner told me they were on Ol’ Roy dog food which is Walmart’s store brand. For the sake of consistency, I kept them on this food when I brought them to my house. Their farts were extremely stinky.

Before getting my pugs, I had read that cheap dog foods are usually lower quality, so I knew that I didn’t want to keep them o Ol’ Roy Dog food for health reasons. So we switched to a higher quality dog food after a couple of months when I felt like they had settled into our family and could tolerate some change. I had hoped that this would just be healthier for them, was all.

The biggest improvement we saw was in their gas! Those “peel the walls, make you gag” smelling farts completely stopped. They did still fart (we could hear it) but most of the time we couldn’t smell it a all. If we did, it was a more mild smell, not a “toxic poison” one! While this wasn’t my intention when changing their food, it did reassure me that the food we had switched to was healthier for them because their body wasn’t reacting to it as poorly.

Since then, I have noticed that when I’ve been visiting others and their dogs have one of those ‘toxic dog farts’, that it has always been someone who feeds their dog really cheap dog food. So, I’ve really come to feel like the extremely stinky farts that dogs sometimes have are usually caused by cheap dog foods in most cases.

Sources: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/how-to-stop-dog-farts/