Training Your Pug. Brenda Belmonte

features that make the Pug unique, such as the flat, pushed in nose or dark, round eye. They are often referred to as “Victorian Pugs” or of “Victorian type.” Their owners still love them, but many will admit that their Pug’s behavior wasn’t what they expected from the breed.

      Puppies should be purchased from experienced and reputable breeders.

      Pugs come in only two recognized colors: fawn and black.

Color Differences

      Pugs are generally recognized in two colors: fawn and black. Both colors make excellent pets; however, some Pug owners and breeders feel that subtle differences in personality and trainability can be related to color.

      Fawn Pugs seem to have a more carefree attitude and are often described as clown-like. A fawn Pug may react to a situation without really thinking, preferring to have fun and then to see what happens. Those owners and breeders dedicated to black Pugs often refer to them as “thinkers.” Black Pugs appear to stop and analyze a situation and take a more studious approach to life. Perhaps this perceived personality difference between the colors is related to the larger population of fawn Pugs. While black coat color is the dominant gene, fawn Pugs have always been the more popular color.

      One of the Pug’s most appealing features are his facial expressions. At times, a Pug looks at you as if almost human, trying desperately to understand every word that you say. The color contrast of the ears, forehead, and muzzle that is present in fawn Pugs is lost in Pugs who are black. This lack of contrast takes away the black Pug’s ability to create the same facial expressions, which perhaps explains why some Pug owners and breeders believe that the black Pug is more serious.

      Both male and female Pugs can make great pets.

      Whether you prefer black or fawn, you will find that color has little or no influence on the trainability of your Pug. Both colors can excel in performance events, as therapy dogs, show dogs, or simply as couch potatoes!

Male vs. Female

      People tend to have strong personal opinions as to whether a male or female Pug is better suited to be a family pet. Quite often, this bias is based on some past personal experience and reflects problems or concerns that occurred with another dog. We hear others tell tales about their dogs, their behavior problems, their successes and failures, and wrongly assume that a Pug of the same sex may be just as problematic. A specific sex within many breeds may have a predisposition to behavioral problems, but that does not mean that every breed has the same correlation.

      A preference for female Pugs seems to be more common. This may reflect a misconception that all male dogs “mark” or leg lift inappropriately. While inappropriate marking behavior is often associated with male Pugs that are intact, neutered at a later age, or incompletely housebroken, female Pugs can also exhibit this behavior.

      Choosing a female Pug does not eliminate potential housebreaking issues.

      A Pug is a lapdog, bred to provide endless hours of companionship and love. Once again, many owners believe that this takes a “lady’s touch.” Don’t underestimate the affection of the boys! Male Pugs often freely display more outward affection than their female counterparts, making them a favorite of many breeders and owners.

      Determining which sex is right for you will be a matter of personal preference, unless your family already has a canine member. The sex of the Pug should be carefully considered when adding to a household that already has a dog. Pugs of both sexes can have very strong personalities, and these are often reflected in their interactions with other dogs. To avoid continual conflicts between housemates, it may be a good idea to add a Pug that is the opposite sex from your current dog. When it comes to conflict between two dogs in a household, female Pugs will often prove more troublesome than male Pugs.

       Double Trouble

      There is a saying among Pug owners that “Pugs are like potato chips; you can’t have just one!” Many Pug owners eventually have more than one Pug at a time, as the breed can become quite addicting. Working families often think about purchasing two puppies at the same time. They realize that the puppy will spend a significant amount of time alone during the day, and to minimize the loneliness, they believe that a second Pug puppy, perhaps two littermates, would do quite nicely. They also believe that the time it takes to train two puppies really would not be much more than the time needed to train one. Oh how wrong they are!

      Pugs are like potato chips—you can’t have just one.

      Properly raising two puppies is much more difficult than raising one. Puppies close in age, brought into the same household together, will always bond to each other before they bond to their human family. There is little or no incentive for them to bond with you or your children, as most, if not all, of their social needs are met by the other puppy. You simply become their source of food and a place to sleep. Housebreaking is also infinitely more difficult. Unless each puppy is treated independently, with adequate time separated from the other, their constant interactions and play behaviors increase the need for frequent potty breaks. Properly supervising two active Pug puppies is nearly impossible!

      A well-socialized puppy becomes a well-behaved adult.

      The only way to raise two puppies at the same time is to remember that they are individuals—not one puppy with eight legs. This means two of everything! Two crates, two leashes and collars, two sets of food and water dishes, and double the time and expense! You must be able to budget the time and energy to meet each puppy’s individual needs. Raising them correctly means that each puppy will still spend some time alone each day, defeating the original purpose for buying two puppies. You really need to ask yourself this question: If adding a Pug puppy to my family means that he needs a canine sibling in order to be happy and healthy, should I really be contemplating the addition of a puppy at this time?

Socialization

      There are two important goals to shoot for when purchasing a Pug puppy. The first is to purchase a puppy that has the best chance to live a normal life, free from disease and hereditary conditions. The second is to select a puppy with a stable, social temperament. A properly socialized Pug puppy has the temperament to tackle any “job” he is given. Whether he is to spend his life as a beloved family pet, perform in obedience or agility competitions, or provide affection to others as a therapy dog, he must have the confidence to interact with people and be comfortable in locations outside of his own home.

      How a puppy is treated before he joins your family directly influences your puppy’s ability to learn. Critical periods of development occur at specific ages in a puppy’s life. If a puppy is too stressed during these sensitive periods, it can negatively influence his trainability for even the simplest tasks can be negatively influenced.

      Pug puppies separated from littermates before eight weeks of age miss the opportunity to learn about interactions with other dogs. Social interactions with humans should begin as early as three to five weeks of age. By nine weeks of age, puppies form a distinct preference for the location of elimination (inside vs. outside) and for the surface they prefer to eliminate on (newspaper, grass, concrete, gravel). The exploration period, when puppies are comfortable learning about new places and objects, begins as early as ten weeks of age, and continues until a puppy reaches four to five months of age.

       PUG POINTER