You don't need to look very hard on this website to figure out my adoration for the Pug breed. We have had such a good experience having pugs. Up until last year, all my pug advice came from owning just one pug. Now that we have 3, it's cool to see what's personality and what is a "pug-thing".
They've got so many lovely qualities, but along with that they've got some annoying ones too. Most pug people agree these are easy to look over, and actually find them endearing. But, if you are considering Pug-ownership, there are things you need to know!
The Shedding!
The dog hair and pet dander in my house is insane. Pugs are shedders. If you have allergies, pugs are not for you. As you give them scratchies you can see the hair float away in a cloud surrounding your pet. It's actually incredible. We've got both a black pug and 2 fawn pugs. Interestingly the fawn pugs seem to shed more than Delly. When we just had Delly, her hairs didn't show up on our dark furniture and blankets, but you could see it all over the floor. Bailey & Winston's hair shows up all over our leather furniture, but you can't see it on our floors. It's there though!
There are things you can do to keep the dog hair situation under control. We have a great deshedding brush that helps a lot. If you brushed daily or even every other day, I'm sure you'd see a huge difference in the amount of hair that ends up elsewhere. I've also made it a habit to sweep every day. That may be over kill, but I'm very particular about our home. Swiffer dusters are also great!
The Noises!
I always compare owning a pug to living near a train track. The people who live there get so used to the train noises, they don't even hear it anymore. That's exactally what it's like for us! Our guests always giggle when one of the pugs start snoring, and then we laugh because we didn't even notice.
It's in their nature and breeding. They don't have great noses and that smooshed face makes for lots of various noises. Snoring, grunting, sneezing...even their nails click on the hard floors. You'll get used to it and even find it charming.
The Stubbornness!
Pugs are quite intelligent, and catch on really quickly. When we adopted Bailey last summer, she learned to sit for a treat after coming in from potty breaks within 1 day. She is 7 or 8 years old, and we don't think she knew any tricks before coming to us. Being food motivated helps, but we've had no trouble teaching this 'old' dog new tricks. That being said, if they don't want to do something, they won't.
For example, if it's raining...no, if it's even misting outside, our pugs refuse to go out to pee. Like, dig their paws into the floor, flat out refuse! It can be very frustrating! I can't help but smile when our pugs 'play dumb'. They look at you with those big ole eyes and act like they don't know what planet you're from. Because our pugs love their treats so much, usually just offering one will help us come to a compromise. (or in the raining situation, following them around the yard holding an umbrella over them...) If you really want them to do something, you have to be determined to be more stubborn than them.
Overall, any animal is going to come with a few annoying traits. If you are considering getting a pug, you should definitely be aware of all their facets. Our pugs bring my husband and I endless joy and they have so much character. (For what it's worth, I think 3 is too many! 2 is the perfect number of pugs. We are crazy about all 3 of our dogs, but 3 is a lot of pug.)
Comment below if you are a pug lover! I'd love to hear what you find annoying about your pet, pug or not. Don't forget to mention what you love about them too!
