# Advice for a first time pug owner



## PunkyPug (Jun 4, 2011)

I'm not exactly a 1st time dog owner. But I am a first time owner of a pug. I've always has medium to large size dogs. So I am looking for some advice on taking care of Emma.

Here is what I am already aware of:


Her small, pushed in snout makes it harder for her to breathe, thus increasing her chances of heat stroke. As a result, make sure she has PLENTY of available water when taking her to the barn and any other outdoor activity.
 Be careful to not over feed her. Or give her too much people food. She can get obese quite easily. Right now I am feeding her a 1/4 cup of dry food twice a day. Once in morning and once at dinner time.
 Clean out her wrinkles once in a while....and her ears.

So that's all I can think of. Any advice will be GREATLY appreciated.
Emma and I thank you. BTW she officially has a decent collar. I found my previous dog's spike collar. Fits her perfectly.


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## pugmom (Sep 10, 2008)

Sounds like you are off too a good start....
Feed a good quality food and the face smell and cleaning with be greatly reduced ....get a good shedding blade....pug do shed like crazy 

I have always used a harness with my pug.....she wears a collar but I always attach the leash to a harness when walking


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## abi88 (Jul 2, 2008)

She is ADORABLE!

We have a pug/x who's face is pretty much all pug so YES on the ALWAYS water ALL THE TIME! We freeze water bottles in the summer to take on drives with us so he has something cool to lay on!

IMO Pug, well for me all dogs in general, should NOT get anything other then their food and the occasional treat(meaning low-cal dried or freeze dried meat, sweet potato, liver, etc)....NO "people food" at all! Like you said they are VERY prone to obesity and thus should, again IMO, NEVER be fed "people food"!!

Yes clean out her wrinkles and ears REGULARLY..don't forget that little wrinkle on her back at the base of her tail either, those can get nasty!!! And my horse's shedding blade is Brody's best friend! 


And on a side note, who are you on HGS? Im MysticsAbi!LOL


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## Fuzzy Pants (Jul 31, 2010)

Hey, Emma is sticking her tongue out at us!  

I don't have a pug but I do have a smooshy face puppy. I only ever attach a leash to her harness as attaching it to a collar increases the chances of a collapsed trachea. I try to only walk her or take her to the dog park in the morning or evening. Never in the middle of the day. I may be in MI but it still gets hot up here in summer. Sometimes I even douse her with water while we walk in the am & pm to cool her down. She doesn't seem to mind it. When we come in she gets an ice cube in her water bowl. Sometimes she takes it out to play with while laying on the cool tile in the kitchen. I make sure I clean Cassy's ears every Saturday morning since she has narrow ear canals and is prone to ear infections. Even though she is teething and doesn't really need her teeth brushed yet I still try to brush her teeth once a week so she gets used to it.


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## PunkyPug (Jun 4, 2011)

pugmom said:


> Sounds like you are off too a good start....I have found that my pug is really like any other dog for the most part
> Feed a good quality food and the face smell and cleaning with be greatly reduced ....get a good shedding blade....pug do shed like crazy
> 
> I have always used a harness with my pug.....she wears a collar but I always attach my lease to a harness when walking


I would like to purchase her a shedding blade next week. I'm also in the process of trying to figure out why she is so itchy on her booty.



abi88 said:


> She is ADORABLE!
> 
> We have a pug/x who's face is pretty much all pug so YES on the ALWAYS water ALL THE TIME! We freeze water bottles in the summer to take on drives with us so he has something cool to lay on!
> 
> ...


I've stressed it to my fiance to NOT feed her anything but her own food. So far he has kept to her word on that.

What should I use to clean her wrinkles and ears? Wash cloth and warm water?

I am alwaysacolt on HGS



Fuzzy Pants said:


> Hey, Emma is sticking her tongue out at us!
> 
> I don't have a pug but I do have a smooshy face puppy. I only ever attach a leash to her harness as attaching it to a collar increases the chances of a collapsed trachea. I try to only walk her or take her to the dog park in the morning or evening. Never in the middle of the day. I may be in MI but it still gets hot up here in summer. Sometimes I even douse her with water while we walk in the am & pm to cool her down. She doesn't seem to mind it. When we come in she gets an ice cube in her water bowl. Sometimes she takes it out to play with while laying on the cool tile in the kitchen. I make sure I clean Cassy's ears every Saturday morning since she has narrow ear canals and is prone to ear infections. Even though she is teething and doesn't really need her teeth brushed yet I still try to brush her teeth once a week so she gets used to it.


I am thinking on brushing her teeth regularly.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

PunkyPug said:


> I would like to purchase her a shedding blade next week. I'm also in the process of trying to figure out why she is so itchy on her booty.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The absolute BEST thing I've found for the Pug coat is the Zoom Groom by kong, my Frank LOVES it and it pull out SO much undercoat and shed, of course Frank also LOVES being vacuumed (using the hand held furnature attachment)

For wrinkles and ears, I use Baby wipes, the ones for sensitive skin and YES, if you can train her to have her teeth brushed it will help ENORMOUSLY as most pugs teeth are crowded due to the short face. 

As far as food, stay away from ANYTHING that has corn or by products in it, visit our food forum for good suggestions on QUALITY foods.

BTW, Emma is a DARLING I look forward to seeing you guys on the forum!


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## PunkyPug (Jun 4, 2011)

cshellenberger said:


> The absolute BEST thing I've found for the Pug coat is the Zoom Groom by kong, my Frank LOVES it and it pull out SO much undercoat and shed, of course Frank also LOVES being vacuumed (using the hand held furnature attachment)
> 
> For wrinkles and ears, I use Baby wipes, the ones for sensitive skin and YES, if you can train her to have her teeth brushed it will help ENORMOUSLY as most pugs teeth are crowded due to the short face.
> 
> ...


We have those at my work. I honestly didn't think it would remove a whole lotta undercoat. I thought it would be worse on her itching problem on her booty.
I did some brushing on her with a soft brush and she kept trying to bite the brush. IDK how the groomer got her to sit so still!!!


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## PunkyPug (Jun 4, 2011)

Can I use puppy wipes on Emma's face/in her wrinkles?


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