Snug as a Pug in a Rug (Pug)

Member Name: CAFCGirl

Product:	Pug
Date:	25/04/09 (149 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: That face, those wrinkles, the love

Disadvantages: Well poo smells doesnt it?

Pugs.....

January 8th 2009 we collected our new baby, a gorgeous fawn male pug affectionately named Gordon Ramsay....

We met Gordon 6 weeks after he was born, and he sat calmly and sleepily in the palm of my hand (and I'm a petite person!).

Now my review itself is based solely on my experience to date of owning Gordon, I cant comment on pugs overall, I only have one of them in my life!

Personality wise, Gordon is best described as a law unto himself. He has moments of being affectionate, playful, lazy, adoring, protective, relaxed, energised and insular. In short he is by far the most "human" pet I have ever had!

He has struggled with learning some basic commands. "No" has been a particular issue for us, and Gordon picks when he listens or doesn't. There have been times when this has been extremely frustrating,a s it is with mall children and trying to teach them correct acceptable behaviour.....

This shouldnt detract however from all the things he does right. He's learnt very quickly toilet training, and always has a very healthy appetite. Despite reading in a number of books and websites that pugs as a breed don't require a lot of exercise, Gordon is the exception to the rule, and thoroughly enjoys a good hour long walk morning and evening.

A few facts about Gordon:

He eats Bakers Puppy Complete dry food, and has had this completely dry for about 8 weeks now. We buy a large size bag which costs around £6 in Asda, and lasts us for about 8 weeks.
He has two main meals per day, one at 7:30am and the other at 6:30pm.

He has perhap one maybe two treats per day but this is always given when we've worked on some training, or if he has responded to a new learnt commandment. We dont give him treats solely through boredom.
This is mainly because I want to use the treats for training purposes, making them more powerful as a reward during training.

One thing that we have learnt is not to buy a puppy anything nice! Whilst teething he chewed pretty much most things that were given to him, including his entire bed, which I can only describe as looking like a massacre of a fluffly cloud when I came down in the morning!!!
To protect Gordon frm himself and other things in our house, we have built him an indoor pen, in which he sleeps or stays in if noone is in the house. Its large enough for him to be able to play around in, and have a doggy litter tray far enough away from his bedding area.

He has responded really well on a lead and enjoys meeting new people. Actually I can best describe him as a "little charmer". He pulls those sad "love me" eyes and people just melt around him.

Cost wise, Gordon was actually a present to us by my parents, following a significant loss on our lives (my husband and I), and he has definitely helped in the healing process from that.
Having a pet teaches you not to be selfish, to think before you act, we have to plan what we're doing, and structure ourselves so much more from having Gordond in our lives, good preparation for kids I guess....

From my own personal point of view, I wouldnt change it for the world, however you have to be prepared for your life to change, you cant just stay out for drinks after work and not get home till 10pm anymore, because someone else is relying on you.
I watch him play with his toys, or run around in the garden and I actually find myself quite fascinated by him, as a whole life, it's really strange and quite grounding!

We've been lucky to have not incurred any vets bills aside from his injections and we are still yet to decide if we will have him "done".... I mean do I really want to stop more Gordon's bringing joy into other people's lives....

I'll leave it there otherwise I will carry on gushing..... If you want to read about pugs as a breed in general, then there is plenty of information available on the internet and in books, this is just what life is like for me having Gordon Ramsay.....

P.S He really like watching DIY SOS...... xx

Summary: Be prepared!