Pugs are adorable dogs that make perfect house pets. The mere presence of this flat and round faced dog is good enough to lift the spirits of the household and the neighborhood. It is for this reason that many people look for pug puppies for sale in Iowa and other states. If you are one of them, this is the right page where you should be at. By the end of this post you will develop a fair idea of how to find a healthy pug puppy in your locality, what to look for while buying the puppy and finally how to take care of the little pug once you bring it back home.
Table of Contents
Finding the pug in Iowa
The first place that you can check out is the local pet stores. In most likeliness, you would find a little pug pup in there. However, try to ensure that the pet store did not get the pug puppy from puppy mills. Most pet stores get their cages filled with pugs from the puppy mills. You would definitely not want to bring home an unhealthy pug puppy that does not have the basic grooming and has never experienced the fun of playing with toys or enjoying those tasty dog treats. Also, by avoiding puppy mills, you would be subtly protesting against the inhumane conditions in which the puppies are bred in those filthy puppy mills.
Another option of finding a pug puppy is to check with local kennels. They will be able to give you contacts of private breeders who sell puppies that are born from their pugs. You can also try visiting some of the local dog shows. You would inadvertently get the chance to meet some of the pug breeders who would be able to give you valuable advice on where to get your puppy from.
If nothing else works out, you can hit the internet and get access to various breeders’ websites. The website of American Kennel Club will give you access to the database of breeders who sell pug puppies in your area. You can also find various sites that put up ads for adopting puppies. You can check these sites out and find the friendliest baby pug for your family.
Things to check while buying a pug puppy
Everyone wants to get the healthiest and friendliest puppy. However, choosing the best one from the litter could be a tricky task. If a pug is overall unhealthy, he would show clear signs of that. However, apart from that, there are certain other things that you should check before making your purchase.
Check the eyes – If the eyes of the pug are watery, squinting or glazed over, the puppy is most likely suffering from some health issues. Pugs have a tendency to suffer from eye problems due to their bulging eyes that get easily affected by dust and debris.
Check the breathing – You have to hold the puppy close to you and check for rattling and rasping sound while it breathes. If you find such sounds, the puppy has a problem with breathing and should not be your choice. If the puppy breathes with its mouth open, that is also a sign of respiratory problems.
Check the puppy gait – A common problem with the pug breed is underdeveloped hip bones, which causes a mild clicking sound while the puppy walks. Watch out for signs of limping as the puppy walks. Anything that seems abnormal should ring a bell in your mind that the puppy is not from the healthiest lot.
A common advice that you would get while choosing pug puppies is that the pup that comes over to you very first is the best one. Honestly, that pup is possibly a bit bold in nature, and it could create some problems while you train the puppy. Instead, choosing a relatively timid and curious one would give you the confidence that when you scold the pup during its training, it would pay heed to that and get trained easily. All you should be looking at is a puppy that looks at you and wags the tail while you talk to it. That is the sign that the pug has a friendly nature and will make a good pet.
Gathering some information about the breeder is also imperative. You cannot simply buy your pug puppy from any random breeder. If the breeder does not take proper care of the puppies, gets them vaccinated on time, and does not treat them with love and affection, you may want to look for other breeders who have a better reputation of breeding healthy dogs.
Taking care of the pug
Like any other pet, taking care of a pug puppy is more or less similar and takes good time of the day. You need to remember one thing, the first six months of the puppy’s life is the phase when it would learn the most manners, and whatever it learns during this phase, is how it would behave when it grows up to be an adult pug. Thus, as soon as you get the pug puppy home, get on with the training process.
You may want to search the internet and go through various informative articles that will tell you in detail about how to groom a pug pup. For the time being, you need to know that being double coated, pugs shed more often than other breeds. Do not think that to be a sign of poor health and rush to the vet for no apparent reason.
Unlike some other breeds, pug is a breed of dog that likes to be surrounded by people and pampered all the time. As you get a pug puppy for the house, be prepared to spend as much time as possible with it. Not doing that will make your furry friend really sad, and definitely that is not something that you would want to happen.