Choosing to Rescue and Adopt a Pug

Pugs are adorable little furry canines with a smooshed in face. They are huge on personality and are really big dogs in little bodies. If you have ever met a pug, you will quickly realize that they strive to give devoted attention to their owner.

The toy dog trend has overtaken the front lines in pet ownership over the past few years. It seems like pugs are seen in several big screen movies and many TV commercials more so lately than ever before. This is great and promotes the breed and how sweet a pug's disposition is. The reasons are endless as to why someone wouldn't want to purchase and love a pug fur baby forever. But it can also raise concern that many people are jumping out and buying these dogs and then they become unable to take care of them. The result is the dog's ending up in shelters or neglected, and not getting the proper care.

Another thing to take into consideration with pug ownership is that pugs tend to have health problems. Breathing is difficult, because of the pug's short stubby nose. Caution in heat and extended outdoor elements is recommended. Pugs tend to receive skin infections easily -- due to all of their wrinkles. The cost of keeping a pug healthy is not cheap and many people jump out and buy one not thinking of the long term costs of raising them. Unfortunately, a deadly disease can ravage a pug, such as pug dog encephalitis. This is usually a fatal disease, which causes swelling of the brain and seizures.

Pugs tend to live for a long time, generally up to 15 years. Sadly, many times they outlive their owners and then they lose their home. In some cases, owners may have to move and are unable to take their pug with them.

Stop and think if you are serious about wanting one, why not give a rescue pug a second chance? These precious dogs may have medical issues or even abandonment issues, but they desperately crave to be loved again. I have three myself and they are my life -- two of them are rescues.

Pug rescue organizations are non-profit groups focused on the mission to obtain pugs from neglect and situations where the owners are no longer able to care for them.

At Pugrescue.com you can research in depth to see if rescuing a pug may be right for you and your family. They have many links to rescue organizations around the country.

Here are a few highlights and advantages to choosing a rescue pug:

You can have a pug that is already potty trained-

This is a plus for some people. There is typically a lot of time involved in training your pug for him to treat your house as his house too. With a rescue pug, many times their previous owners have already completed this process and the pug already knows not to go wee in the house. My pugs ring a bell on the door when they need to go outside. Chewey, our latest rescue, knew how to do that before she came to live with us and along the way, has taught my other two pugs to do the same.

Save money initially on vet bills-

Most rescued pugs have already had their shots and a complete history and physical done on them before you adopt. Rescue pugs are not free, they cost money, but you will have peace of mind when you take your pug home knowing all shots are up to date, what the medical history is and of course being neutered or spayed.

Giving a pug his new forever home-

If you are the least bit interested in rescuing a pug, you already have a huge heart. It breaks your heart just to hear about a pug without a forever home and you can relate to his broken heart for not having his family with him any more. Maybe he is handicapped and only has one eye or has leg injuries. A true pug lover looks beyond that and sees the love in the heart of the pug that needs a home to be loved and played with again.

Remember you have never been loved unless you have been loved by a pug.