We thought we’d like to share our story of our life with pugs and how we came to adopt our latest addition, Troy, from PDWRA.
Our first Pug was Archie, who came to us as a 12-week-old puppy nearly 16 years ago. A wonderful little chap, this fawn Pug stole our hearts. We first heard about PDWRA when we joined a local Pug group in Hampshire where we lived, who regularly met up in a country park with all their dogs. Archie enjoyed the meets but truth be told he was definitely there for the possible treats on offer, not the exercise! We also joined and followed PDWRA’s Facebook group.
Fast forward to December 2025, Archie was now 15 years old but suffering a variety of ailments, including a carcinoma tumour that had been steadily growing in size. Sadly, recognising that Archie’s time remaining with us was becoming much shorter and not wanting to become a Pug-less household, we submitted an adoption application for a Pug we had seen on the Facebook group. We were unsuccessful on that occasion, but it started the ball rolling; we completed application forms and got ourselves home-checked. We were very impressed with how thorough the adoption and home-check process was.
A few weeks later we were contacted by Catherine, a PDWRA coordinator. Two Pugs had come up, a boy aged 2 and a girl a few years older. It was thought they might be a bonded pair. We were in the process of trying to move home, Archie’s healthcare had become very time consuming and we also had our daughter’s Cockapoo as a temporary house guest at that time, so we thought that introducing two new Pugs into our home might be difficult. We reluctantly declined. A few days later we were contacted again. It was the fosterer’s opinion that the two Pugs were not, in fact, bonded. Troy arrived a few days later when his fosterer kindly drove him to our home. He had no possessions of his own; with some sadness his foster mum had said that this was the first time she had known that to happen. He had, though, been much loved by his previous owner.
Troy settled in very quickly, socialising well with Archie and the Cockapoo. He was intact when he first arrived and it was clear he was a ladies’ man – our son’s female Frenchie who often visited lived in fear of his romantic attentions! About a month later, with help from PDWRA, Troy was neutered. This did successfully calm down his romantic behaviour but fortunately did not change any other aspect of his lovely personality. He is now best friends with the Frenchie; they play constantly when together.
Troy is best described as a black Pug; however, he has fawn lower legs and a white stripe up the back of his tail – a bit like a skunk! Very handy for tracking him on dog walks in poor light. He is extremely affectionate; we would describe him as a ‘Velcro’ pug. He is a big kisser – his tongue is deadly!
When he arrived, we didn’t have much background information on him. His foster mum was able to tell us what she had learned about him, which was very helpful. We didn’t know whether he’d like to sleep on a dog bed, in a cage etc.
From the age of 2, Archie had slept on our bed – he had managed to scratch away paintwork on the doors of the house, so we eventually gave in to his demands to be on the human bed. Troy joined in more than willingly with the existing sleeping arrangements – the human bed is the only place for him at night-time. We also have two strategically placed dog beds in the kitchen and home office which he will settle on when his humans are busy in those rooms, but as soon as anyone is in the lounge, he will find his way on to the sofa or a chair – wherever the human is sitting!
During the 10 months Troy has been with us we honestly could not say anything negative about him. He fitted in straight away, as if he had always lived with us. Just don’t expect to go to the loo or any other room without him.
We moved to Cornwall from Hampshire in May this year, to be able to look after older members of our families. We now have a lovely country cottage home with a big secure garden that Troy likes exploring.
In August we lost Archie, he was 15 years and 8 months old. Troy misses him as do we. Although Archie couldn’t play much, his personality and TV watching addiction provided company and entertainment for Troy.
We have a large window in our sitting room and Troy takes his neighbourhood watch duties very seriously, boofing at people who may dare to walk past, although he’s not exactly a deterrent to any stranger that may come!
You may have guessed already that we are now once again in the process of applying to adopt pugs from PDWRA.
Chris & Martin
