by PDWRA | 20 Oct, 2026 | News
After an amazing year and a half together, it became very apparent that Rocky is built for adventure and hiking, having walked many of the trails in the local area. Adventure called and the Highlands of Scotland summoned our souls to venture on the journey of a lifetime together. A 100-mile hike and wild camping from the lowlands of Scotland all the way to the Highlands. Lifetime memories were made and he smiled from start to finish.
The trail is famous for its many challenges, including multiple terrain, brutal weather and storms and a climb that totalled over 11,500 ft in elevation over the whole journey. He loved it and the trail was taken at Rocky’s pace. Some days he walked one mile, some days he walked ten. Wherever he stopped, we set up a wild camp.
Over the twelve days he played in every stream, swam in loch Lomond and spent his evenings around a wild campfire with a great feed. We climbed Conic Hill, scrambled the low road of Loch Lomond, climbed the world-famous Devil’s Staircase and faced the ruthlessness of Glencoe and Ranoch Moor under the stormy Scottish skies.
With every step we took our bond intensified and I could see a new level of peace restored. You could see past traumas healing as he gazed out at the most serene views and observed them for hours. It was such an emotional journey, and he soon learned that wherever we are in the world, his welfare and wellbeing will always be my top priority.
Rocky completed a journey that tens of thousands of people cannot complete due to its harsh challenges. He stole the heart of every hiker and made a huge impact on the trial with his happy and excitable persona. Learning new lessons on social skills and how to act accordingly around other dogs, especially ones who approach him off the lead.
All in all, we walked under thirteen rainbows, camped on famous battle sites and slept in magical forests filled with hundreds of owls. We walked through rainclouds in the mountains and strolled through weather inversions that made the whole experience seem spiritual as we reconnected with nature in a way like never before. We slept in a bothy with twelve international strangers, and he acted like a true gentleman, greeting everyone with his beautiful smile while respecting everyone’s space, while the open fireplace roared out with a beautiful heat that warmed us all. His snores hypnotising everyone and bringing us all to sleep early.
We set off on a wee adventure – but it turned out to be a soul-searching journey for us both. Every step of the way was journaled, and we took away a million and one memories that will last as long as the Highlands themselves.
We came together through heartache and together, in the mountains, we found happiness, peace and a love like no other.
Our next adventure will be a kayak and wild camp from the West to the East of Scotland, passing through Loch Ness and other amazing wilderness. For now, it’s time to rest his wee legs, feed his body and settle down for the autumn and winter with some good food and the odd trail or two to keep his fitness up.
Thank you to everyone from the PDWRA for bringing us together.
James & Rocky
by PDWRA | 20 Oct, 2026 | Rescue Stories
“Shall we do it?” Sitting on the sofa today with Ollie and Stan curled up next to us, it’s difficult to imagine how different our lives would be if we hadn’t said yes. But when we saw the boys on the PDWRA website, we both instantly knew they were the ones for us.
We’d been thinking about getting a dog for a while and knew we wanted to rescue. Becky’s family had rescued dogs, and the joy seeing them come out of their shell was something we wanted to give another dog. And we knew we wanted a pug, having fallen in love with the breed relatively recently. Pete’s sister has a 5-year-old black pug who lived with us for a few months during some building work. During that time, we learnt about the breed’s idiosyncrasies and fell in love. Even though we’d grown up with border collies and English bull terriers, for us it had to be a pug.
We followed the PDWRA Instagram page, and Pete’s sister would also share any pugs up for adoption. Then one night, we saw them… Ted and Henry were their aliases. As we read more about them, we couldn’t believe how amazing they sounded. And two of them, why not! After waiting to feel ready, we suddenly just knew.
“Shall we do it?” We both agreed it was a definite yes, so we filled out the form straight away, sent it over and hoped.
The next day we heard from Helen; throughout the entire process, she was always so responsive and helpful. The next few days we had everything crossed. The home check went well, we got to speak to Ollie and Stan’s fosterers and FaceTime with the boys. We were in love but always wanted to make sure we were the right home for them. When we heard that we’d been chosen, we were elated. We went into full-on preparation mode to get them the comfiest beds, buying their food, trying to not go overboard with toys!
It was a long drive to get the boys, so we met Rob, one of the fosterers, halfway. And so we set off as a two and came home as a four. We were very grateful Rob introduced us and they had different colour harnesses! We were a little worried we might get them mixed up once we took them off. Now when people say they can’t tell them apart, we can’t believe it!
Ollie and Stan are just the absolute best. They are sweet, funny, chilled out but also such characters. We really couldn’t imagine our lives without them. We are so fortunate that we’ve been given the opportunity to care for them. Ollie is definitely a snuggler who loves to curl up next to you in the mornings on the sofa and is always very excited for his food. Stan is our little Velcro dog who follows us around the house, he’s always happiest if he’s in the same room as one of us. He isn’t as excited about food but has a tendency for zoomies, and they both go a little bit bonkers after a bath!
Life with Ollie and Stan is just infinitely better. We definitely don’t get as much sleep as we did before, which is surprising considering how much they sleep! Everything now revolves around them. They’ve been at the very heart and centre of a lot of our decisions around our wedding – they were even involved in the proposal! They’ve taught us patience, they make us laugh, and they just bring us so much joy.
With the PDWRA everything was so clear. All the support subsequently after adopting them has also been amazing. Helen, Lorna and Rob provided lots of information to help us settle in the boys and were on hand to answer any questions. The Happy Pugs in Happy Homes Facebook group is also a really great resource if you’ve got a question about pugs.
We cannot thank the PDWRA enough for trusting us with these very special boys and we look forward to so many more years altogether as our new little family. We are so glad we did it, as they are the best thing to happen to us.
For anyone thinking of adopting a pug or thinking “shall we do it?” you’ll know when the time is right to say yes. We’re so happy we decided to say yes to Ollie and Stan and can’t picture our lives without them.
Pete & Becky
by PDWRA | 20 Oct, 2026 | News, Pug Health
As with most dogs, Pugs can be susceptible to a variety of health issues. Something that can be fairly common in older pugs is a gradual loss of mobility in their back legs. This is often caused by spinal conditions, where a contraction can affect the ability for the proper signals to get through.
Spinal surgery can sometimes help to improve this, although a good outcome is never guaranteed. The reality often tends to be that once a pug reaches a certain age, the stress and strain of putting them through such an invasive and risky operation is considered to be more than your pug might be able to cope with.
There’s no doubt that losing the ability to walk can be quite stressful and depressing for a pug, especially one that has been very active up to this point. Most love to be roaming about outdoors, exploring and sniffing everything is sight, so no longer being able to do this can have a big effect on them.
Being confronted with this new reality can be quite stressful for owners too. We all ultimately want the best for our pugs and seeing them become confused and immobile can be very hard to deal with. Thankfully, there is a solution that can work very well with most pugs – their very own wheels!
Pugs are generally very adaptable creatures, and although they might find it a little strange at first, most will quickly embrace the new-found freedom that being placed into wheels will give them. In no time at all they are usually whizzing around all over the place and enjoying a relatively normal life.
When you buy a set of wheels for your pug, they will usually consist of an adjustable frame so that you can select the right height and width, and a harness that your pug wears, which clips onto the frame to provide stability and support. These wheels can be relatively expensive, but they will enrich, and in most cases prolong, your pug’s life.
Places where you can find a variety of styles and colour combinations include Zoomadog and Wheels4dogs. There is also a company called Training Lines where you can often find second-hand wheels, which will be a cheaper option. Likewise, Ebay usually has a variety of options, although it’s important to be careful that you are buying the right size for your pug. For PDWRA supporters who are members of the Happy Pugs in Happy Homes Facebook group, you will often find people offering wheels that they no longer need, free to a good home.
For those dealing with financial hardship, we’re happy to say that there is a brilliant solution. There is a wonderful charity called Broken Biscuits, who can provide loaned wheels for those who can’t afford the expense of buying them. They say that their mission is to keep families together by providing the practical support, expert guidance and the compassionate community that disabled dogs and their owners need—from the point of crisis through rehabilitation and for every adventure that follows.
To find out more about how the Broken Biscuits works and the support that they can provide, just click here to visit their website.
If you’d like to find out more about spinal conditions in pugs, you can click here to read former PDWRA Vet Advisor Malcolm McKee’s insightful and informative article that’s on our website.
Links:
by PDWRA | 20 Oct, 2026 | Rescue Stories
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
by PDWRA | 19 Oct, 2026 | News
Thursday 15th October was that awesome day known as National Pug Day. Traditionally, it’s a day where we celebrate our beloved pug companions and everything Pug!
As with last year, we ran a special competition on our Facebook page asking people to share pictures of their lovely pugs. Last year we received around 2,500 beautiful images, which we thought was amazing. This year, however, we were overwhelmed to receive double that amount, with over 5,000 brilliant pictures!
As it was a competition, we needed to pick some winners, which was an almost impossible task as they were all so good. Originally, we said we’d pick ten, but we had to increase this to 12 as it was so hard to choose. The truth is that we could have chosen several hundred as winners, as the pictures were all so fantastic.
In the end, they are all winners though as every picture tells a story, and also highlights what wonderful lives the pugs in our community are living. It’s abundantly clear that everyone loves their pugs so much and it really warms our hearts to see that.
Below are the 12 lucky winners that we’ve chosen, each will receive a selection of gifts from the charity. For those that didn’t make the 12, we’ll be showcasing more of the entries on our Social Media platforms over the coming months, as they all deserve to be seen. We can’t wait to share them with you!
If you’d like to follow us on Facebook and have the chance to enter more of our competitions, just click the link to head over to our page!
Facebook/PDWRA
If you’d like to follow us on Instagram to see more of our brilliant entries, just click below…
Instagram/PDWRA
National Pug Day Winners
