We’ll never forget the day you came to us, this little nervous floofball!! Your new little brother and sister, Reggie and Lola, so eager to meet you. Within a few hours you were all sniffing your way around the garden and flipping pillows off the garden furniture! You’d chomp your jaws when your dinner wasn’t served quickly and instead of barking, you’d “abba jabbah”, which would crack everyone up. By this point we knew you were going to be a failed foster and be our cheeky little Bo-Bo.
You were the most loving, gentle boy who was just so happy all the time, either it being cuddles on the sofa or out on adventures. Especially so when out on adventures. You’d skip your way around the park, ears bouncing, taking in all the smells, double checking every sniff Reggie and Lola would do and not straying too far from us.
Then your little partner in crime was born and it was instant besties as soon as we brought Florence home. You watched over her when she slept, had all the patience and gentleness when Florence would cuddle you and shared the biggest smiles together, as well as toys!! Particularly the ball pit!
You gave so much heart and love to all of our family and friends and you always knew how to melt our hearts with that beautiful stare. Even though you only had the one eye, it glistened with love.
There’s not a single day we don’t miss you Bo-Bo, rest easy little man, we’ll love you forever, you are the definition of a good boy!!
I first started fostering dogs in a casual way, by taking in a friend of a friend’s dog when they had to have an extended hospital stay. At that time, we had two pug crosses – a mother-and-son duo called Ruby and Bear – both of whom had never been an “only” dog and, as a result, were not particularly phased by the appearance of a long-stay visiting pooch. My husband, Paul, and I found looking after our little foster friend so rewarding that, once we handed her back to her owner, we decided to seek out another opportunity to foster. As our dogs were pug crosses, we thought it would be a good idea to find a foster dog with a similar temperament, so we googled “foster a pug” and the PDWRA popped up on the screen. We applied straight away.
That was in 2023, and after a vetting phone call from Jackie, the VAC, and a virtual home check, the first pug that swaggered through our doors was a handsome brute called Teddy, who was then 10 years old. We quickly shortened his name to Ted to give him the gravitas his age and bearing demanded. We collected him on November 5th, which made for a challenging first night with fireworks going off all around, but after that initial hurdle he settled in well.
Teddy had found his way into care quite late in life. Having been a much-loved pet, his former family found that he couldn’t adapt to their very young children and, after a couple of incidents in which he showed possessive behaviour, the decision was made that he could no longer live with kids and had to be moved. Paul and I initially expected him to be very sad and pining for his family, but amazingly he settled in immediately and we got the feeling that he was relieved to be in a dog-centric environment rather than a child-focused one. He basically started to kick back and enjoy his retirement.
In fact, he settled in so completely that the discussion quickly turned to adoption. As always, there were pros and cons to be considered and, at the top of the cons list, was the fact that our older dog Ruby had started to become really bad-tempered – not just around Ted, although it did seem as though his introduction into the home had been the catalyst. This left us weighing up whether it would be fair to both dogs to make Ted’s stay permanent. Sadly, the decision was taken from us when Ruby unexpectedly died.
Jackie was brilliant and we asked if we could take just one more week to consider Ted’s future with us, as we needed to see how Bear losing his little mum, and then being alone with Ted instead, might alter the dynamic in the household. They settled down together very quickly and it actually really helped all of us to have Ted there to fill the void Ruby left behind. We knew from then on that Ted was in his forever home. I suspect Ted had decided that from more or less his first day – he just had to wait for the rest of us to realise it.
We were able to adopt Ted seamlessly. Being an approved fosterer meant that we had already been vetted and home-checked, so it was simply a matter of signing the forms, paying the adoption fee, and acknowledging that he was already home.
Since adopting Ted, we have gone on to foster many more PDWRA pugs, which, with difficulty, we have resisted adopting as well. It can be challenging at times, especially as Ted has his issues with being possessive over food and a tendency to get a bit John Wayne when he thinks the others are being undisciplined. We’ve found that divide and rule works best at mealtimes, along with making sure everyone has a quiet, safe space they can retreat to if things get too much — humans included!
I wholeheartedly recommend fostering and adopting through the PDWRA. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to help a little dog who may be abandoned or traumatised, to win their trust, and help them find love again. And sometimes, the love finds you too.
We lost our Pug cross Bubba in November 2024, he had been by my side for almost 13 years. After losing Bubba we missed having a dog so much and the flat felt so empty, so we decided that we were going to look into fostering, as weren’t ready to be full time dog parents again just yet.
I found the PDWRA online, read some of the lovely stories, and it sounded perfect for us. Shortly after contacting PDWRA and having our Home Check, just 4 days before Christmas 2024 we were asked to foster 2 bonded pug sisters. Wow, they were fun! We only had them for a few weeks, then off to their new homes they went.
Fast forward a couple more weeks of no pug in the house and I saw the Facebook post about Pat! I didn’t mention it to my partner Keiran at first as we said we weren’t ready to adopt, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him. After sleeping on it I said to my partner “have you seen the PDWRA posts recently?” Straight away he said “you mean PAT?”, and we both knew he just had to come live with us. We loved the idea of having older dogs that could have a nice retirement with us. So that Saturday I contacted Dee and she put us in touch with Jane to have a chat about Pat.
Everything Jane said about Pat reminded us of our Bubba and his funny little ways. We then had a call with his wonderful fosterer and again everything we were told about him, such as that he needs to be in your circle of trust, made us want him even more. One week later (Feb 2025) and Pat is on his way from Cornwall to Nottingham. My partner Keiran then met one of the volunteers at Coventry to bring him home.
Pat fitted in with us straight away, he’s so chilled but for the first few days we just let him come to us and do whatever he liked. On the first night he straightaway decided that he was going to sleep in our bed with us and over a year later, that’s where he still sleeps.
Pat loves living in our flat, he has a big garden that he likes to go on adventures in, mainly climbing up things he shouldn’t! We knew when we got Pat that he had hip dysplasia and he required daily meds, but that doesn’t stop him on his garden adventures, he loves chasing anything in the sky day or night, his favourites include planes, helicopters and magpies!
Due to Pats hips, he only needs a little trot to our local park (about 30 steps from our flat), and he loves going with my partner Keiran to have some off-lead time. He’s a greedy pug, but since having him he now takes a treat very nicely. He still eats his food in 3 seconds though!
We thought Pat would be quite an independent Pug but he is completely my partner Keiran’s shadow. They spend all day together as he works from home and they have an absolutely incredible bond that started from day 1. After week one of having Pat, he let Keiran pick him up for cuddles, which is now a multiple daily event.
Pat only really barked at the sky and passing vans for the first few months of having him. He never really made any other noises (just a little snore), until one day I was trying to teach him to give me his paw, and when I went to reach out he started making a funny noise, not a growling noise, just a weird noise! We were laughing at him so much that he continued. He now loves a daily chat with us, you might have seen his video on the Happy Pugs in Happy Homes Facebook Group. He genuinely enjoys it, we can tell when he wants to do it as he will bring us his teddy to play with, then he wants you to wind him up with it so that he starts howling and talking (he definitely says no)!
Since having Pat in our lives, we now don’t know what we would do without him. He is the source of so many laughs and also gives the best cuddles. He is spoilt rotten, has 3 beds (we only have a 2-bedroom flat!) and he only sleeps in those during the day.
We feel incredibly lucky that the PDWRA let us have Pat in our lives. We went into having Pat with no expectations at all as we just wanted him to have a nice, chilled retirement home, however, we’ve ended up with a dream of a dog that we are so lucky to have in our lives.
I’m Buster and I’ve just turned 3 years old. I’m what’s known as a Frug – a Pug/Frenchie X.
My foster mum tells me that I’m the best of both breeds – I’m friendly, funny, affectionate and charming like a pug and strong, confident, full of energy and a little bolshie like a Frenchie.
I’m also single-coated so I’m easy to groom and don’t shed anywhere near as much as a full pug!
My foster mum says that I have additional needs, but I don’t care about that as all I want to do is give kisses to everyone, play and live my best life with my doggy friends.
Apparently, I have something called IVDD (Intervertebral Disc Disease), which is a spinal condition that sometimes causes the discs in my back to slip out of place.
The lady from the charity says that my IVDD is a pre-existing condition and any expenses for meds or treatment (approved in advance) will be covered by them.
I’ve had a couple of flare ups where I was a poorly boy and couldn’t use my back legs at all and I had to wear a nappy like a baby.
I’m feeling much better now though and I can walk and run around the garden and I don’t wee or poop indoors anymore. My foster mum says I’m completely housetrained apart from when I eat my dinner, get excited or get picked up. I just can’t help leaking a little wee and so sometimes I wear a belly band and everything stays lovely and clean.
My foster mum says that most of my progress has come from having weekly hydrotherapy sessions that the lovely charity has paid for and daily physiotherapy sessions that my mum does with me at home. The physiotherapy will need to be continued in my new forever home so my legs don’t get bad again.
Everyone says I’m a really good, brave boy as I could only walk 55 metres on the underwater treadmill at first but now I can manage 127 metres!
I’m described as a big playful, bouncy bundle of happiness as I love EVERYONE. Men, women, children, babies – they ALL need kisses from me. I love attention, fuss and cuddles.
I love other dogs and I get over excited and want to say hello to every single dog I meet whilst out on my walks.
I’d love to have a forever home with at least one young playful doggy brother or sister so I can have lots of fun with them (but not too rough) and sleep with them.
I love to play with my toys and will be coming to my forever home with my emotional support squeaky reindeer.
I’m great with cats but may intimidate shy ones if they’re not used to my bolshie nature.
Even though I might look and act like a big strong, happy, energetic boy at the moment, my forever family must remember that my poorly spine will always be vulnerable. My back legs sometimes slide out from under me when I turn corners. I love to run around in the garden and I love my walks (no more than an hour at a time and always wearing my Pawz rubber booties if on hard pavements) but I can’t be let off lead in case I hurt myself chasing and playing with other dogs.
If you think you could love me and give me the perfect home I deserve, please reply to Lisa, the lady looking after my welfare.
With love from Buster
If you have any questions you would like to ask about Buster please contact Lisa:
If you think you could give the lovely Buster his perfect forever home, please Apply to Adopt here:
Volunteers’ Week is a time for us to show our immense appreciation to everybody that gives their valuable time for the cause of rescuing pugs in need. We couldn’t rescue and rehome the hundreds of pugs that we do each year without our incredible volunteers, we’re immensely grateful to each and every one of them. Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers, you are all amazing!
As a token of appreciation for everyone that does such incredible work behind the scenes, helping the PDWRA to rescue and rehome pugs that are in need of our help, we put together a tribute video that tells some of their wonderful stories.
Featured in our video are:
Jackie – one of our most experienced Volunteer Area Coordinators
Helen – who fosters pugs in need of a short-term home as well as getting involved with transporting
Tris – who has fostered for many years and also helps out with transporting and home checking
Shirley – who raises money for the charity by doing beautiful drawings of people’s pets
Lynn – who fundraises by managing stands at steam rallies selling soft toys, as well as antiques. She also puts on and manages an annual pantomime!
Caroline – who does home checking and has also fostered in the past
If you’d like to find out more about the brilliant work that our volunteers do for the charity, just click the video image below to watch the video on our YouTube channel…
