by Yasmin | 12 Feb, 2025 | Blog, News, Rescue Stories
My name is Lizzie, & I have been happily ‘entangled’ to Terry (known as Terry-Two-Pugs by other dog walkers) for 33 years, 16 years married. For 30 of those years we have had a rescue dog in our lives, of all ages, sizes and breeds.
I first fell in love with the pug breed after seeing Ethel’s pug, Little Willie on Eastenders!
We had an elderly Stafffie, Murdoch, before our venture into the wonderful world of Pugs, he was 12 when he came into our lives and had a fun-packed 2 years before he crossed the bridge in early 2022.
I did some research before I started the search on the WWW for a dedicated UK Pug Rescue. Even though I was searching in my county of Lancashire I dropped onto the East Midlands PDWRA Facebook site.
I downloaded the adoption form and we completed it the same evening. Not expecting an immediate response I was surprised to receive a phone call the following day, to discuss Bella and Gracie, who were in foster with Laura and her family as a consequence of COVID.
A photo was sent to us and I was surprised at the lovely colour of Gracie’s coat, as we were expecting a pure white coat and not the scrumptious jersey cream honey colour that she is, and of course the little black shiny pug that was Bella.
Like all our previous rescues, we went with our instincts and our hearts. A remote home check via WhatsApp was arranged for 2 days time, we had our fingers and toes crossed that we would be approved as we were already emotionally invested in them.
After a successful home check, interview and all the relevant admin, we were on our way to meet our little grumble of two from their foster home, Southwards on the M6.
We got back just after teatime, after a peaceful journey home, and they’d slept and snored for the whole journey home.
Bella, a little black pug of 3 years old, and Gracie, a larger white pug, 4 years old, hopped out of the car and strolled nonchalantly through the front door and immediately hopped up onto my chair, claiming it as their own. We’ve learned to share it now, usually with me sitting and them both in a heap on my knee or sleeping snugly at my side.
Sitting in front of the fire and the TV with 2 sleeping Pugs, after they had inspected their new and forever home, knowing where they could pee and poo and play safely in our large enclosed quiet rear garden, where their food and water was and where the cosy doggie beds were situated around the house, we were finally together, 6 days after the initial submission of the adoption form! Now we, our family of 4, had all of their lives of love, laughter and fun wrapped up in caring and nurturing our little pug ladies. Terry was now outnumbered 3 to one.
Bella is a lot in a little dog. She is very vocal when barking, but she also chatters to us very softly. She is very confident with people and other dogs without being aggressive, but she has also mellowed beautifully. She loves sitting on her Mama’s lap watching TV and is a proper Star Trek fan. She is as bright as a button and has her Daddy at her beck and call. Gracie, is a completely different personality to Bella. Gentle, cuddly and a ‘licker’, she is grooming Bella regularly and she would ‘groom’ us too given half a chance.
They both love riding in the car and walks. Their first holiday was in March 2023 to the North West of Scotland in a converted bothy, all cosy and warm. They were fab on the 14-hour journey with hourly stops, and 2-days later we woke to a foot of snow which they both found fun, jumping into drifts and running through the snow. Since that first holiday more have followed, either late Spring or early Autumn and generally there are beaches and countryside involved, as well as plenty of dog-friendly eateries and pubs. If the Pugs are not allowed then we don’t go, as we are a tight fit group of 4 and honorary members of their grumble.
When we’re at home they are either lounging/sleeping on the furniture or their ‘hoomans’, or sitting in our large picture window on ‘paw-patrol’. Well known by locals passing and the small children love them. We can honestly say that we are all a perfect fit.
Anyone considering adopting a pug should be aware that they are extraordinary animals. They take their role of ‘companion dog’ seriously, don’t respect the personal space of others and it’s endearing.
The snoring is LOUD! The fur they shed is endless and is known as ‘pug-glitter’ in our house as it gets everywhere. They are extremely loving and affectionate, with gigantic personalities.
We have so much gratitude for the PDWRA. The match between us and our puggie-ladies is perfect. The adoption process was seamless. Laura, their fosterer, and her family did a great job of caring for them and the information passed to us was invaluable in the early days. Gracie was overweight and on a diet when we collected them and with written instructions, we were able to reach her target weight. Both Gracie and Bella have maintained their optimum weight ever since. They are both food-orientated, so lead training was a piece of cake, but they are pretty good at begging when cake is involved. They love their walks and are very well behaved when off the lead in a safe place. They are very sociable with both dogs and people. Bella is a bit more vocal but settles well within a short time.
We love both of them as much as our own children and grandchildren, who love Bella and Gracie equally. I must admit, the majority of my photos on my phone are Bella and Gracie, as they are both so yummy and photogenic. They regularly feature in the PDWRA Adopters Facebook group as well as my personal feed. We are hoping for many happy years together of walks, beaches, holidays and days out puggie-style, wrapped up in love and laughter!
For more stories like Bella & Gracie’s please see:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/category/rescue-stories/
If you are interested in adopting a pug, please go to:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/adopting-a-pug/
by Yasmin | 7 Feb, 2025 | Pug Home Appeal, Blog, News, Rescue Stories
👏 ** GREAT NEWS UPDATE: Over the weekend, Pat has found his NEW HOME! ** 👏
ORIGINAL APPEAL INFO:
8 year old, black male pug Pat, is looking for his specific and special adoptive home.
Please read his criteria:
- Pat would be best suited in a quieter home. Although he is happy to accept visitors if they give him a treat and don’t try to pick him up or fuss over him.
He’s happy to sit in another room during busier and louder times, and watch through a door gate.
- He likes to go visiting and is perfectly behaved in other people’s houses, again as long as they leave him be and don’t touch him.
He will come for a gentle fuss if he deems you worthy though he focuses his trust on his main care giver, and prefers calm, steady men or potentially women.
- Pat could live with older ‘hands off’ teenagers, although once in the circle of trust, he will accept affection more readily.
He would like to live with another dog, and is happy to be lower down in the pecking order.
- Pat is a typically greedy pug, and does snatch a bit for treats when taking them.
- He loves to visit a pub or café and will take a treat from strangers, but again doesn’t like to be over fussed.
- He is excellent off-lead and has a reliable recall.
- Pat will bark at planes/helicopters passing over but doesn’t bark at the television. He will bark at a window if allowed, and can follow a firm verbal correction to “Stop!”.
He may bark if an unknown dog gets in his face though.
- Pat doesn’t need a great deal of exercise in the form of long walks due to hip problems, but he enjoys pottering and going out and about where he likes to observe his surroundings. He does take daily anti-inflammatories for his hips.
Though he will still try to take the opportunity to climb on a table if possible!
- Pat is biddable and can follow instruction. He understands the word “No!” and is not combative unless he thinks he’s going to the vet or having some medical intervention. He will not tolerate being picked up by a person who is not in his circle of trust.
- Cleaning of ears, folds etc. can be managed only after building a relationship with Pat. This may take some time.
- Pat does travel nicely in the car, in a crate or with a seatbelt.
Do you believe you could offer this charming boy his quite specific, and special Forever Home?
If you could, please apply for him referencing Pat 22026 at: https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/adopting-a-pug/
If you have any specific questions regarding Pat, or to alert Jane, his Rehoming Coordinator of your application, please email: sw@nullpugwelfare-rescue.org.uk
Thank you!
You can also see the difference adoption can make, from a small selection of our Rescue & Adoption Stories at:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/category/rescue-stories/
by Yasmin | 25 Jan, 2025 | Pug Home Appeal, Blog, News, Rescue Stories
👏 ** FANTASTIC NEWS UPDATE: Rocky is rocking in his NEW HOME! ** 👏
Rocky rocks in his New Forever Home! | The Pug Dog Welfare & Rescue Association
**********
ORIGINAL APPEAL:
Meet Rocky! He’s a very affectionate and sensitive 6 year old boy.
He has been neutered and has no health issues apart from having a sensitive stomach.
What he does need help with in his Forever-Home, will be behavioural issues, sadly due to not being socialised very well in his past life.
This has made Rocky a very reactive boy, triggered by many things.
It also makes him food aggressive so may nip if startled, therefore he needs to be in an adult-only home, well-supervised if there is another non-reactive canine companion.
He is currently living with another dog in foster though Rocky is very dominant so there is the likelihood it could cause issues with a similar type of dog or a cat.
Rocky having some relaxation time!
Being an only-dog may be the simplest solution but not necessarily the only one if you believe you could invest the extra attention he would need to adjust and feel more secure over time.
Rocky is also petrified of the vet. It’s fear aggression, which our fosterer has been working on, but now he really needs to settle into a dog-experienced, calm & quiet forever home, ideally in the country where he doesn’t have to worry about busy traffic or passing lots of people on walks as he barks a lot in this environment.
Could you, or someone you know, offer Rocky his special Forever home?
If so, please apply referencing Rocky 24226.
If you have any specific questions regarding Rocky,
please email Lisa at: east@nullpugwelfare-rescue.org.uk
As for other pugs like Rocky, we may not always have the right homes registered with us at the time they really need one. This can apply to all ages of pug, from youthful to Golden-Oldies or inseparable Bonded-Pairs, each with unique needs to be catered for.
You can specify your preference on your application or no preference at all, which may mean finding a match sooner as we receive all ages naturally, with varying welfare needs to find homes for.
Please see further details with all the joy that pugs bring, on these webpages:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/adopting-a-pug/
Mature 7years & over:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/golden-oldies/
Bonded, inseparable pairs:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/perfect-pairs/
Do take a look at just a small sample of happy, successful Rescue & Adoption Stories at:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/category/rescue-stories/
Thank you.
by Yasmin | 25 Jan, 2025 | Blog, Rescue Stories, In Memoriam
By Katie, who fostered Suri when she was 10 years-old, since the summer of 2022 :
Suri lives with our original pug Ruby, and often visited by my sister’s fawn pug.
Our darling long term foster Suri died at the end of last year.
She was tiny but magnificent: funny, spirited, strong-willed and so, so loving.
In her last year she became fully disabled and used wheels, or was carried by us.
Eventually her body failed her, but her mind was strong.
We will miss her so much. RIP Suri.
Suri had a number of medical issues when she arrived but as the vet said, “no one told her that!”. She was just the sweetest little (4.5kg!) seal pup teddy bear girl.
I was in denial at the time that we’d accepted another dog into our lives in Ruby’s old age but I thought after some hardships in her life Suri deserved it, as well as some photos on this PDWRA Memorial page! X
Thank you to our PDWRA rehomers, Jackie and Paula for entrusting her to us for her final years.
******
To pay tribute to your sadly lost and beloved PDWRA pug on our dedicated In Memoriam web page:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/category/in-memoriam/
please email your story, or whatever you would like to say about them, with photos,
to: yasmin.t.pdwra@nullgmail.com
by Yasmin | 17 Jan, 2025 | Blog, News, Rescue Stories
Alison and John have rehomed 3 pugs including PDWRA adoptee Winston, who joined the family a year ago. Apparently, Winston thinks he’s the boss but really he’s at the bottom of the pack, being a sort of joker!
While not initially looking for another pug, they came across Winston’s story of being quite a feisty pug who wasn’t easily finding a new home so decided to apply for him!
Alison believes that they were chosen by fate! They definitely had the space, support and big hearts to train him and give him the restart to life he needed and knew that he could learn how to be a proper dog in their family and be lead by his new brothers.
Here’s Alison’s interview:
My husband John and I are the parents of Winston, we have rehomed 3 pugs Winston being a PDWRA adoption and we also have Marley & Bruno. I think a suitable title for the story would be Winston and the Barkers. He thinks he’s the boss but really he’s the bottom of the pack being a sort of joker.
- How did you first hear about the PDWRA?
10 years ago we bumped into a member of PDWRA walking their pugs and John has known her from a young age living in the same village, of course we spoke about her grumble and the PDWRA. This led us onto following the socials, reading about the stories and the great network of caring volunteers for the pugs in need out there.
- How did you come to make the decision to adopt through the PDWRA?
Only by chance to be honest as well as already being followers of the PDWRA on Instagram and Facebook. We fully noted how much love and support was in this organisation and we trusted them. We are very caring for dogs, to have space in our lives and support from our parents who love dogs too.
We are also very fortunate that we can bring our pugs with us to work and everyone cares dearly for them. The very start of our love for pugs was when we had our dear George who sadly passed away with cancer aged 6, with the knowledge of his health declining we rehomed Marley. When the time came and George left us we had a very sad Marley and it was too hard to bear therefore we rehomed Bruno for company.
Without knowing, John’s sister was talking to her neighbour (the member of PDWRA) and they came on to the subject of Winston who needed a home and had not been successful in his adoption so far. Being a feisty puppy, he needed a suitable forever home and I believe we had been chosen by fate! We definitely had the space, support and big hearts to train him and give him the restart to life. Winston needed to learn how to be a proper dog and be lead by his brothers.
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- What made you decide to adopt?
We weren’t initially looking to take on another but hearing his story and knowing he needed to be shown the ropes, we knew we could take him on. We really feel the family that originally owned him thought he’d be a sweet, cute little puppy but he’s quite the opposite! We have a suitable home with a big garden, and we can give them human presence 24/7 taking our pugs to work where they can run in the yard, snooze in the office, or get fussed by the team. Winston is similar age to Bruno so they hit it off straight away playing and snuggling.
- Can you tell us a little bit about Winston?
So funny, cleaver and very naughty, always up to some sort of mischief. Picked up basic commands within a few months of adoption following his brothers settling in easily. He will pull all the stuffing out of the bed, run off with crocs, steals pencils, chewing them to pieces, barks at anything with 4 legs, always wants what the other two have, extremely noisy with tug of war and will play fight all the time. When it’s time for bed he is very sweet though being very cuddly and super soft and first thing in the morning he dances about in joy patting you off the end of the bed in flirty manner. He did have a fear of bridges on walks so much so he would avoid them and go the other way but recent times has succeeded this fear.
- How did you find the adoption process?
Relatively straight forward. We followed the process and answered all the question etc. It helped that we had been involved with dogs our wholes lives and understood the importance of giving them a safe & secure forever home.We also had a huge experience with the sad decline of George and he also very nearly had an ulcer on his eye through a scratch but with intensive round the clock care we managed to save his eye, so have learnt how to be better prepared in the future if needed
- Anything you think prospective adoptive or foster parents should know?
Be open minded and not all pugs are cuddly and calm. Our Marley and Bruno are very sweet but Winston is like a bull in a China shop. They are a grumble but they are extremely different characters.
Time – pugs are social and need constant company.There’s a fact out there that some dogs spend a huge part of their lives waiting for their owners to come home which is totally unfair, they only want to be in your company and only live about 12-16 summers so spend time with them. They love you unconditionally.
- What has life been like since adopting Winston?
Brings a lot of noise and personality. Not just him, also family, friends and co-workers laughing at him or telling him off. He has put his stamp on our hearts and we all love watching and playing with him. He can be completely crazy and then someone will pick him up and he with go dead calm, its uncanny.
We’re very grateful to have Winston and he’s living his best life!
Lots of Love,
The Barkers.
If you would like to adopt a pug like Winston, please go to:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/adopting-a-pug/
For more joyful stories like his, please see our rescue stories at:
https://pugwelfare-rescue.org.uk/category/rescue-stories/
