In January 2024 we had to say goodbye to our beautiful elderly pug, Jack. I was heartbroken and missed him so much. We had been through so much together during his lifetime and it was hard to think of life without him.
After a couple of months or so, I started to have a tentative look for any pugs that might be in need a new home. I desperately missed Jack, and although it was difficult to imagine getting another dog, I knew I wanted another dog in my life. Whilst I love all dogs, I have a special soft spot for pugs, so I started to keep an eye on any needing new homes. I saw several, but none that felt quite right for us.
Then I saw a post about Stitch pop up in the PDWRA Facebook page and I knew instantly that he was the one! As soon as I saw his adorable, cheeky face and read about him I fell in love and knew we could give him what he needed. I contacted PDWRA immediately to say that we were interested and filled out an adoption application. After chatting with Stitch’s foster mum and passing the home check, we were delighted to be told that we could adopt Stitch!
He settled in very quickly and on the first night was more than happy to settle down in his bed in the kitchen for the night. The next day I took him for a walk over the fields around our village and found out very quickly that he very much enjoys rolling in stinky mud!
Over the next weeks and months, we enjoyed getting to know Stitch more and more. He is a delightful, chilled boy who loves walks, loves to play and learn but equally is happy to spend time relaxing at home having belly rubs.
Stitch can be reactive with some dogs when we are on walks, particularly when he is on the lead, so this is something that we have worked on with the help of a lovely local dog trainer. He enjoys meeting small dogs when we are out and about but tends to need space when he sees bigger dogs. Consistent training with this issue has resulted in him getting a lot less stressed about other dogs though and I am so proud of how far he has come over the last year.
He has also been going to a socialisation group once a week that is run by our dog trainer and has made brilliant progress with this as well. He was initially a little grumpy with the other dogs in the group (who all happen to be labradors) and would tell them off at the start of the session and then ignore them for the rest of it. But he has now reached the point where after a few weeks off from the group recently he was happy and excited to see his labradors friends again, which is such a massive difference!
Stitch really has made the best little companion. I work from home and he is such an easy-going little pug to have by my side. We have a lovely walk through the village and across the fields in the morning. We do the same in the afternoon and pop out at lunchtime. I try to incorporate little bits if training into our walks and Stitch loves foraging for treats.
We’re around 45 minutes from the coast, so we try to take him there regularly for a run on the beach and a walk along the coastal paths.
We’ve had several holidays away with family since we got Stitch and he’s loved it because he loves going for walks and exploring new places. In June this year we had a week in Cornwall and Stitch loved exploring the beaches and rock pools. We did plenty of coast walks and Stitch managed a 6-mile hike one day! He certainly slept well that night!
We have noticed that everyone who meets Stitch quickly becomes very taken with him (and they always love his white paw!) and I’ve had several people tell me they could quite happily take him home!
We now can’t imagine life without our lovely Stitchy! We absolutely adore him and it’s been such a pleasure to see how he has settled in with us over the last year.
I am so glad that we were there to offer him the fresh start that he needed.
