Saturday, we had Martine’s first birthday party! We got her a Cupcake Cake from The Kupcake Factory. We had to pick a theme for the cake, so what do you think we picked?
A Pug, of course!
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We’ve faced the problem of what to do with the pugs while we’re gone for some time now. For a while, we had been resistant to the idea of crating them for two reasons: Because we think they like being uncrated better, AND because having crates in the room just creates another “territorial” object for them to pee on.
I think we’ve finally settled the problem in favor of crating them unless we’re going to be gone for an extended period of time. We came to this decision because we finally became exhausted with cleaning up after them (we kept them in the kitchen, and they would mark certain spots in the kitchen nearly every time we left the house) and because we came upon some really nice crates.
These crates are plastic, so they can be cleaned easily. That solves the problem of the crate becoming the marked-object. Just hose it off! (though we have not had to do that). The second problem is the “we don’t like to be crated” problem, and it has not been a problem for us. Every time we put them in there, they get a treat. So now, they know exactly what to do. They excitedly run into the crates, and they munch away as I lock them in. So, there’s not really a problem going INTO the crates. When I get home, however, they’re very eager to get out. I figure that’s because they want to see me and not necessarily because they don’t like being inside the crate.
As a side note, these crates can be folded up compactly and stored very easily. This makes them GREAT for traveling.
They were Tricia’s parents’ crates, so I don’t know where they got them. However, there is a product page for them on Amazon, but they’re not currently selling them. So I have no idea where to get them, but the one in the Amazon link is the same one as the one we have.
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I little while back, I asked what your most common pug problems were. I took those problems to Chet from The Dog Training Secret, and he responded, giving us a few tips for house training. Disclaimer: The Dog Training Secret is an Urban Pug sponsor.
Anyway, here’s what he has to say:
“Here are 3 quick Pug house training tips to have your pug stop peeing all over your home.
The first thing you need to understand about house training pugs is what’s actually going on inside your pug that’s causing the behavior. And then how to use a training & management program that quickly puts all those things back in check.
Here’s the most common reasons Pugs aren’t house trained yet:
1. Your Pug Isn’t Neutered – About 60% of Pug house training problems can be fixed by neutering your pug early in life, around 6-9 months. The older you let your pug get, the less likely neutering will help your problem.
2. Your Pug Has Too Much Unsupervised Access To Your Entire House – Most pugs won’t pee in their OWN territory, like their home. And it’s hard for pugs who are given access to your whole house early on, to ever realize it’s all theirs and they don’t need to mark it. Most successful pug house training routines first start by leaving unsupervised pugs in a crate, which they won’t eliminate in.
When your pug stays in his crate without peeing, then switch to putting him into a slightly larger area of your home that he seems to NEVER pee in. And continue to gradually enlarge the area of your pug’s environment until he stops marking in it. If he starts marking when you give him more space, you’re giving him too much space too quickly.
If you’d like a more detailed step-by-step action plan of how to do this with your pug, you can access a 60 minute step-by-step interview on how to do this inside my Hands Off Dog Training Program.
3. Your pug Doesn’t See YOU as a Leader of your Home – Most pugs who mark up their owners homes do so because of a dominance issue. And when you fix the dominance issue, the problem goes away. And you do NOT do this by YELLING, hitting, or punishing your pug.
Your pug learns to respect you as its leader in subtle ways. I recently did an interview with a Dominance expert on 15 subtle things dog owners accidently do to tell their dog’s they aren’t in control of their home. And I was shocked when he told me how things like letting your dog sleep in your bed at night, letting your dog walk through doors before you, and letting your dog bark when strangers come to the door, if allowed, are ways you’re telling your dog he’s the boss and not you.
And if you use training to regain control over your pug, the house training can go MUCH faster.
If you’ll follow these three guidelines, and also make sure you clean up any of your pug’s accidents with a cleanser specifically designed to eliminate pet urine odor, and NOT a normal household cleaning product, your pug’s house training will be MUCH more successful.
Hope this helps,
Chet Womach
TheDogTrainingSecret.com
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. They work great!
are great for cleaning up messes, and are reusable.
Does your pug do this? Ours are always finding a way to rest their chins on whatever they can!!
I took the first few pictures of Gadget while I was taking close-ups of him.
But, then Gizmo jumped up onto the chair I was using to study, and he rested his chin on the table. So, I had to get pictures of THAT too…
But, then, Gadget walked over to where I was taking pictures of GIZMO, and I got the last one of them both sitting on and under the same chair, both resting their chins.
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Tricia noticed that the close-ups did not include any pictures of Gadget. So, I took some closeups of him. Here’s the best one. He’s cute!
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Happy New Year from Urban Pug. One of these pictures is of Oopsy dressed in her “Chrismas Elf” costume on Chrismas Day. The other two are really close-up shots of Gizmo and Oopsy I took with the new lens I got for my camera. It’s a Canon 100mm F/2.8 Macro Lens. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth it.
Speaking of New Year’s, our pug-related resolution is to be better about walking the pugs. Sometimes, we get lazy and let them go out in the yard instead of walking them. We’d like to make sure they get real walks every day.
What’s your resolution?
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This is a video I recently found of OOPSY as a puppy. So cute! Who knew she would be with us 3 years later?
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You can find more pug videos at Urban Pug Tv
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We live in New Orleans. Not to say that New Orleans is hell, but when it snows here, well, it’s about as likely as hell freezing over. Oopsy didn’t want to go outside, but she did go out later, and I snapped a few pictures.
Notice how Gizmo sees the snow, and runs back inside, into Oopsy’s crate. Poor Gizmo! (but, you still have to go out to do your business)
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Oopsy is back, and we’re happy to have her here. Her surgery went well, but unfortunately, she needs to go back to the vet to have a few teeth pulled and have her other teeth cleaned up.
These pictures are of Oopsy relaxing in bed after coming home, wearing one of Martine’s winter hats.
Oh yeah, don’t forget – if you’re still shopping for christmas presents, you can get all sorts of stuff from the Urban Pug Store, or you can visit our advertisers, Barkslope, Funny Fur (use coupon code UPUGHOL20 at checkout for 20% off), and PugSpeak. You can also get cool stuff from the Dogs of War.
Happy Holidays!
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We recently got a webcam for our computer so Tricia’s parents can do video chat to see Martine, since they live in South Carolina. However, Oopsy is in on the chatting too, talking to her mother, Ipsy (and Tricia’s mother). Actually, Oopsy’s not all that into chatting on the webcam, but Martine is. She can recognize faces and hands on the screen, and sometimes she will even wave to the person on the other side, which is really cute!
Also, Oopsy’s at the vet today! She’s getting spayed right now so we make sure we don’t have a little Oopsigadg or a Gizmoops running around.
We miss you Oops! Get healed soon so you can come back home and run around and nibble our fingers and get in our faces again.
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Jin from FunnyFur wanted to let me know that he’s running a special for Urban Pug readers. If you use the code “UPUGHOL20” at checkout, you can get 20% off, sitewide. The coupon is valid for until December 31, 2008.
To visit FunnyFur, click the FunnyFur ad over on the right column.
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Meet Martine’s new Pug! We found this stuffed pug at Target, and we had to get it for her. Actually, at first, both Oopsy and Martine were scared of it, each in their own different way. It didn’t take Oops that long to realize that there was nothing to be afraid of, but it took Martine a few days. Eventually she figured it out, and now she LOVES it. I am pretty sure she realizes it is not just any stuffed animal, but a PUG.
Tricia named the stuffed Pug after our favorite household gadget. She named the stuffed pug TIVO.
I’m sure we’ll accumulate lots of stuffed pugs, and I’m sure they’ll all get named. She’s going to have a very pug-filled childhood…
Also, now that Martine is crawling around more, she can do what amounts to one of the cutest things possible. She crawls over to her pug brothers and hugs them! This is very fleeting, and both Pug and Baby are moving quickly in poor indoor lighting, which makes it very difficult to photograph. I think this one is one of the best.
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I just found out about this movie via LJCFYI, and I love that there is a Pug in the movie. His character’s name is Frick. Gizmo is jealous! He wants to act!
It’s called Hotel for Dogs, and their website has lots of fun stuff to download — screen savers, backgrounds, aim icons, email signatures, etc. Check it out.
Hotel for Dogs - Frick the Pug
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