360 pugs rescued since October, 2005
We feel so lucky to have been the selected family for our little Lila. We are so appreciative of the folks at Pugalug Rescue as well as the amazing foster parents who did a wonderful job preparing Lila for her transition in to our family.
Lila came home with us March 7th. She was our first rescue dog so we didn't really know what to expect with the transition but she settled in quickly and easily and without any issues. I'm home with her so she was definitely glued to me and I love the company. About a week after she came home it was March Break and the whole family was home, which was great timing as everyone got the opportunity to bond with her. After just a couple of weeks home she was comfortable enough to venture away from me to go check on her other family members. While on March Break we took a trip up to Barrie to introduce Lila to her new grandparents and while walking her around their neighborhood we struck up a conversation with someone else walking their pug. We told the story of how she came to be ours and the owner said his wife had been following Lila on the Pugalug web site and he was so happy to see she went to a happy home. It's such a small world!
I'm happy to report that the skin condition with which Lila arrived in foster care was resolved during her stay with her foster parents. We continue with the regimen of daily allergy medication and food and treats with limited ingredient lists and we avoid all of the usual allergy culprits. She doesn't have any itching or licking issues anymore and seems very healthy and comfortable.
Lila is exactly as her foster mom described her: athletic, friendly and affectionate. She is an absolute pleasure to walk, she loves the exercise and she's friendly to everyone she meets, human or dog, big or small. She's looking to make everyone her friend. She loves to walk around the neighborhood with her best friend Ella and say hi to all of our neighbours. Her favourite is going down to the ravine where she can roam free and hopefully find a friend to chase and steal a stick from. On cooler days my husband even takes her for runs and she can easily go 5 km.
We keep an eagle eye on her when it comes to food. She can jump like nobody's business and is quite sly so if you turn your back for a second consider that food gone! It ensures that my kids don't leave the table without clearing their plates, which is a good thing.
Our boys are so in love with her, they call her their Little Lila Bean or The Beaner and just about everything she does is met with a great big "awwww." She has a big vocabulary and expresses herself quite well. The boys' favourite is the little noise she makes when she yawns. Mine is her howl, which cracks me up every time. We are really thrilled with the way she behaves with the boys. She is very patient with their, at times, excessive displays of affection. My older son sets his alarm clock for 6:30 AM so he can be the one to feed her breakfast, which I think is about her favourite thing in the world.
Lila is a lovely young girl. Athletic, friendly and affectionate.
She had some licking and itching behaviours that appear to be related to allergies, possibly environmental, but this has stopped with Apoquel medication. Would need to be monitored.
Lila can be a bit of a bulldozer. For that reason a home with older children is recommended. Lila can also access tables and counters and will if the house is not dog proofed.
She has some minor resource guarding of toys and chewies, but this has reduced as she's settled in. Her guarding has all been towards the other dogs and not to humans. She has been fine with my three small dogs. Lila is a bit pushy with my female dog. We recommend a home with male dogs or a VERY low-key female. Lila is somewhat fearful and tentative with large dogs.
Lila has a wide range of vocalizations from the high-pitched squeal to a bark. A home where her noises won't be an issue is ideal.
Lila is EXTREMELY athletic and WILL jump onto counters and tables--and will leap back and forth from seat to seat in the car. She MUST be restrained in the car in some manner to avoid any of this. A home with some desire for agility skills would love this girl!
Lila has gained a number of manners while with us. I would strongly recommend taking a basic obedience class that is given by a skilled positive reinforcement trainer.
The original owner said that she had accidents in the house fairly regularly, but this has not been an issue here. She's been left for up to 5 hours, but would need a dog walker or someone to let her out mid-day in a 9 -- 5 working home.
Lila is a happy girl, who would enjoy a playmate, but doesn't appear to require one. She is a quick study and learns routines quickly.
Lila continues to be a delightful member of the four legged crew. We have put her on Apoquel in the hopes of curtailing her itching and it has been a huge success. We still don't know what she is allergic to--but it seems to not be food. Likely environmental, but we don't know what.
She and her foster brother are fast friends and she enjoys a good game of zoomies in the yard with him. She is very hesitant around big dogs and can be easily overwhelmed in a large group so she won't be a big fan of a dog park. Her leash manners are improving with practice.
We are still working on her barking and making some progress but she just does tend to be a vocal pug with opinions that she expresses with abandon.
She's now just under 24 lbs and should stay in that range.
Lila continues to be a lovely girl and has completely healed up from her spay and turned two on Dec. 16th. She has fit in with my three dogs very well and loves to play with my youngest dog who is only 8 or 9 months old.
She sleeps on the big bed with everyone else and there have been no issues other than she is a big girl and is hard to move over when she's asleep!
We continue to work on some basic obedience and she is a quick study. She has also shown herself to be pretty winter hardy, unlike many pugs--and happily goes outside even in the bitter cold.
Lila has now been spayed and recovering nicely. She is tolerating the cone of shame well and other than trying to keep her foster brother from using it as a tug toy, she's doing fine.
She has shown herself to be a quick study when it comes to learning the rules of the house and is now much less rude in her approach to humans. She is still inclined to get jumpy, but is definitely improving.
She enjoys sleeping in the big bed with everyone and is generally a sweet natured girl. She does seem to find the squeaky eggs EXTREMELY exciting and so far, has shown a marked tendency to guard them so we have taken the squeaky eggs out of play for the time being.
She and the Mutt Puppy continue to be best buddies and are a bit frustrated that she can't play full out until she is fully healed.
She will make someone an excellent companion.
Lila is an almost two year old fawn girl with enthusiasm to spare. She's structurally larger than many pugs in that she is long legged and long bodied. At 27 lbs, she could stand to lose a bit of weight, but is certainly not fat. She's is what is described as a "smutty fawn" as she has a lot of black flecking in her coat.
I've named her Lila after the Hindu Goddess of divine play...and she is a divine player.
She loves all people and greets everyone with a squealy bark and a lot of energy! She has fit in very well here and has made fast friends with the 7 month old mutt of the house. They play tug and chase and generally enjoy each others company.....for which the older dogs are thankful.
She will need to be spayed and may have some allergies, but overall appears to be in good shape otherwise. She needs some manners, but is a quick study and a lot of fun.
