360 pugs rescued since October, 2005
Oscar is all settled in after adopting his two new humans. We absolutely love having him around. He is the perfect addition to our home.
Oscar has made himself right at home! He has found his favorite spots, especially under a fort of pillows he has made for himself where he goes when he needs a nap. He is energetic, loving and so much fun to have around. He greets us every time we return home with tons of kisses and then promptly drops his toys next to us for some play.
Oscar is enjoying his daily adventures around town, especially to a little spot we named "Oscar's run" where we go to do Oscar's absolute favorite activity - play fetch! He is still nervous around other dogs so we have been keeping a comfortable distance and so far there have not been any issues. We will be booking some sessions with a trainer to continue to help Oscar to feel less anxious.
Oscar has joined one of his humans at work on a few occasions and has also made himself quite at home there. He likes to nap on the desk, keep an eye on the neighborhood happenings from his window, and most importantly take breaks to play with his ball. After a long day of play, walks and fetch, Oscar is happy to curl up with his humans for a cuddle, and we could not be happier to oblige.
Oskar is a very loving dog. He will look to you regularly for assurance and guidance. Oskar developed a fear of being close to other dogs. He integrated well with my 2 resident pugs. Oskar understood we were all family and followed what was expected of him.
When out in the park or on the street, he would display his anxiety when seeing another dog with a high pitched squeal and alert, defensive posture. I have been working with Oskar, in consultation with a behaviour consultant over the past 2 months. I have used positive training to help him to be more comfortable when he sees another dog.
Previously, he associated seeing another dog with negativity and the possibility of being attacked. I have been working to associate seeing another dog with getting a treat, so it becomes a positive experience. He has made great progress.
The adopter will have to understand this and continue with the training. Oskar really wants to do what you ask him. For example, he quickly learned the "down" command. I had him do down in the park, right beside the playground. He was not at all distracted by the commotion.
We worked on the "touch" command where he is distracted away from seeing another dog by touching his nose to my palm. He learned that in 2 days.
Oskar deserves a compassionate human who will continue with this training. You will need to have a treat bag and learn when to reward, to reinforce the wanted behaviour. He really is a joy and worth the extra effort to show him the way of life.
Oskar loves playing with his tennis ball. He is a very athletic dog and would be good at agility exercises. But he will happily carry his ball on the walk. When we get to the park, he will run and fetch the ball, bring it right back to you and wait for you to throw it again. I can tell he is at his most happy place when we do this.
When all the activity and fun is over, he will snuggle up next to me on the couch, rest his head on my thigh and off to dreamland. In the morning, his big, loving eyes are looking at me waiting to share in the adventures of the day.
Oskar would do better in a home with no cats.
Even as I write this, he has come over to place his paws on my thigh, give me a lick, then hopped up onto the other kitchen chair, curled up and went to sleep.
So if you want to help this little guy to be the best dog he can, and are willing to take extra time and treats to help accomplish that, then please fill out an application form.
Pugalug Pug Rescue will help with the cost of a consultation and training advice for the new owner.
Oskar has made great strides in his learning over the last two weeks. We worked on the "down" command and he picked it up in no time. He really is a very intelligent dog. We had our assessment yesterday with the behaviour consultant, Maggie Burtt and she was very impressed with how far he has come along. She did a "down" with him in the middle of the park, right next to the kids' playground and, even with all the distraction going on, Oskar held his down and waited patiently for the treat.
Oskar is much calmer now when he sees a strange dog across the street. He will still stare at the dog, but does not quiver or shake as before. He then looks to me for his treat. This behaviour does not happen every time, and I didn't expect that it would, but it is happening more and more often. This increase shows that Oskar is associating seeing another dog with something tasty as opposed to being potentially attacked.
We will continue with placing him at a distance from other dogs and rewarding his passive response. I'm also going to spend the next two weeks working on the "touch" command so I can get his attention quickly when the situation is it.
Meanwhile, Oskar has another new tennis ball and is in 7th Heaven. I took him to the park early and played fetch for about 30 minutes. He was quite the happy, but exhausted doggy when we got home. He jumped up onto my lap and immediately fell asleep with his chin resting on my shin. I managed to get a photo without disturbing the sleeping prince.
I'm going to work with him until the end of May, at which time he will be ready for his new home.
As previously mentioned in Oskar's last update, he has been dealing with some anxiety and fear when going to the park and interacting with other dogs. Obviously this issue is a serious one and now that all the vetting has been completed, addressing his anxiety has become my main focus.
For the past two weeks, I have been working with Oskar to help reduce his anxiety and increase his level of relaxation. We have been assisted by an excellent canine behaviourist, Maggie Burtt, who has been having me teach Oskar to go down and lie quietly on the dog bed. Once lying down, he gets a dried liver treat when I see any signs of relaxation.
Oskar is a quick study and has done well with the first part of our training, This success has allowed us to move into the second phase during which I will teach Oskar to control his own anxiety. Previously when we went out for a walk, Oskar would spot a dog far off in the distance and start a high-pitched squeal. Now, by using positive reinforcement, our previous at-home training and treats, we have increased his comfort zone to about 50 feet. In fact, when Oskar sees a dog in the distance, we can walk toward the dog until we come to the edge of Oskar's comfort zone. At this point, Oskar will stop, look at the dog and then look at me for the treat.
It's been very exciting to see how far Oskar has come and he is definitely doing much better than he was prior to training. I have some other tasks from Maggie that will help Oskar keep focused on me and we'll be working on those in the coming weeks. Of course his forever home will need to keep working on this training with him to continue to reduce his fear/anxiety.
At night, to help Oskar relax, I put away all of his toys and when he curls up beside me like always and rest his chin on my thigh, he becomes totally relaxed.
I'll have another update in two weeks after Maggie completes her second assessment so stay tuned for that!
Oskar has fully recovered from his neutering surgery and, as planned, he went into have the last of his vaccinations last week. However, we have noticed a couple strange behavioural changes pop up since his neutering. First off, he seems to have had a set back in his housebreaking. Over the past couple of weeks, he has taken to peeing on the floors. It's not all the time and usually happens in the night. I mentioned this change to the vet and she suggested that we run a urinalysis to rule out any infections that might be causing in issue. In the meantime, I'll be taking him for a short walk before bed instead of letting him out in the backyard like usual.
The second issue that has developed is a bit more serious. When Oskar arrived in foster care, he had an issue with strange, new dogs sniffing him and would let out a high-pitched squeal and lunge whenever one did so. However, prior to his neuter, Oskar seemed to be doing better in this area. Most times, Oskar would be content to play with me in the park, fetching his ball and ignoring all other dogs. He was quite adorable - bouncing along, ears flapping as he ran to catch his precious tennis ball. Unfortunately, his neuter seems to have set him back and he has lunged and barked at a number of new dogs who have come over to say hi. He even went as far as to pull the leash out of my hand in order to tackle a young puppy.
Obviously these behaviours are problematic and are stemming from a much larger issue (e.g. fear, anxiety etc) that needs to be addressed with the help of a professional trainer. Fortunately, Pugalug has a fantastic network of trainers across the province who can help in these types of situations. I've selected one in my area and I will be working hard to help Oskar alleviate his fears and move past this problem. However, this setback does mean that Oskar will be sticking around in foster care for a little while longer, but once he's ready, he will make one special family so very happy.
Here's a great shot of him waiting for me to throw his ball. Such a patient look of eager anticipation!
Oskar's neutering surgery went very well. But, as the saying goes, it's all fun and games until someone ends up in a cone. When I went to pick him up, Dr. Usher remarked how Oskar was fun and energetic, but when they put the cone on him, he just sat still and wouldn't move. After we arrived home and Oskar was settled, I had to go to the store so I put the cone on him and put him on the dog bed. When I got back, there was Oskar in the exact position that I had left him - just like in the photo. Of course, as soon as I took the cone off, he was hoppin' and bobbin' around like his old self. Fortunately, after the first night he was no longer interested in the stitches so the cone has been in the drawer ever since.
I have discovered that Oskar LOVES tennis balls. Originally, he had a regular tennis ball, but that lasted for all of about 10 minutes before being ripped to shreds. Thus, I decided a trip to PetSmart was in order so Oskar could get a good, strong Kong Ball and I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight! Oskar takes his ball everywhere, including out for every walk. After the first snowfall (since his arrival), we played fetch and I laughed and laughed as he dug the ball out of the snow banks.
Oskar also loves his walks, but has a tendency to get a bit too excited when we are about to go out, so much so that he makes a high pitched squealing sound. For the sake of my ears and those of my neighbours, I used the Kong Ball to teach him to sit quietly while he waits for me to get ready. Once I'm ready, and he has been quiet, I give him the ball and he merrily trots down the hall and outside with it.
Oskar will be going back to the vet in about 3 weeks to get his last vaccination and will be ready to adopt in the first week of April.
Oskar had a most excellent vet visit. He behaved well for the checkup and taking the blood. He weighs 8.4 kgs and his overall health is very good. He is up to date now on his rabies vaccination and we have scheduled his neutering and microchipping for March 3rd.
He has settled well into his new environment. He got a big, raw beef neck bone for Valentine's day. I don't think his eyes could have bulged out any more when he was staring at it. He chewed it for hours, right next to the water bowl so he would not have to leave it unguarded.
Oskar is higher energy than the resident pugs. He loves to play fetch and return. He has 2 favourites, a hard rubber ball and a bone shaped thick vinyl. Each has different bouncing properties which makes life interesting for this fun loving pup.
I've had to put an extra sweater on him when it is cold out on the walks. He quickly warms up when we start the ball chasing, but he does feel the cold when we stop to go home.
Oskar loves his sliced banana treats in addition to red pepper, cucumber, carrots and apples. I'm continuing the raw diet as I think it has contributed to his healthy condition.
We have to work on a couple of behavioural issues. He does like to pull ahead of the others on the walk. And when they stop to sniff, he whines, gets anxious and wants to keep going. Overall, I'm getting him to sit quietly for a period of time when we are in the house. I will then transition this to the outside on the walks.
However, he has calmed down so much in the last week. He was just anxious and confused the first week or so. Now he feels safe and is willing to put the ball away when I say time out and then curl up next to me on the couch.
Oskar is a 3 1/2 year old Pug/Boston Terrier mix. He is quite the snuggle bunny. It took a couple of days for him to settle down into the routine, but he now greets me when I come home with energetic bum wags and plenty of smoochies.
He is on a raw food diet and weighs 7.5 kgs. He will be going for his first vet checkup on Feb 1st. At that time, we will also schedule a date for his neutering operation. He is quite healthy and energetic with a silky black coat.
Oskar loves to play fetch and tug with his stuffy toys. As I'm writing this intro, he has come up and placed his paws on my thigh and looked up with those "Wanna play?" eyes. When we were at the park, he looked longingly at the other dogs playing ball. So yesterday afternoon I took him to the park to play catch. He really enjoyed the fun time and learned to drop the ball after he brought it back.
He loves to stretch out on his back for belly rubs. And Oskar has integrated well with the resident pugs.
The next update will be after his vet visit.
