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This page is specifically designed to help you pick a good puppy and NOT GET RIPPED OFF!! We call pugs that you see on the street that are twice the size they should be PUGZILLA’S!  Buggy eyes, long noses, legs and bodies.  When a breeder hasn’t given any thought to the A.K.C standard, size isn’t the only issue.  Pugzilla’s can be hyper-active dogs with skin and health problems. Neurotic behaviors such as constant barking, chewing, licking and just plain behaving badly.  If you buy a cheap dog, you WILL get what you pay for.  The end result is that your vet will get the remainder of what you should have paid upfront for a correct pug, and much more. There is no price tag on heart break.

My Neighbors Pug Experience:

"Pearl was three times the normal size and smelled like a ferret"

She was a ‘great’ deal for $450.00.  We found her from an ad in the paper. She was so cute that there was no way we could leave with out her.  My dream of owning a pug would finally come true!  I had searched on-line for a puppy, but the process seemed intimidating. I didn’t want to fill out a questionnaire or sign a spay/neuter contract. Pearl was only 2 hours away.  I wasn’t too concerned with looks as I just wanted a pet.  With in months we were making repeated trips to our vet.  Pearl had skin problems and periodic unexplained seizures.  She also seemed allergic to her food. The breeder kept blaming me for her problems and then finally stopped answering her phone.  My ‘dream’ pug was quickly turning into a nightmare.  Pearl grew to become 3 times the size a pug should be. We affectionately called her Pugzilla (in reference to Godzilla) My vet bills were over $1,500.00 the first year alone.  The grief and anger far out weighed my vet bills.

My mistake: Never asking to see the AKC Pedigree. 

 "MORE EXAMPLES OF AWFUL BREEDING! "These types of puppies are actually being sold and passed off as nice pugs! Back yard breeders count on you not knowing what to look for.  These puppies are fine boned (they should be stocky), walleyed (eyes should not protrude or look off to the sides) and bat eared!  We can't even imagine the vet bills that will come with these little 'cuties'. Pay $450.00 for one of these and then drop your vet a card and tell him you will be financing his next vacation!  If your going to end up paying your vet hundreds of dollars later, why not pay it up front to get a beautiful healthy puppy.

 

     

The above photos are Willie and Suzie, taken with a VHS tape to show the size of an adult Pug. The AKC standard for height is 11" at the shoulder. A standard VHS tape is 7 1/2" tall. Don't be fooled by breeders claiming to have tiny puppies, ask to see the papers that show date of birth. Many breeders claim their puppies are tiny at nine weeks when they are displaying a 5 week puppy photo.

The following information is posted here for your consideration

 

Beware of internet scams!

 

We constantly go on ‘pug breeders’ web sites to see who is now getting into pug breeding and what claims they are making via the internet.  The only way they can get away with their false claims is the knowledge that you (the family seeking a new puppy) are uninformed.  We will attempt to enlighten you a little.  Please don’t take offense at any harsh verbiage as this is intended to help you see through current scams, and sometimes the truth hurts.

The first thing you need to do is stop clicking on the nursery page and becoming overwhelmed by how cute the puppies are.  Really, are there any truly ugly puppies?  Even the ugly ones are cute in their ugliness. Your new puppy will only remain a puppy for several months, and then it is a lifetime of living with your decision.  This ‘adorable puppy’ thing works every time.  Pet stores rely on it.  Every ‘adorable puppy’ in a pet store has a mother in ‘deplorable conditions’ in a puppy mill.  Pet stores bid on whole litters ( Missouri being the puppy mill state).  You fund their continued operation every time you buy a puppy from a pet store. The pet stores that claim to not use puppy mills, work through brokers that do their dirty work for a fee.

BACK YARD BREEDERS (hobby breeders).  These are people that obtained a pug through a newspaper ad or other means and decided to breed it.  While it might be A.K.C. registered, there never was any consideration to meeting the standard for this breed.  You can’t breed junk to junk and not get junk.  An A.K.C. pedigree shows the buyer how much effort went in to producing their puppy.  Ask to see the pedigree and check for the CH. in front of each name. The more CH (champion) the more you have a guarantee that your puppy has not had ‘junk’ D.N.A in their blood.  This isn’t just for a beautiful appearance, but for meeting health and temperament standards.  It’s proof.  We don’t want to compare a dog to a car, but it makes sense in this regard.  Would you buy a used car from someone with out asking to pop the hood and see the engine?  What if you were searching for a mini-cooper and you saw an ad in the paper for a mint condition cooper for a great price.  You decide to go and check it out.  When you request they ‘pop the hood’, the owner keeps making excuses.  He explains that he has sold cars to movie stars.   He shows you his garage and how nice and clean it is and how he sells car parts also.  He gets out his photo album and shows you pictures of happy car buyers with the car they bought from him.  This is all fine and dandy, but ‘POP THE HOOD” you tell him.  He finally does and you’re mortified to see a rusted hunk of junk under the hood. You realize your mechanic will be able to fund a vacation if you buy this car.

A ‘pedigree’ is your ‘pop the hood’ assurance that you’re not getting a puppy with future problems.  When you get a mixed breed puppy, you don’t end up with some of the health issues a purebred can inherit.  Pugs can inherit a host of problems and ‘backyard breeders’ perpetuate these problems.  They have to breed junk to junk because they are unable to get better dogs.  The people that have great dogs spend thousands of dollars researching pedigrees, having frozen semen flown in, improving their breeding programs and showing what they produce in the show ring.  Out of every great litter produced, there may be one or two puppies that have inherited what qualities and temperament needed to continue to ‘improve’ this wonderful breed.  The other puppies are sold to good homes on a spay/neuter contract.  Backyard breeders don’t have access to good dogs.  If you ask where they got their breeding dogs from, they will tell you ‘from a newspaper ad’ etc.

 A pedigree traces the linage of the puppy for several generations past.  If someone is truly breeding pugs for reasons other than money in their pocket, they will be proud to show off the puppy’s pedigree.  We include one with every puppy in the ‘puppy packet’ that is sent home.  Below is a copy of one of our pedigrees.  The names have been blacked out due to the internet practice of stealing puppy pictures and documents etc.

 

 

On pug breeder’s web sites, we have seen the following statements. 

1.)  Beautiful puppies ready to show.

No they are not.  The puppies are hideous examples of the breed and so are their parents.  Pug ‘show breeders’ sell only on spay/neuter contracts, so where did these puppies come from.  Show puppies don’t come from backyard breeder stock.  Looking at the pedigree will tell it all.  How many Ch’s are there?  D.N.A. doesn’t lie. Please remember this includes your puppy’s health and temperament.  Pure bred dogs done badly, can be far worse than a mixed breed dog. 

DISASTEROUS HEALTH ISSUES CAN ARISE!!!

2.)  (We love this one) ‘Working hard at eradicating the flaws in this breed’. 

You are?  How exactly are you doing this?  Breeding your ‘male pug’ with your female does nothing more than produce puppies.  No reputable breeder will ship you semen to improve your dogs.  No reputable stud owner will stud to your bitches because your dogs have nothing to offer the breed in anyway.  You’re trying to pay your bills with the sale of your puppies…bottom line.  Why stop with pugs?  You also are breeding other breeds of dogs. The only thing you are trying to eradicate is your debt load.

3.) We’ve seen pug sites that show pictures of someone else’s dogs. We actually visited a ‘kennel’ here in Florida and the dogs were awful.  The dog on the front web page wasn’t even one of their dogs.  They know you won’t even notice because they have ‘cute puppies’. 

Before you make a trip to visit any breeder, ask to see the litter’s pedigree. They can fax it ahead of time. Look it over before you get swept away by cheap prices and cute puppies.

4.)  Beware of fake registries!!! A.K.C has set some rules that have caused unscrupulous breeders to go to other registries. These exist solely to make you feel like you’re getting a great dog, when in actuality, these are fakes, used by puppy mills, and set up by people that assume you are uninformed.  Some of the initials are the same as real registries.  C.K.C. is a legitimate Canadian club registry but another fake has popped up.  It’s C.K.C standing for Canine Kennel Club.  You can register any mutt with them. Also U.K.C.I. You can send in a photo and a check and get anything registered.  I thought the following article found on the internet was good. I copied it in part.  The link below is a satire on these fake registries (pretty humorous).  Paper mills for puppy mills.

 The CKCi
- satire about the paper mills

I know this is a lot of reading, but please take the time.  The majority of pugs seen on the internet for sale hardly resemble the breed.  A friend of mine took her show pug to a pug meet-up (anyone can come with their pug for fun) and several people asked her if her dog was mixed with something else. It’s hard to tell someone that it’s ‘their’ pet that is so far from the standard that seeing the ‘real deal’ looks foreign.  I know someone that has a pet store shi tzu. When shown a picture of a show shi tzu, she made the comment that she couldn’t believe they were supposed to have long hair.     

So, if all a registry does is record information, why are there so many?  What's the difference?
Some registries are stricter than others as to what dogs they will register, and some promote the welfare of dogs better than others.  Some registries seem out for a fast buck from ignorant puppy buyers and breeders. They will register dogs for breeders who have been suspended from other registries (usually for record keeping violations), or will register dogs that other registries won't. Some breeders work with multiple registries, and even charge differently for pups depending on which registry the pup is recorded with.  There is no honest reason for this that I can think of. These lesser quality registries are sometimes referred to as paper mills for puppy mills. 

At the very least, you should be able to expect that a registered dog is the breed he's supposed to be, and of the parents and ancestors he's supposed to be.  Unfortunately, this isn't always true, and the information can be inaccurate or misleading if the breeder is not responsible.  For instance, there have been enough problems with inaccurate or falsified pedigrees that the AKC now requires DNA testing on some dogs. United Kennel Club has been promoting DNA testing for several years. But all registries will still usually just take a breeder's word that a pedigree is accurate, and this sometimes leads to inaccurate or fraudulent papers on a dog. Good registries will take action for inaccurate records, such as fines or suspension. 

Some registries will allow the registration of designer mutts, sometimes called "new rare breeds", for breeding purposes. Puppy buyers are sometimes fooled into paying pay hundreds of dollars for a "registered" mutt. Being a registered mutt does not make a dog any different from a similar one sitting in a shelter, and it certainly does not turn a mutt into a purebred. Any registration can often cause the price of a mutt to skyrocket, when the paper it's printed on may only be worth using for housebreaking.

The better kennel clubs have gone beyond their original recording function, and will also provide means to show and trial dogs, promote education, health, and the general welfare of dogs. I strongly feel that some dog registries are not in the best interest of the dogs involved. They often make it much easier for irresponsible breeders to sell their puppies. This leads to thousands of dogs being killed annually in shelters, or suffering from preventable genetic problems.  None are saints, but some kennel clubs are worse than others.  Puppy millers and other irresponsible or ignorant breeders count on registration as a selling point. Even the AKC makes millions from registering these puppies. (My own dogs are registered with AMBOR, United Kennel Club, and AKC, all are limited registrations for trialing purposes only, not for breeding). Irresponsible breeders take full advantage of the public perception that registration means more than it really does. Only the public's education can change this. 

Buyer Beware!
Soon, you may start seeing more dogs from registries other than AKC in pet stores.  I know the Missouri and Oklahoma commercial dog breeder's association members are unhappy now that AKC's got stricter rules, and is requiring a DNA profile in stud dogs that produce 7 or more litters in a lifetime.  Many of these breeders are breaking away from AKC and now registering their pups (often found for sale in pet shops nationwide) with other, less restrictive, registries. Regardless of where you get your pup, if your pup is registered with anything other than AKC or United Kennel Club, the chances of your pup being bred by an irresponsible breeder rises dramatically. It's up to you, the potential puppy buyer, to educate yourself and to avoid being part of the puppy mill/ backyard breeder problem. Do not put your money into the pockets of irresponsible breeders under any circumstances. The only thing they'll feel is getting hit in the wallet.

You can do much of your homework on the internet. If a kennel club is not on the internet (those are few), you can usually at least find an address on the internet and write them for information. Avoid any kennel club on which you can't get any information at all. 

Please be aware of what you are really getting when you buy a registered dog. As you can see, registration often means nothing or worse. But if a pup is backed up by a good pedigree, health screened parents, and a caring, honest, and responsible breeder who takes pride in the pups he produces, then you can also take pride in what your dog's papers represent

 

All Dogs registered with

Member of The Tampa Bay Pug Club

& Pug Club Of America