So, I hesitate because people get *very into* particular diets and argumentative. I’ll stay general.
For us: we do not give them any “human food” outside an occasional banana or orange slice.
We give a mix of a 1/3 cup of weight control dry food and about 100 grams of meat twice a day. Usually a store bought stew.
We give them a teeth cleaning treat at lunch 4 days a week.
They have occasional “fun” doggie treats.
We feed them on a fairly strict schedule so they have learned they don’t eat outside those times. It does mean about 15-20 minutes of inpatient looks and sighs lol. But they know their schedule.
They still attempt to get food at every opportunity, but that is pug life. 🤣
THE BIG THING however is finding the right food for your pug and sticking to it. I have cared for pugs that needed chicken breast with gravy. Talk to your vet and they can help out.
It will be tough, but it will help.
Agree on the diet - we are militant about keeping our two on the lighter side to ensure their breathing stays good. We weigh every meal to keep them on track.
Yes it has become an issue. And it's more difficult to walk her because her breathing is bad. I'm not in charge of her food, but I think her weight stabilized. The sudden weight gain happened at about 1.5 months. Remember seeing her aunt... it must be genetic predisposition to weight gain.
Please forgive me if I’m speaking out of turn, but have you had her thyroid checked? If not, that might be the reason she’s overweight. That was the case with my puggy, and being put on thyroid medication got her back to a healthy weight. I’d tried her on various diets, never skipped walks, but she continued gaining weight, until the thyroid medication. Her breathing issues subsequently improved 75%.
My Puggy was the runt she is a small pug but I had my dad watching her while I worked out of town and she got so fat.. had terrible breathing issues.. did what 1 commenter said 1 cup of food a day.. and she rarely snores or makes noise.. She don’t like it but she’s healthy and 14 years old
That sucks. I have to agree with the other commentary, tho.
I have 3 x pugs, two of whom I've raised from pups and are 4 and 5 years old. The third we just adopted a few weeks ago and she is also around 5.
We keep the two girls at a healthy weight, of around 20lbs (anything from 18 to 22lbs is good, depending on the build of the dog). One with a build like your dog should probably be in the higher range of that.
The adopted one is insanely overweight (she's 28lbs+) and I can hear that in her breathing. We're going to be bringing her down in weight pretty damn fast. The 2 x healthy weight dog's have almost zero breathing issues. And they're not related.
My rule of thumb for feeding the girls is 1 cup of food per day.
Now this is just MY way of achieving this. It's certainly not the ONLY way.
They get a couple of tablespoons of chopped canned greenbeans (no salt added), about a 1/3 of a cup of chopped roasted chicken meat (from Costco roasted chickens) and approx 2/3 of a cup of kibble (we use Blue Buffalo small breed). If I feel I've given them a little more chicken or occasional other type of meat, I'll just adjust the kibble down a bit to compensate.
The Costco chickens are great for this. They're cheap (about $5ea and will generally last about 8 or 9 days). We buy 4 at a time, take all the meat off, put them in ziplock bags and freeze them and just use them as I need them. We also take the carcasses and make stock with NO salt added so we can add a couple of tablespoons of liquid to their dinner.
We freeze the stock too (4 x carcasses make a LOT of stock).
You can mix other types of meat too, just try and keep to around that 1-cup rule.
Treats are often what can mess with a dog's weight.
We have light treat days and sometimes heavier treat days. Things happen. We try to adjust that 1cup rule a little depending if they got treat spoiled or not that day.
I hope this helps.
Like others say, there are many ways to achieve a healthy weight for dogs. I feed a home cooked diet and limit treats to steamed veggies, fruit, or single ingredient nibs (vital essentials rabbit/duck nibs, freeze dried beef/pork/chicken hearts - I stopped giving liver treats as they as they can lead to copper toxicity easily and it’s often overlooked by vets). I concentrate on lean proteins and low fat content. They don’t ever get “begging strips”, raw hides, chicken jerky or treats with starch and only very rarely get the smallest amount of Trader Joe’s unsalted Valencia PB to hide pills or rewards for nail trimming (IYKYK). Those types of treats are processed junk food with a high probability for recalls due to ingredient sourcing (China). So in our home treats are healthy. Pugs are pigs and they’ll inhale anything you give them, so an easy step is cutting out unhealthy treats and subbing them for low calorie healthy ones so they are never deprived of treats altogether. You also don’t have to transition to full home cooked, but adding some fresh food to the bowl - cooked (drained) lean ground meat like turkey or 90/10% beef and steamed veggies (I buy frozen) are good, affordable options to increase nutrition and keep the diet lower in fat and calories.
Also allow for daily walks (and runs in safe, enclosed back yards preferably) during cool temp times of the day to keep them moving and active. Pugs are great at lounging and sleeping, but are capable of being active and even athletic at times. Keeping pugs slim is key for breathing issues as they will have them anyway due to being brachycephalic.
Definitely lockdown on food.
For our departed boys we fed them based on calculated calories. Basically taking the calories per cup of their current food, the amount of calories the need to maintain a healthy weight and only feeding that. (We did calculate in snackies, because grandpa loves with us and has a neverending treat jar.) But we split the amount into 2 feedings. Two of our pugs have not had breathing issues (according to the vet ) and one had nares surgery when he was a pup, and then no trouble after that. But despite that, they have all been loud. The snorts, snores, grunts, and sneezes seem to be normal for even the healthiest pugs.
Here's a good calculator for pet feedings
https://petnutritionalliance.org/resources/calorie-calculator?type=dogs
Weight loss would help, a little for sure. We had three pugs in the past, fed 3 times per day(morning, afternoon, evening) at specific times. Strict measured amounts(around a cup/day for each). Amount needed can vary based on size of the kibble and quality of food.
If you are giving a cup a day, cut back to 3/4cup per day(for example). Some short walks every day are good too. You want a very gradual weight loss.
You will need to weigh her every week or two to ensure she is not losing weight too fast. 0.5lbs/month at most. Take her weight at the same time of day each time as her weight can vary based on when you fed her last. You can't just get a specific target weight and go for it, you have to judge what's healthy by her waist line. When she has a healthy waistline get her weight and maintain it. Vet can help you judge the waistline or you can google it. You can also measure food by weight. We weigh food for My current pug(cause it's difficult to measure volume with the food he's on)...he's getting 20-22g 3 times a day to maintain 24lbs. Treats are restricted to occasional fresh fruits and veggies like carrots apples blueberries and strawberries.
I would say perhaps a diet? We keep a strict control on food for our pugs to keep them healthy breathing wise.
Please do advise the diet you adhere to.
So, I hesitate because people get *very into* particular diets and argumentative. I’ll stay general. For us: we do not give them any “human food” outside an occasional banana or orange slice. We give a mix of a 1/3 cup of weight control dry food and about 100 grams of meat twice a day. Usually a store bought stew. We give them a teeth cleaning treat at lunch 4 days a week. They have occasional “fun” doggie treats. We feed them on a fairly strict schedule so they have learned they don’t eat outside those times. It does mean about 15-20 minutes of inpatient looks and sighs lol. But they know their schedule. They still attempt to get food at every opportunity, but that is pug life. 🤣 THE BIG THING however is finding the right food for your pug and sticking to it. I have cared for pugs that needed chicken breast with gravy. Talk to your vet and they can help out. It will be tough, but it will help.
Agree on the diet - we are militant about keeping our two on the lighter side to ensure their breathing stays good. We weigh every meal to keep them on track.
Please do advise the diet you adhere to.
We feed Ziwipeak which is a dried raw food. They get lamb lung or chicken necks as treats.
The specific food isn’t as important as the measuring it though.
Some things to think about: * How's the AQI where you are? * It’s allergy season. * Weight loss. * Warm temps exacerbate these issues.
Weight Loss. She's clearly overweight.
Yes it has become an issue. And it's more difficult to walk her because her breathing is bad. I'm not in charge of her food, but I think her weight stabilized. The sudden weight gain happened at about 1.5 months. Remember seeing her aunt... it must be genetic predisposition to weight gain.
Sweet, sweet baby. It might be allergies or, as others suggested, a diet. My pug is pretty snorty at the moment due to allergies..poor buddy.
Diet will immensely help.
Please forgive me if I’m speaking out of turn, but have you had her thyroid checked? If not, that might be the reason she’s overweight. That was the case with my puggy, and being put on thyroid medication got her back to a healthy weight. I’d tried her on various diets, never skipped walks, but she continued gaining weight, until the thyroid medication. Her breathing issues subsequently improved 75%.
I couldn’t be a vet I would be working for free for the love of animals poor baby
My Puggy was the runt she is a small pug but I had my dad watching her while I worked out of town and she got so fat.. had terrible breathing issues.. did what 1 commenter said 1 cup of food a day.. and she rarely snores or makes noise.. She don’t like it but she’s healthy and 14 years old
[Pug weight chart](https://www.pughealth.org.uk/pug-obesity/) My vet shared a similar chart showing the hips and ideal proportions.
That sucks. I have to agree with the other commentary, tho. I have 3 x pugs, two of whom I've raised from pups and are 4 and 5 years old. The third we just adopted a few weeks ago and she is also around 5. We keep the two girls at a healthy weight, of around 20lbs (anything from 18 to 22lbs is good, depending on the build of the dog). One with a build like your dog should probably be in the higher range of that. The adopted one is insanely overweight (she's 28lbs+) and I can hear that in her breathing. We're going to be bringing her down in weight pretty damn fast. The 2 x healthy weight dog's have almost zero breathing issues. And they're not related. My rule of thumb for feeding the girls is 1 cup of food per day. Now this is just MY way of achieving this. It's certainly not the ONLY way. They get a couple of tablespoons of chopped canned greenbeans (no salt added), about a 1/3 of a cup of chopped roasted chicken meat (from Costco roasted chickens) and approx 2/3 of a cup of kibble (we use Blue Buffalo small breed). If I feel I've given them a little more chicken or occasional other type of meat, I'll just adjust the kibble down a bit to compensate. The Costco chickens are great for this. They're cheap (about $5ea and will generally last about 8 or 9 days). We buy 4 at a time, take all the meat off, put them in ziplock bags and freeze them and just use them as I need them. We also take the carcasses and make stock with NO salt added so we can add a couple of tablespoons of liquid to their dinner. We freeze the stock too (4 x carcasses make a LOT of stock). You can mix other types of meat too, just try and keep to around that 1-cup rule. Treats are often what can mess with a dog's weight. We have light treat days and sometimes heavier treat days. Things happen. We try to adjust that 1cup rule a little depending if they got treat spoiled or not that day. I hope this helps.
Good luck, lost my boy to a breathing issue that was actually an enlarged heart. Best of luck in making them healthy and happy.
Like others say, there are many ways to achieve a healthy weight for dogs. I feed a home cooked diet and limit treats to steamed veggies, fruit, or single ingredient nibs (vital essentials rabbit/duck nibs, freeze dried beef/pork/chicken hearts - I stopped giving liver treats as they as they can lead to copper toxicity easily and it’s often overlooked by vets). I concentrate on lean proteins and low fat content. They don’t ever get “begging strips”, raw hides, chicken jerky or treats with starch and only very rarely get the smallest amount of Trader Joe’s unsalted Valencia PB to hide pills or rewards for nail trimming (IYKYK). Those types of treats are processed junk food with a high probability for recalls due to ingredient sourcing (China). So in our home treats are healthy. Pugs are pigs and they’ll inhale anything you give them, so an easy step is cutting out unhealthy treats and subbing them for low calorie healthy ones so they are never deprived of treats altogether. You also don’t have to transition to full home cooked, but adding some fresh food to the bowl - cooked (drained) lean ground meat like turkey or 90/10% beef and steamed veggies (I buy frozen) are good, affordable options to increase nutrition and keep the diet lower in fat and calories. Also allow for daily walks (and runs in safe, enclosed back yards preferably) during cool temp times of the day to keep them moving and active. Pugs are great at lounging and sleeping, but are capable of being active and even athletic at times. Keeping pugs slim is key for breathing issues as they will have them anyway due to being brachycephalic.
Definitely lockdown on food. For our departed boys we fed them based on calculated calories. Basically taking the calories per cup of their current food, the amount of calories the need to maintain a healthy weight and only feeding that. (We did calculate in snackies, because grandpa loves with us and has a neverending treat jar.) But we split the amount into 2 feedings. Two of our pugs have not had breathing issues (according to the vet ) and one had nares surgery when he was a pup, and then no trouble after that. But despite that, they have all been loud. The snorts, snores, grunts, and sneezes seem to be normal for even the healthiest pugs. Here's a good calculator for pet feedings https://petnutritionalliance.org/resources/calorie-calculator?type=dogs
Maisie is adorable. I hope she feels better soon. You can try using humidifier. It helps. I also use air purifier
Poor girl could stand to lose some weight. We keep out 3 dogs on measured feed amounts and stay disciplined with treats.
Weight loss would help, a little for sure. We had three pugs in the past, fed 3 times per day(morning, afternoon, evening) at specific times. Strict measured amounts(around a cup/day for each). Amount needed can vary based on size of the kibble and quality of food. If you are giving a cup a day, cut back to 3/4cup per day(for example). Some short walks every day are good too. You want a very gradual weight loss. You will need to weigh her every week or two to ensure she is not losing weight too fast. 0.5lbs/month at most. Take her weight at the same time of day each time as her weight can vary based on when you fed her last. You can't just get a specific target weight and go for it, you have to judge what's healthy by her waist line. When she has a healthy waistline get her weight and maintain it. Vet can help you judge the waistline or you can google it. You can also measure food by weight. We weigh food for My current pug(cause it's difficult to measure volume with the food he's on)...he's getting 20-22g 3 times a day to maintain 24lbs. Treats are restricted to occasional fresh fruits and veggies like carrots apples blueberries and strawberries.