Pugs can't do that.....

.....is what I hear all the time. And I say "malarkey". I've been working with my pup, Josephine (now almost 8 months old) on a variety of things, but target training, working from a distance and working for either a hand or a verbal cue alone have been our focus.

This is our work on a "down" using only a hand cue. We are increasing distance and working on doing a 'down' in the midst of a recall (work in progress).

And we've just started Nose work or Scent Detection classes. No reason a pug can't learn anything they want to.

Jo's "Down";

I am duly impressed but not surprised at her talents! While you are in the zone try working on her backing up....Stubby had a heck of a time as it appears Pugs are not really real wheel drive dogs.

In Stubby's show career I have had a variety of reactions that range from "Ah you are such a cute dog....did Mom bring you to watch?" or somebody saying they really didn't know Pugs were capable of learning to do obedience or some confirmation people looking at him when we walk into the venue with hope in their eyes judging his less than perfect confirmation but then being shocked when we head for the obedience/rally rings! One rather memorable trial brought 3 Pug breeders ringside to watch his obedience routine....made me feel SO good.

Too few Pugs are being trialed/trained IMHO but I realize not everybody has the time or inclination to try. My obedience club has been nothing but supportive and proud of Stubby's efforts and the vet who takes classes with us uses Stubby as her poster dog for weight loss and exercise.

Waiting to see you guys in the ring soon or at least working out a routine for canine freestyle or signing up for Search and Rescue work when a keen nose is needed! You probably know Canuck Dogs website has all seminars, trials and activities listed by province...I always look to see what's on in other parts of the country.....your end of the world looks pretty busy for dog stuff!

Awesome job Jo (and Blanche). She is such a smart girl and so focused on you. I see many great things ahead for her!

great job! taking these CGC classes is helping Zoe brush up on her skills. One, though, that I've been really lazy on and she's got to learn how to loose leash walk. That's my fault really. Also, the paw touching thing. She hates having her feet touched. There's a lady at the Petco who does grooming and has also been successful with helping dogs get used to it. Zoe used to be fine as a puppy. I think she must have gottten nipped during one nail trim and that was it.

What else do you plan on teaching her?

Blanche, whenever anyone sees Diesel in agility classes, they're always amazed a pug can do agility. And my Kayla was an obedience WHIZ - loved nothing more than to please me and if being obedient pleased me, she was all about it. I think too often people think of pugs as overweight lazy useless couch potatoes. I wish more people would involve their pugs in these types of activites - they're such a smart breed of dog.

My hope is to do some agility with her--but I won't even start that until she is fully grown. Don't want to bugger up her joints. So for now, we are working on all the stuff that can benefit you in agility--a solid down on command, working off hand signals and at a distance, targeting, etc. I ordered an agility training kit for my backyard which we will get into when the weather improves, but we will do some inside "touch the disc" training in anticipation of agility. She backs up not badly--but yes, they aren't really structured for it. I'd like to move the down from a distance work outside, but like most pugs, Jo is not interested in having her belly touch the frozen ground.

I will have to look into Rally-O. It might be something we'd like, but may also be too structured for me, much less my dog. I like stuff a bit more free wheeling and that can fun even when you goof up.

Mel--work on a "watch me" command--that's where I start with all training with my dogs and it can be a real help in loose leash walking. Loose leash walking is also helped by hand targeting as the dog learns to come to the hand--it also helps with more advanced obedience moves like finishing a formal recall if they know to follow the hand. I'll try to video some of the target training we've been doing as well. We have been working on "touch" (which is nose to whatever I want her to touch), "paw" (right paw to touch whatever) and "slap" (left paw to touch).

For now we are really enjoying the scent work and hope to try a DOT (Distinctive Odour Test) when we've completed level one.

I think people who aren't "dog people" don't get how smart any dog can be. Mine constantly amaze me.

Josephine's sister is living with a family that runs Simcoe Dog Sports. She is now called Edna and they have several sporting pugs, most notably Igor.

http://www.simcoedogsports.com/