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How to Keep a Pug Dog Busy

Overview

Some Pugs simply do not know what to do with themselves. If their human is away from home or busy, they can become lonely, stressed, bored, or outright frustrated. A Pug may withdraw, seemingly depressed and feeling blue about a lack of attention or may become agitated and show some negative behaviors such as destructive chewing or excessive barking.

If your Pug has a hard time keeping themselves occupied, this article will cover all the ways that you can be sure your Pug has plenty to do when you’re unable to be there or give your little guy or gal your attention.

Tips for When You are Home

1. Create a schedule.

Dogs can more easily tolerate down time when they know that they have something to look forward to. So, provide structure by having a schedule for walks, playtime, meals, grooming, and more. For things that a Pug may not particularly like, such a brushing the coat or taking care of your Pug’s teeth, incorporate a high-value reward treat when the task is complete.

2. Be sure your Pug meets daily exercise requirements.

Pugs may not be the best runners and they can get overheated more quickly than non-brachycephalic dog breeds, but that doesn’t mean that a Pug should just stay sedentary.

Making sure that your Pug gets enough exercise is great not just for physical health, but mental health as well. In addition, dogs that stay active are then more prone to appreciate slower times during the day when they can take a nap.

If you leave for work during the day, an example of a good exercise schedule is a 25-minute walk in the morning, a 20-minute session of fetch after you get home, and a 25-minute walk in the evening (at least one hour after eating dinner but at least 2 hours before bedtime).

If you’re looking for something to motivate your Pug for play sessions with you, the Chuckit! Small Paraflight Toy is really cool. You throw this toy like a Frisbee, but it’s designed to glide down slowly, allowing a dog to center himself under it.

3. Do command training.

This is an amazing boost for a dog’s confidence level and basic commands will certainly come in handy down the line.

Since the guidelines for teaching commands can fill up a book, well, you may want to have a book that teaches you how to be a teacher!

As you may know, PetPugDog’s GIANT book of Pug Care includes a chapter on the basic command training of sit, down, come, and stay, plus ‘shake hands’.

And, if you’re looking to expand on this, 101 Dog Tricks: Step by Step Activities to Engage, Challenge, and Bond with Your Dog is a terrific book. If your goal is to teach all 101 tricks, this will keep both you and your Pug busy for quite some time.

4. Teach your Pug a scenting game.

While Pugs are not classic scent hounds, just being a canine means that they have exceptional noses and often thoroughly enjoy putting them to use. And, while it can take some practice for Pugs to catch on to this sort of game, once they do, they can stay busy for quite some time.

The overall scope of this is that you’ll add a strong scent to an object(s) and then hide it in the yard for your Pug to find.

Bacon drippings or liquid fish oil are two good choices of strong scents that dogs follow rather well. You’ll add one of these to a chosen toy and to the corner of a paper towel.

For the first few times, hide the scented toy in an easy spot.

Get your Pug’s attention and hold out the paper towel for your guy or gal to sniff. Then, using a very enthusiastic voice, led your Pug outside and give the ‘Find it’ command.

As needed, offer the scent of the paper towel. Pretend as if you are searching for something and your Pug will start to understand.

Even if you need to offer your help, give super-happy praise once your Pug finds the hidden toy. Once the basic idea has been learned, make this increasingly difficult by choosing tricky (yet safe) hiding spots.

5. Blast your Pug with bubbles.

This can provide lots of fun for both of you. Dogs are often mesmerized by bubbles and chasing after them can be a great way to get your Pug moving.

If you just got home from work and are a bit too tired to really engage your canine family member, there’s a couple of workarounds for that.

You might want to start with a bubble-gun like the Bubble Gun Toy Blaster, where all you have to do is fill the barrel with bubble solution and then depress the trigger button.

And, then, if you find that your Pug really enjoys this, you might want to upgrade to a cool bubble machine like the 1 by One Portable Bubble Machine. With this, you just fill it with bubble solution, press the ‘on’ button, and sit back to watch your Pug have a blast.

Note: Additional tips are found ahead under ‘Tips for Any Time’.

Tips for When You are Away

1. Keep your Pug, and helpful aids, in one area.

As you’ll see going forward, many of the tricks for keeping a Pug busy involve interaction with or sight of something. So, if your Pug has the whole house to roam and those aids are out of sight, chances are that they won’t be of much use.

For this reason, Pugs that need help keeping themselves occupied should be either in a canine playpen or a gated off area.

2. Provide sound and/or visual entertainment.

As opposed to a quiet house, pleasant or even energizing sounds can play a big role in combating a dog’s boredom. You may opt to keep the TV on for your Pug (which can provide visual entertainment as well; just be sure to choose a dog-friendly channel like DOGTV) or play music made just for dogs that are home alone like Music Dogs Love: While You Are Gone.

3. Consider a pet-cam.

Note that these are definitely not for every budget. But, if you’re able to spring for it, this can be an awesome way to check in on your Pug throughout the day and even interact with your guy or gal.

There are a lot of different types, but the Pawbo Life Wi-Fi Pet Cam and Treat Dispenser is really cool. This allows you to see your dog, speak and listen, and shoot a treat out just by tapping a button on your phone.

Tips for Any Time

Whether you’re busy in the house or away for the day, there are some things that can keep your Pug occupied and happy.

1. Treat-release toys.

Typically, dry kibble is placed in these sorts of toys. But, for Pugs that need help staying engaged, you can make it more enticing by dribbling fish oil over the kibble first or by mixing the kibble with 100% all-natural peanut butter.

You’ll want this to be challenging enough to keep your Pug occupied for a while, while offering enough small bits of reward that your dog doesn’t get discouraged. For this reason, the Twist 'n Treat Dog Toy is recommended. This made-in-the-USA toy is easy to use, dishwasher-safe, and completely adjustable.

2. Speaking toys.

Toys that speak or make noises are great for keeping a dog entertained, even when alone. There are two types that are highly recommended.

The Pet Qwerks Animal Sounds Babble Ball is a cool toy that makes one of twenty different animal sounds each time it’s nosed. It rolls; so, if your Pug is home alone this will stay nearby as long as your guy or gal is in a gated area or playpen (see previous ‘Tips for When You are Away’).

And, the Multipet Look Who's Talking Toys are really neat too. These are stuffed animals that let out a sound. There’s lots to choose from including a parrot, cow, rooster, monkey, goat, and frog.

3. A companion toy.

If you’ve been considering getting another dog to keep your Pug busy but are not quite ready to do that, this is the next best thing.

These are stuffed toys that are meant to mimic living animals. The Smart Pet Love Snuggle Puppy is amazing. It is a good-sized stuffed dog that emits a rhythmic heartbeat and even optional body warmth. With this, your Pug is never alone.

A Final Word

It’s not healthy for Pugs to remain sedentary. And, boredom can put stress on this already sensitive breed. By putting focus on keeping your Pug busy when you’re there and occupied when you’re not, you can make a big difference in your Pug’s happiness level.