Are Pugs Good Apartment Dogs?

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Pugs are compact canines that fit in any home, even small apartments.

At heart, every Pug is a lap dog that wants nothing more than to cuddle up with you when it isn’t eating anything in sight.

Pugs are hugely adaptable pets, because they love living with people. Your Pug will want to follow you everywhere you go, and that is a lot easier in an apartment.

Important Considerations Before You Buy/Adopt a Pug for Apartment Living

About half of the Pug owners will tell you that they are very easy to train, and the other half will tell you that Pugs are stubborn.

Whether or not your Pug is inclined to follow your rules, it is sure to want to make you laugh and have fun.

Pugs get along well with cats. When veterinarians surveyed the owners of 905,544 dogs in the United Kingdom, they found that Pugs were 70 percent less likely to be aggressive than the average of all breeds.

Don’t have a lot of time to spend with your little friend? You Pug will be fine with that.

Pugs don’t commonly suffer the separation anxiety that makes other breeds bark and howl when they are left alone.

However, that doesn’t mean that it is a good idea to leave a Pug on its own for long stretches of time.

Your Pug will amuse itself by creating mayhem around the apartment.

It won’t usually chew on furniture or tear up sofa cushions, but more than one Pug owner has returned home to broken vases and empty bags of dog food after leaving their Peg alone all day.

If you are going to keep a Pug in an apartment, you need space (not just a kennel) that your Pug can call its own when you aren’t around.

If you plan on bringing two Pugs into your apartment, each Pug will need its own small kennel when it needs some me-time.

There are also some issues that arise from the fact that Pugs have short snouts and short bodies, with short digestive tracts.

  • Pugs snore
  • Pugs get gas
  • Pugs shed

When your Pug isn’t snoring, farting, or scarfing down the whole bag of its food and your cat’s food, too, it is a wonderful companion.

If you are a stay-at-home couch potato, and you don’t mind that your dog can be noisy from both needs, a Pug is a perfect companion.

Your Pug will love to spend its idle time with you.

But if you are going to live with your Pug in an apartment, especially if you are getting a Pug that will want to sleep with you, there are some things you need to be prepared to deal with snoring, gas, and shedding.

What You Will Have to Do About Snoring, Flatulence, and Shedding

Flat noses make it hard for a Pug to breathe. Their difficulty breathing makes them noisy nearly all the time.

A Pug will snort when it is awake, and snore when it is asleep.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any little CPAP machines for dogs that snore. But there are at least five things you can do to minimize the amount of noise your Pug makes when it is asleep.

  • Don’t let your Pug sleep in your bedroom. Think twice about getting a Pug if you live in a studio apartment.
  • Make sure you have enough room for your Pug to have its own bed. Get a bed with raised, cushioned sides that your Pug can use to keep its head at an angle to minimize snoring.
  • Make sure your Pug sleeps in a room where fresh air is circulating all night. Hot, stuffy air causes sinus congestion that makes snoring worse.
  • If you live in a dry climate, invest in a humidifier to keep the air moist so your Pug has less nasal irritation.
  • Ask your vet about snoring surgery for your dog. A veterinary study in Australia found that surgery reduces snoring in about 75 percent of Pugs and other brachycephalic (short-snouted) dogs. There are procedures to lift the palate and to open narrow nasal passages that also treat canine sleep apnea. Each of these procedures costs $500 to $2500, and won’t be covered by pet health insurance.

Many people think their Pug’s snoring is cute, but its flatulence is another matter.

The best way to prevent flatulence is to make sure your Pug swallows as little air as possible with its food.

You aren’t going to train your Pug to eat slowly, so you have to offer it smaller meals.

Smaller amounts of dog food served two, three, or even four times a day will result in less gas than a single meal your Pug wolfs down all at once.

Pugs have naturally stiff hair, but they get petted so much that their coats become soft. There isn’t any single time of year that they shed more than usual. They shed more or less all the time.

Combing your Pug’s hair at least once a week gives you a chance to bond with your Pug and reduces the amount of shedding around the house.

A comb and a hand-held vacuum cleaner are must-haves before you bring your Pug home.

If you have decided that you can deal with snoring, gas, and shedding, then it is time to get your home ready for your Pug.

Preparing Your Apartment for Your Pug

In the same way that you need to prepare your home for the arrival of a baby, you need to prepare your apartment for the arrival of your Pug.

You will have a lot of work to do to make sure your apartment is puppy-ready.

Preparations for your Pug need to start at least a month or even longer before your Pug’s arrival, about the same time you start visiting breeders to find the perfect puppy.

Central Air Conditioning and Heat

Pugs don’t need a lot of room. Your lap is big enough for them, although they can be really wiggly when they get there.

From the Pug’s point of view, there is no such thing as an apartment that is too small to call home. But there is one absolute requirement in the place where your Pug will live:

Your home must be air-conditioned. Pugs don’t do well in the summer heat.

They have problems with excessive heat in the winter, too.

Bathroom

Your bathroom is a small space that is filled with dangers for a Pug puppy.

There are so many chemicals that are toxic to canines that keeping bathroom doors closed is the way to go, but children often forget.’

Bathroom cabinets need to be secured so puppies cannot open them. Get into the habit, if you haven’t already, of leaving the toilet seat down. A curious Pug puppy can fall in, and drown.

Stop using any automatic toilet cleaners. Thirsty Pugs will drink from the toilet. You do not want them to be poisoned by any cleaning chemicals.

Laundry Room

Most apartments don’t have a large laundry room. For keeping a Pug, that is a good thing.

Many families use the laundry room as a catch-all storage area for all kinds of toxic household, automotive, and lawn, and garden chemicals.

Even in an apartment, however, it is important to secure detergents, bleach, and dry sheets so your puppy will not get into them.

You also need to get into the habit of keeping baskets of dirty laundry off the floor, if only so your puppy will not drag intimate apparel through the house.

Kitchen and Eating Areas

Kitchens are especially hazardous for Pugs because they house both poisonous chemicals and poisonous foods (at least foods that are poisonous for dogs, like avocados and chocolate).

Anything you would do to make your kitchen secure for a small child, you need to do for your Pug.

Make sure kitchen cabinets are locked, just in case your Pug is smart enough to open them.

Your Pug is going to be following you around everywhere you go, and it will notice if you leave kitchen cabinets unsecured.

Make sure your kitchen trash can is closed with a lid that you operate with a foot pedal.

That is, get a trust can that you need to be able to operate with one or both feet and one or both hands at the same time.

For Pugs, trash cans are filled with all kinds of scents that need to be explored. Unfortunately, that includes poisons, plastics, and foods your Pug wants to taste.

Keep in mind that just because your Pug puppy is small doesn’t mean the trash can can’t be knocked over. Keep the lid on your trash can secure at all times.

All Through Your Apartment

Electrical cords need to be out of reach. Puppies will treat them as chew toys, sometimes resulting in a shocking experience.

You don’t want your Pug puppy to get caught up in a cord any more than you want it to be shocked by chewing through its insulation.

Make sure blenders and coffee makers connect to heavier items that can’t be pulled down by your Pug.

And don’t forget about the draw cords for your drapes. Shorten them so they do not fall to the floor where your Pug can reach them.

If you have a fireplace, cleaning supplies and tools need to be stored where your puppy cannot reach them. You also need a barrier to keep your puppy out of the working fire pit.

Tables, including coffee tables, and end tables, need to be cleared of any items a puppy could pull down to the floor.

Steps and stairs need to be cordoned off until your Pug is at least two years old, so its hips will have a chance to develop normally.

Getting Your Apartment Ready for Your Pug If You Have a Cat

Pugs and cats can become fast friends. Your cat’s litter box, however, will become an object of fascination for a young Pug.

Move your cat’s litter box somewhere they can go but your Pug can’t. Do this well in advance of your Pug’s arrival.

Your cat will be stressed out by the arrival of your Pug, and you don’t want the added stress of your cat not being able to find its box.

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