Pugs are a breed anyone can recognize instantly. For thousands of years, pugs have been a popular choice in Chinese households.
Pugs are adorable, cute, funny, cuddly, and compact. They are able to fit in with any family, regardless of size. They love being the center of attention.
But are Pugs good service dogs?
There are a few exceptions to this rule, but pugs aren’t good service dogs. However, they can be good emotional support dogs.
To pull the sleigh across the snow, nobody is going to attach a hundred Pugs. There are no Pugs that can see.
A Pug cannot be used as a guide dog. It is unlikely that a professional dog trainer would accept a Pug as a hearing ear, allergy, or sentry dog.
Positive things about Pugs are that they will be accepted in most offices as PTSD dogs as long as they have been house-trained.
PTSD dogs are service dogs in terms of ADA definitions, and their owners have some federally protected legal rights.
Although emotional support dogs can’t be considered service dogs because they aren’t legally allowed to go anywhere with you, Pugs work well in this role.
Theyre warm-hearted. They are kind. They are very close to their owners. They are great therapy dogs because of this.
Five Reasons Pugs Make Excellent Therapy Dogs
Although pugs are not service dogs and have some limitations, they can be a great support dog.
These are five reasons Pugs make great therapy and emotional dogs.
Adaptability
Pugs do well in studio apartments.
They are equally at home in sprawling larger homes, although they arent well suited for going up and downstairs.
Without much adjustment, your Pug can move along with you. Anywhere you go is home for your Pug.
Agreeable Temperament
Your Pug will always be happy to meet you. If you need affirmation, or if you need somebody just to know you are there, your Pug is always there to help.
Pugs thrive as the center of attention.
They love being petted. They love to be petted, and because Pugs are so affectionate, they make a great companion.
Variousscientific studiesshow that petting a Pug for 10 to 15 minutes lowers bloodstream levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Petting a Pug raises bloodstream levels of the feel-good hormone oxytocin, the hormone that helps mothers bond with their babies.
Pugs dont bark a lot. They dont need a lot of physical activity. They are happiest when they are sitting in your lap, helping you lower your stress and feel more connected to your world.
Pugs that are properly socialized as puppies develop the ability to read their humans moods and respond accordingly.
They know when to be vivacious and funny and when to be calm and quiet. Their favorite activity seems to be taking naps, but they will follow their humans around the house to keep them company.
Pugs love to be petted by anyone, young or old. They are easy-going and friendly with people of all ages.
Pugs also have a combination of stubbornness and confidence that makes them easier to handle.
For instance, they arent scared off your lap when you sneeze, the way an equally small and adorable Jack Russell Terrier might be.
They can be confident wherever they are so that they can interact with you.
Low Maintenance
Well admit that everything about Pugs isnt low maintenance.
One way to describe their shedding is that they only shed once a year, but their shedding season lasts 365 days. Also, among dogs, they are unusually flatulent.
Youll need a good vacuum cleaner, and youll need to use it regularly when you own a Pug.
A Pug’s coat is easy to maintain if it is brushed once or twice per week. It’s time to give your Pug a bath and trim the nails.
Pugs, like all small dogs are susceptible to tooth decay. The solution to this problem is brushing their teeth several times a week.
Like all brachycephalic dogs (flat-faced), Pugs can have vision, smell and breathing problems.
Before any of these unpredicted health problems become severe, you must be able take your Pug to the veterinarian.
However, Pugs will never leave their food bowl. They are not destructive to furniture.
They dont whine or howl. They get along well with other pets. Overall, they are a very low-maintenance breed.
Emotional Intelligence
Pugs dont have the highest canine IQ, canine intelligence quotient.
Dr. Stanley Coren, a dog expert, assembled a team to test the intelligence of 100 dogs from 138 breeds.
Pugs were ranked 108th out of 138 breeds. They were behind Akitas and Boston Terriers but ahead of Blood Hounds, Basset Hounds, and Shih Tzus.
100 dog experts tested the Pugs’ ability to respond correctly to commands only 30% of the times. Dog intelligence testers found that it took between 40 and 80 training sessions to teach a Pug a new command such as Sit, Come, or Stand.
But if you rated Pugs for their EIQ, their emotional intelligence quotient, they might be geniuses.
It is not possible to teach a Pug how to ride a bike or jump through hoops.
But you can train a Pug to be a great house dog, and your Pug can use her natural emotional intelligence to a superb lifetime companion.
For Your Pug, You Are The Top Dog
Pugs love calm, assertive guidance. When a mother Pug sees her puppy doing something she does not like, she will offer gentle correction.
If you adopt your Pug at the age of four to six months, and you bring just one Pug puppy into your house at a time, you can also train your Pug to behave the way you want with calm, firm, non-punishing guidance.
Simple things like training your Pug the meaning of the command No! and good manners, like waiting to be invited to hop up into your lap, help make your Pug a better future service dog.
If you don’t establish who is the boss in your relationship early on, your Pug could add stress to your life rather than removing it.
How Do I Get My Pug Certified As A Service Dog?
There is considerable resistance to the idea of treating Pugs as service dogs.
Heres an example:
In July 2013, Robert Ragels, a Persian Gulf veteran, tried to enter the Senate Chamber at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas. With him was his service Pug, Piggy.
State troopers stopped Ragels, and Piggy at their door. He was eventually allowed into the Senate Chamber after a senators aide intervened, but the encountered left him feeling frustrated.
Ragels, who has PTSD from his time in Iraq, says that stuff like this makes him crazy. I have Piggy with me because I want to look normal. I just want to be the same as everybody else.
Ironically, the Senate had just passed a state law recognizing the rights of owners of service animals more line with the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA).
Ragels adopted Piggy in 2011 from Train a Dog Save A Warrior. This non-profit organization trains dogs to be able to help vets suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
I know Piggy cant carry my stuff around like a German Shepherd, Ragels went on. But she is still a service animal.
Despite clear ADA rules, non-traditional service animals such as Pugs are not universally accepted.
Under the ADA, if it isnt obvious that a dog is a service animal (and for many people, a Pug isnt an obvious service animal), businesses are only allowed to ask two questions:
- If this animal required because of a disability?
- Which task has the animal been trained for?
The state troopers would not have been allowed under the ADA to ask what disability Mr. Ragels suffered.
They could not require proof that Piggy was licensed, trained, and certified to perform service dog duties. They couldn’t require Piggy wear a vest.
The fact that the rights of service dog owners are written into the law doesnt mean that everyone nows them.
A business that denies you your lawful rights to a service Pug could lose a lawsuit, but wouldnt going through the long process of a lawsuit add to your stress?
What Are The Qualifications For Service Dogs?
For most kinds of service dog activities, being a service dog is hard work. Dogs that assist people with balance and coordination, such as seeing-eye and guide dogs, require physical and mental strength.
No trainer is going to work with a Pug to become one of these kinds of service dogs.
However, providing emotional support to PTSD sufferers is a completely different activity. To help with PTSD, your Pug does not need to be strong.
These are the steps to help your Pug become an emotional support dog.
How To Prove Your Pug Is A Socially Acceptable Service Dog And Well-behaved
You have rights under UA law to have a service dog accompany you wherever you go in public.
But businesses also have the rights to be protected from unacceptable behavior.
If:
- Your Pug defecates or urinates on the floor or any fixtures or furniture in the business or government office. Just a little still counts.
- You lose control of your Pug. You and your Pug should not be exhibiting uncontrolled behavior like growling or biting at customers. If you refuse to leave, you can be charged for trespassing.
Your dog can be put down if he bites another customer.
If you take your Pug along with you to Disneyland, on a plane or down to McDonalds, there are some canine behavior that you can’t do.
- If they don’t belong to you, your Pug cannot pick up any items on the floor.
- Display cases are not safe for your Pug.
- Your Pug can’t smell other dogs, customers, employees, government officials, tables, chairs or shelves. (There is an exception for an allergen detection Pug, but your Pug would need to have been professionally trained for that purpose.)
- Your Pug should never pull you or drag you, unless you are conscious and your Pug wants to attract attention from passersby.
Your service Pug must have mastered the sit, wait, and stay commands.
No matter what happens, your service Pug should not be anxious or aggressive.
If you permit it, your service Pug can greet children who want to pet the dog. However, service Pugs should not be allowed to contact children from other countries without your consent.
How Do I Prove That My Pug Is A Service-dog?
There is a simple way to prove that your Pug meets the qualifications of service dogs.
Get an American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification
You and your Pug will complete the CGC certification in two parts. You and your Pug demonstrate mastery over10 areas of good canine behavior.
When both you and your Pug successfully complete the course, the AKC will give you a certificate stating that your dog is well-behaved.
This is also proof that you are acting responsibly by using your Pug as a service animal in public.
No business or government office is legally allowed to demand proof of certification as a service animal before you and your Pug come in.
But CGC certification is a good thing to have if questions arise later.
