Owning a Pug will bring years of companionship, joy and unconditional love into your life. They are sweet and love to cuddle, showing you how much they enjoy being with you. Playing with your Pug will give you hours of enjoyment as you interact with each other.
1- Walking your Pug – When you go walking together, your Pug will enjoy exploring his surroundings, and you both will reap great health benefits. Walking maintains muscle tone making the muscles supportive and strong, especially surrounding the knees and hips. The risk of heart disease significantly reduces. Calories are burned off as metabolism is increased. Your Pug will look forward to this daily outing. Walking every day for 20 to 30 minutes is a good amount of time. In the summer months to prevent overheating, do two shorter walks for 10 to 15 minutes spacing out the exercise time throughout the day.

2- Blanket Hurdles – Your Pug will enjoy this obstacle course in the comfort of your home. This fun game is great for his agility. Make room so your Pug can run without getting hurt or breaking any of your household items. Use some old towels or blankets and roll them up to a good size so your Pug will be able to jump over without getting hurt. Show your Pug the course by having him jump over the blanket a few times until he understands the concept, then go to the other side of the room and tell him to come to you. If your Pug does this with ease you could add more blankets and make it more exciting. This game is great exercise and lots of fun for you and your Pug.

3- Tug of War – This basic game will benefit your Pug by releasing inner aggression. During this exercise it will also teach your Pug how to “get it” and “let go.” Give your Pug a treat as you tell him to stay and put the toy on the ground. Then tell him to get it letting him know it’s time to get the toy. Teach him to let go by you letting go of the toy yourself. As soon as he drops the toy reward him with a treat. This game is very educational and fun for your Pug.

4- Doggie Basketball – Playing basketball with your Pug will give him great exercise and keep him interested for a long time. You could use an empty shoe box or laundry basket for this game. Get a ball and drop it into the basket and tell your Pug “drop.” It may take a few times for him to understand this concept. Then give your Pug the ball and tell him to drop the ball into the basket. When he accomplishes this task always reward him with a treat.

5- Name Game - Pugs are very intelligent and we need to realize that they understand everything we say to them. Playing this game is very special for them as they feel happy when they remember the name of their toy. Get a toy that they love like a bear and throw it telling your Pug to go get the ‘bear.’ Reward him with a treat when he brings the toy back to you. To make this game more fun get another toy he loves and do the same thing. Then when you see that he knows the names of both of the toys, put them on the ground and tell him to fetch one of them. Praising and rewarding him after he fetch’s the toys will add to the excitement of this game and the dog will look forward to playing again.

Enjoying your Pug and all the great activities you share will increase the special bond you both have and enrich your life.

Photo credit: Andrew Becraft/Flickr