Muffin

This little cutie is Muffin and she is a 4yr old fawn Pug who weighs 19lbs. Muffin came to us from a puppy mill situation sadly.  She was lacking socialization and was fearful of people and the world around her.  In her time in foster care she has learned that the world is a fun place, people can be kind and toys and chews are a lot of fun!! She is ready now to find her forever family where she can settle in and be a beloved member of the family. 

Muffin gave us quite the surprise when we got her! She went in for her spay and we found out that she was in the early stages of a pregnancy!!  Muffin had 5 adorable puppies in October.   We are so thankful that Muffin was able to birth and raise these pups in a loving home rather than in the puppy mill where she certainly would have stayed had they known she was pregnant.  Muffin was an excellent mom and did a great job with her pups, but her mom duties are done and it is her time now to be the focus and get all of the attention.   Muffin can’t be spayed until March but we didn’t want to hold her back from starting her life with her forever family.  She will be adopted out on a contract which will require her family to return her to our vet in Cambridge to be spayed.  This appointment will be made in consultation with her family but has to be done at our vet.  Anyone interested in Muffin must live within 45min or so of Cambridge to make this return for a spay feasible.  

Muffin is a happy, cuddly and lovable dog typical of her breed.  Pugs are known as lap dogs and she takes this role very seriously.  Muffin is at her happiest when she is cuddled on your lap, and she will stay there for as long as you allow.   She is a lap dog through and through.  She is though, still adjusting to life outside of a puppy mill and as such is nervous of new people and new things.  She needs her people to be fully understanding of this and know that she needs continued gentle socialization to the world around her and that she is shy initially upon meeting new people.  She very much wants to be around people and there is a very social dog in her just waiting to come out, but for now, she will often run up to people to give a quick kiss on the hand, and then will back away and observe from a distance.   One way to really win her over tho is with food, or walks.  She loves both and has a hard time saying no to a tasty tidbit or a fun stroll.

Muffin’s ideal home would be one with adults only or teens. She is still learning about the world around her and is nervous of noises or quick movements so a family with young children or one where young children visit regularly won’t suit her.  But a quiet and calm home will bring out the best in her.   Her outside environment should be quieter and calmer as well.  Muffin is currently fostered in a rural setting and this suits her well, but a small town, or quiet subdivision would also work for her; somewhere without a lot of traffic noises or a lot of people coming and going. She definitely wont want to live in a big city center.  Muffin lives with other dogs and cats in her foster home and is good with them. She quite likes other dogs and would happily live with another mature, calm dog that respect her need to settle in and not want to wrestle with her.  Muffin has been in her foster home for a few months now and is only now starting to initiate some gentle play with her foster siblings.  She would also do well as the only dog in the home and getting all of the attention.  Muffin mostly ignores the cats in the foster home.  Our cats are very dog savvy and don’t react to the dogs so she could similarly live with a dog savvy cat that wouldn’t pester her.

Muffin really enjoys her walks and trots along nicely.  She is still learning to stick to one side of us and not do laps around us as we walk, but again, a lot of her time in foster care was taken up with puppy raising so formal leash training skills are still a work in progress.  She would enjoy a few daily walks.  Having never had the chance to enjoy the outdoors prior, she really loves walk time now and loves to explore her neighbourhood.  As a mill dog, she must be considered a flight risk and we have to ensure her safety; she has to be on leash at all times unless in a secure fenced area. 

Muffin travels quietly in the car.  We crate her for the ride for her safety.  She doesn’t love car rides and finds the act of getting into the car scary, but once in and settled in her crate she is a good traveler.   She just needs more exposure to car rides to reduce her fear.  Muffin is also good in the house.  She is good to go to the bathroom outside; she just doesn’t know how to tell you that she has to go so you have to be proactive and let her out regularly.  She will do her business in the yard but prefers to do it out on a walk. A fenced in yard is not a requirement for her as she is much more comfortable and happy being out on leash and going for walks for exercise and potty breaks.   She is crate trained and quiet enjoys her crate time.  She would like her crate to be in the living room or other main room in the house, and left open so that she can come and go.  When we aren’t home and at night she sleeps in her crate with the door closed.  Muffin is also very quiet in the home and rarely barks.  She is a great roommate and is often so quiet and unassuming that you can easily forget that she is there…when she isn’t in your lap!  She really wants the attention and affection; she is just timid about it still with people she doesn’t know well.  With her foster family she is quite comfortable and will ask to be picked up onto our lap any time we sit down.   But with strangers she needs a slower approach; her socialization is slowly coming out of her more and more though!! She just needs her people to be kind and patient and understand that life in a puppy mill is often cruel and her exposure to people for her 1st four years wasn’t positive.  But she is a social dog at heart and we know that in time she will get there.  

Anyone interested in Muffin needs to think ahead to the holiday season…are you travelling?  Having large gatherings at your home?   Then sadly this won’t be an ideal time to be bringing a new dog into the home.  But if you have a travel free holiday season and will be mostly be spending quiet days and nights at home, then this would be a great time to introduce a new dog into the home.  All new dogs need consistency and routine in the weeks and months following an adoption so we have to ask all our applicants to think ahead as to what the holidays realistically will look like before submitting an application for this sweet girl.

Muffin’s favourite things are hanging out in the house  with us and getting a treat or two tossed her way, chewing on Nylabones ( a newly discovered pleasure for her), meal times, and walks.  She is a simple dog with simple likes and she is a very easy dog to live with.  Muffin is a lovely dog and we quiet enjoy her but we know that her perfect forever family it out there.   Anyone interested in her should be knowledgeable of the Pug breed.  If you are a gentle natured, patient and kind person or family and would have the time and care to help Muffin with her journey to confidence building and socialization what you will get from her in return is a happy, quirky little dog who will make you smile daily and who will be a loving companion for your daily walks and time at home.  This little dog is a joy.  We adore her and know you will too!