Puggle E-Book

Miriam Fields-Babineau

• Herausgeber: CompanionHouse Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Serie: Designer Dog
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 113

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Each book in the series provides advice about how to locate a healthy, sound puppy from a reputable source and how to properly raise and care for an adorable companion dog.

Leseprobe

About the Author

Miriam Fields-Babineau is a professional animal trainer and the author of over 30 books on animal training; she also provides animals for media productions. She has trained many dogs of different breeds and mixes in her classes over the years. She designed the Comfort Trainer Head Halter, All-in-One Training Leash and other animal training products. She resides on a farm in Virginia with her husband, son and many beloved pets.

About Our Cover Dog

Meet Cooper, a Puggle puppy owned by Kelly Williams of California. Cooper lists chewing, playing fetch and general mischief-making among his favorite activities. His owner says that he’s discerning and smart and really loves the attention of his human family and all his new friends.

Kennel Club Books®, the country’s only major publisher of dog books exclusively, proudly presents its Designer Dog® Series to celebrate the Puggle’s coming-out party. Continuing in its bold effort to produce a unique line of dog books, Kennel Club Books® releases the first ever books on the specific designer-dog crossbreeds. The company has also released many Special Limited Editions and Special Rare-Breed Editions on various unusual breeds.

Visit the publishers website at www.Kennelclubbooks.com to read more about the unique library of books available to dog lovers around the world.

KENNEL CLUB BOOKS®

Designer Dog®

  SERIES

PUGGLE

ISBN: 1-59378-678-6

Copyright © 2007 • Kennel Club Books® • An Imprint of I-5 Press™ • A Division of I-5 Publishing, LLC™3 Burroughs, Irvine, CA 92618 USAPrinted in South Korea

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataFields-Babineau, Miriam.  Puggle / by Miriam Fields-Babineau.    p. cm. — (Designer dog)  ISBN-13: 978-1-59378-678-6  ISBN-10: 1-59378-678-6  eISBN-13: 978-1-59378-716-51. Puggle. I. Title.SF429.P92F54 2007636.76—dc22

     2007009780

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, scanner, microfilm, xerography or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the copyright owner.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Puggle Sherman enjoys chewing on his toys, performing tricks and eating “anything you put in front of him.”

Acknowledgments

Thanks to the following owners of the dogs featured in this book: Becca Byrne, Chelle, Andre and Devina Calbert, the Lanzillotta family, Mary Meyers and Jeanette, Danielle and Dylan O’Neal.

Photography by:

Chelle Calbert

with additional photos by:Tara Darling, Karen Taylor and Alice van Kempen.

Pug.

Beagle.

From two of America’s favorite purebreds comes one of today’s favorite hybrids.

What Is a Puggle?

The name for a baby echidna (platypus) is “puggle.” The echidna is the only marsupial in Australia that lays eggs instead of birthing live young. The female lays an egg, which is incubated in a pouch, much like a young kangaroo. Ten days later the newborn hatches and is then considered a tiny puggle at less than half an inch long and weighing not even a thousandth of a pound. The puggle is carried in its mother’s pouch until it begins growing spines, at which time his mom leaves him in a burrow and returns every few days to feed him. The puggle leaves his burrow at the age of six months and his mom weans him around four months later.

Now for the canine version (far cuter than a platypus): a Puggle is the offspring of breeding a male Pug with a female Beagle.

There are well over 400 breeds of dog, many recognized by kennel clubs throughout the world. Many breeds are still in their infancy as breeders try to standardize their dogs to fit specific size and behavior guidelines. Now comes the designer-dog craze. This puts a wrinkle in the fabric of the purebred dog world, as hybrids and mixed breeds are becoming as popular and desirable as purebred dogs. Moreover, their price tags are often higher than those of purebreds.

Designer dogs are also called hybrids—a combination of two purebred dogs. The mixture can be any combination of the known registered breeds. The most popular hybrid dogs have been those mixed with Poodles, such as the Labradoodle, Golden-doodle, Cockapoo and others. Pug crosses are the latest hybrids to join the scene, and the Puggle is quickly gaining ground as it becomes the hybrid of choice among the fashionably elite, such as film and television celebrities. The New York Post has compared the Puggle to the equivalent of breeding a Marc Jacobs bag to a Louis Vuitton handbag, as the price of one of these designer bags is very much the same as the price of a Puggle—anywhere from $600 to $2000. Granted, a Puggle is not a handbag, but the dog’s size is similar to that of a larger designer bag, and the hybrid suits the lifestyles of many who live in urban areas.

Pet owners are attracted to Puggles for their compact size and companion qualities.

Wallace Havens is the first person to have purposely bred Beagles and Pugs together. He has been breeding hybrids since 1967. Though hybrids such as Cockapoos have been around for decades, the Puggle idea actually occurred by chance. A customer came to Mr. Havens’s Puppy Haven Kennel and told him of an accidental breeding between a Pug and a Beagle. He related how he’d seen the puppies and they were very cute. The customer suggested that Havens give the combination a try.

Puggles love to take life by the reins.

One of the longest known hybrids, Cockapoos have been popular pets since well before the “designer-dog” craze.

So, in 1993, the first Puggle puppies were sold at Barking Lot Pet Shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since this first litter, Wallace Havens has sold a rabble of Puggle puppies to pet shops and directly to customers around the country.

David Dietz, who resides in Brooklyn, New York, has been selling Havens’s Puggles for nearly a decade. He claims to sell upwards of 500 hybrid dogs per year. Dietz says that many people come into his store to buy another breed, but once they see the Puggle they are instantly infatuated with its appearance and personality. He says that men are attracted to the Puggle’s activity level. The dog loves to run and play outside, though tends to be quiet indoors. Women like the Puggle’s endearing face, with the big eyes and wrinkled forehead. Children love the dog because he is small, affectionate and playful. Puggles also love nothing more than to curl up on a lap for a snooze, and nobody can resist that. Moreover, they love to impress their human companions.

“They say I have my mother’s ears.”

Of all the toy hybrid dogs, Puggles are among the most sturdy while also being compact. Mike Rubin, who has worked with Puggles for years, says they’re ideal pets for children. They have great dispositions and inquisitive minds. Rubin tells his Puggle-owning clients that the dogs must be given regular exercise such as walks or trips to the dog park to expend their energy and that they should be trained in order to be good companions. He has sold Puggles to many celebrities, as this hybrid dog easily fits within their lifestyles. The list of Puggle-owning celebrities is a virtual who’s who, including James Gandolfini, Sylvester Stallone and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Rubin claims that though the Puggle is half Pug, he rarely has the respiratory issues commonly related to the Pug breed because the Beagle traits give the Puggle a longer nose, though still rounded and cute. The Puggle’s short coat is easy to maintain, and his size makes him easy to bring along with you.

It’s fun to snuggle with a Puggle (or two).

Why would a dog owner choose a Puggle instead of a purebred Beagle or Pug? Let’s look at the two parent breeds more closely and discover why this little hybrid has stolen hearts and emptied wallets.

THE BEAGLE

Beagles are popular pets and great hunting dogs. They have energy, willingness and great dispositions. They originated in England as a cross between the Harrier and other hounds. Beagles can hunt in packs, alone or in pairs. The most common use of a Beagle is as a rabbit-hunting dog, though they also track quail and pheasant equally well. Because Beagles have incredible scenting abilities, they are currently being used as narcotic-detection dogs in airports and at border checkpoints. They have also been trained to detect bomb-building materials and other contraband. Their small size and cuteness make them less menacing in appearance than the usual police dogs and their noses are unsurpassed.

Beagles are sturdy and squarely built. They come in two small sizes, either 13 inches or under at the shoulder or over 13 but under 15 inches at the shoulder. They weigh around 18–25 pounds, though they are “food hounds” and can easily become overweight, reaching 40 pounds or more. Beagle coat colors are usually a combination of white, brown and black, with the black forming a saddle over the back and the white normally encasing the legs, chest, neck and nose. Some Beagles are lemon-colored with white; the lemon coloring is either in patches or in a saddle-like pattern as in the typical tri-colored Beagle. Beagles have short, easy-care coats but they do tend to shed—a lot. Aside from brushing, Beagles don’t require much grooming other than consistent cleaning of their fold-over ears to prevent ear infections and regular trimming of their nails.

Beagles have broad skulls and slightly rounded straight muzzles. They have strong wide feet, great for traversing any terrain. Their eyes are hazel brown, their ears long, soft and pendant. They normally carry their straight tails high, but never over their backs. Their black noses with wide full nostrils are built for scenting. Beagles were bred as scenting hounds, and not many other dogs can surpass this breed’s ability to track game and stay on a trail for extended periods of time. They have a distinct loud howl/bay that alerts their human hunting companions to the location of their quarry.

Due to the Beagle’s (shown here) head traits, the Puggle offspring have longer muzzles and less wrinkling than a purebred Pug.

This medium to small breed has a good life expectancy at 12–15 years. Long life expectancy makes the hybrid pups more attractive to potential buyers. The average litter size is 7, though as many as 14 pups can be born to one mother.

There are some lines of Beagles that are prone to certain health problems, which include heart disease, eye and back problems and chondrodysplasia (dwarfism). But, when compared to the problems that are found in many other breeds, such as the popular retrievers or spaniels, the number of potential health issues found in the Beagle is relatively minor.

Beagles have great temperaments. They’re sweet, curious and lively, and are very social with other dogs and people. In fact, they love people so much that they can easily develop separation anxiety if left alone for long periods of time. Beagle owners who have long work hours often have more than one dog so that they have the company of each other.

Because Beagles are hunting hounds, they do have a huge prey drive. Beagles are difficult to control if they catch the scent of other animals, as their instincts take over 100%. This attribute might make them difficult companions in households that have cats or other small pets.

This breed also requires a lot of exercise. While their size is ideal for life in a condominium or apartment-style community, they do need to be allowed regular opportunities to run, play and socialize. Without this, they can become very destructive.

Beagles are very determined, stubborn and alert, a combination that can make them difficult to train for anyone who doesn’t have patience, persistence and the willingness to be consistent at all times.

THE PUG

The American Kennel Club classifies the Pug as a toy breed, though it was actually originally derived from a giant breed, the Mastiff. There are mixed thoughts on this history, as the Pug is a very old breed, having been recognized as early as 400 BC in Asia. In the 16th century Pugs were fashionable in the European courts, reaching a peak of popularity during the Victorian era. This breed was favored in Tibet at monasteries and later traveled to Japan, where it became equally popular.

The Puggle’s coloration is similar to that of the Pug, although black Puggles are more rare than black Pugs.

There are some historical events of note in the Pug’s background. In 1572 a Pug saved the life of William, Prince of Orange, by alerting him to approaching Spaniards at Hermingny. Josephine, wife of Napoleon, sent secret messages to her husband under the collar of her Pug while she was imprisoned. When the British conquered the Chinese Imperial Palace in 1860, they discovered several Pugs and brought them back to England with them. The American Kennel Club recognized the breed very early, in 1885, though the world had already known of their superior watchdog and performance abilities for many hundreds of years.