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Five-year-old titled obedience and rally obedience pug with a fancy for liver is a cherished pal of Nikki Terracall of Emerald, Australia.
Chip was a rescue pug. Nikki got him when he was three years old from the Melbourne, Australia Pug Rescue. Nikki says Chip’s face and his enthusiasm for life makes her laugh. She says he is a bit “full-on,” but that is what makes him an awesome obedience and rally dog. Chip has worked his way through six “titles” (RN, RA, RE, RAE, CCD, & CD) & is now working on his CDX title.
Nikki has two pugs and they both sleep on the bed with her. She gives them the right side of her bed. (Before that, they used to “pin her down” in the middle.) It used to be uncomfortable, but they have their system now. Chip will sleep some during the day, Nikki says, except when they are walking, training, gardening or doing chores. Nikki says he is ready for action at any given moment. Chip loves to play with a poodle friend. They play for an hour in the morning and an hour at night after dinner.
Chip has never been on a plane, but has traveled with Nikki for holidays and for competitions. She says he likes traveling, but is not a fan of riding in a car unless he can ride on her lap. Nikki says it’s impossible for Chip to ride on her lap so he rides in his crate in the back. He makes noises like a Tasmanian devil when she puts him in his crate and will make these noises for up to two hours. He eventually gives up.
Chip loves having his photo taken and “hams it up” for the camera with his big dewy eyes. He has had professional photos taken at his obedience trials.
Perfect at potty training and loves his forest walks.
Chip was potty trained when Nikki got him at the age of 3. He did have a few “mishaps,” usually when she was not home. She solved the mishap problem by crating him and she eventually bought a dog “nappy” on Etsy. Nikki says he is perfect now and doesn’t have any accidents. She still puts the nappy on him if she is going to be gone for an extended period of time, but according to Nikki, Chip has never had an accident in his nappy.
Nikki and Chip walk about three or four kilometers on four days a week, weather permitting. Sometimes, they just walk out their front gate, but other days, Nikki drives to a forest about five minutes away from their home. Chip loves walking in the forest. He makes a game out of walking among the trees. Nikki says he looks for the tree stumps, and then he runs ahead and jumps on one of them where he sits and waits for a treat. She always carries a pocket full of treats. Chip loves to run ahead of Nikki, hunting for the stumps. Chip has an obedience training session four to five times every week for about 15-20 minutes. He trains inside most of the time, but also trains at dog club training grounds.
Chip does not bark much. Nikki says he really only barks when he is inside the house when someone walks by or a car stops outside. She says his bark is just a pathetic “wuff,” and you can hardly hear it. Nikki says she talks to Chip constantly and he understands plenty because he has been trained on voice, signals and body language for obedience and rally competitions.
Nikki says that occasionally Chip will be by himself when she’s not home, but she has three dogs so he usually has company. She often gives him a chew item when she leaves, if she knows she is going to be gone awhile.
Heaps of fun and loves his liver
Chip gets a mixture of tin and dry food. Nikki likes Eukanuba as a dry food because it contains nutrients that help condition a dog. She said Chip gets lots of human leftovers too. She uses “Nature’s Gift” tin food. She also recommends Ziwi Peak, a freeze-dried food made in New Zealand. She says it is natural, it comes in a variety of flavors and is a great size for treats when training a dog. Chip gets his main meal about 4 or 4:30 p.m. Nikki also gives them a milk bone in the morning. She says Chip gets two milk bones because he is very active. Nikki works extremely hard to keep her pugs’ weight down. She says it’s important to her because being overweight can have a damaging effect on pugs. Nikki says it’s very easy to monitor their food intake and keep them active so they don’t become overweight. Liver is Chip’s favorite treat, although Nikki says that any food is pretty much a treat for him (after all, he is a pug). She doesn’t brush Chip’s teeth, but Nikki does give him a dental chew once every couple of days to try to keep his teeth healthy.
Chip wears a collar instead of a harness because of his obedience competitions. Nikki buys beautiful bling or quirky collars and matching leads from Etsy. She has them custom made and she says they are beautiful and fun. Nikki does, however, use a harness on her pug when he rides in the backseat of her car. Nikki says she adores Chip’s face. She says pugs are quite smart, are great company and very easy to train. She also says they learn very quickly. She has heaps of fun shaping their behavior, and you can take them anywhere. Chip’s favorite games are: Fetch, Chasy, and Find the Treat.
No health issues, but frontline is a no-go
Nikki says Chip has no health issues at this point, but she is going to get his soft palate checked. She is happy with her vet because he has a lot of experience and she trusts him because of his sympathetic manner and because she can call on him in a crisis. She tries to extend Chip’s life by exercising him and monitoring his weight. She also says it’s important to keep a pug warm or cool depending on the weather.
Nikki says she thinks Frontline is terrible to use on dogs and it should be taken off the market. She used it once but says she will never use it again. Nikki said it didn’t kill the fleas but it made her pugs go crazy. She said dog owners should also be careful of corncobs because dogs can’t digest them. Chip stole one off of a picnic table and ended up at the vet for three days. He had thankfully chewed most of it into small pieces so he was ok, but she said it was very scary.
Nikki’s advice for people considering a pug as a pet:
Nikki believes pugs are the best dogs ever. She recommends keeping them cool in the summer (a kiddie pool) and warm in the winter. She also says that pugs need to be with their people because their owners are their world. Nikki recommends a good wall mounted vacuum because you will be using it every day or every other day for excessive pug hair. She recommends getting your pug’s eyes checked often because pugs tend to have eye problems. She says pugs have a huge amount of energy and can be full on. But this makes them fun to play with and easy to train.
Doesn’t Chip look like a fun pug? We think he does!!
A huge “Thank You” to Nikki and her beloved Chip for letting us feature you on Pugpalooza. If you are interested in your pug being featured on our blog, please send me (Candy Johansen) a message on messenger or e-mail me at: candysphotos@gmail.com.
Until next time,
Hugs and Pug Kisses,
Candy
Chip is such a cutie. I enjoyed reading about Chip and his family.