Daily Struggles of a Pug Mumma (Part 1: Bed Time)

This is Peppa (yes like Peppa pig but Peppa pug. I hope some of you get the pun). She is a three month old fawn pug puppy, and most likely the most spoiled pug in the world. She lives with me, my partner and my teenage sister. We got Peppa very spontaneously, we wanted a pug for a very long time and so had done all the research and whilst doing so found Peppa. My partner (who says pugs aren't real dogs) couldn't resist. I'm not sure if it was mine or Peppa's puppy eyes that managed to persuade him but we did.

To start off she was an absolute delight, so well behaved. She napped a lot and cuddled a lot and ate a lot. I had many people compliment me about how well behaved she was and obviously how adorable she looked. She didn't put a foot wrong, apart from the whole missing-the-newspaper accident every now and then. Little did I know, this would not last.

So the time came when we got her a crate so sleep in at night. We put her bed in it along with a blanket from her mum, toys and a teddy from our bed. We put her in her crate every now and then throughout the day and she was perfect. There was no signs of fear of the crate and she didn't struggle when she put her in it. We tried to do a bit of word association so she would learn "bed" and know this was time for her to take herself to her crate and settle down.

Fast forward to 11 PM and the time comes for her to go to bed. We place her in her bed, say good night and head of to bed thinking we'd nailed this puppy parenting. My boyfriend and I manage to just get in the bed when it happened. Our adorable pug puppy had somehow transformed into a acrobatic squirrel.

Never in my life had I heard such strange noises coming from a dog; not a bark, not a cry, but some sort of chattering? and squeaking. Naturally I sent the bf downstairs to check it out, because surely our angelic puppy couldn't make sounds like this?.

That's when he saw it.

She looked like she had been possessed, flipping and jumping of the sides of the crate like some sort of dare devil. Since when did being a puppy parent require you to check your pug daughter hasn't been summoned by the devil himself? She was mental. The noises were horrific.

We were in shock. How? Just how? He's then looking at me questioning the idea that I had let us purchase some sort of mutant. I'm looking at him blaming him saying we hadn't given her enough time to settle in. Next thing I know my sister has now joined us and is blaming the both of us because she's trying to sleep but the dog/squirrel/acrobat/stuntman/devil is keeping her awake!

We are all now gathered in the living room staring at the wonder of this animal. I crouched down and opened the crate. The second those latches were pulled back she was out of there and into my arms looking at me with those big pug eyes "Why You Do This" she seemed to be suggesting as she's panting in my arms. I'm not a human mother but I guess this is the equivalent of putting your baby in it's cot for the first time. The sense of sadness and guilt is now rushing over me.

I did the only thing I knew might have a chance of working. I cuddled her up in my arms and rocked her to sleep and then gently put her in her bed and slid away trying not to wake her. I then crept back to my bed like something out of a detective movie, closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

She was quiet after that, I'm guessing she wore herself out, however that didn't stop me waking up every hour or so worried about her in her crate downstairs all alone. I don't know about the dog but I was the one experiencing separation anxiety... from the pug! I desperately wanted to go and check on her every time I woke up, but knew I ran the risk of her turning back into a mutant and your girl was not ready to deal with that again. So I waited, lied there listening intently and trying to distract myself. Crazy right. The Puppy is fast asleep dreaming and I'm in my bed, awake for the hundredth time worrying about her.

Four weeks later: We have persisted with the crate training and I can happily inform you she now loves her crate, but still likes to let you know she's in it for about half an hour before she finally falls asleep. The whole "bed" command is still something we are working on. I mean, she knows what her bed is and is quite happy to show you her bed when you say "bed" however not so happy to actually get in it. I still wake up during the night go to the landing and wait to hear her snoring so I know she is okay.