Ears
Sue: In general, that smooshy, wrinkly pug face is a problem.
Pearl: I think I'm kind of cute.
S: Cute comes at a price.
P: Yes, indeedly doody. You owe me one cookie.
S: That's not what I meant.
P: Oh.
S: That cute face means that the apparatus in the nose and ears is kind of smooshed, too. One problem we've had is yeast in the ears.
P: You have that problem too, Mommy?
S: No, I mean we as in you.
P: Right!
S: The first time she got the infection, we had no idea. Pearl just started scratching like a maniac and there was a worse smell than usual coming from her. Took her to the vets and they told us the problem. We got sent home with some antibiotic and ear cleaner.
P: Don't like that stuff.
S: The drops had to put in after the ears were cleaned. Cleaning meant squirting liquid in, rubbing her ears and then putting some rolled up tissue in there to get the gunk out. The drops are easy after that.
P: Mommy and Daddy were mean to me twice a day for two weeks!
S: It was worth it. The infection hasn't come back but we do keep an eye on it.
P: And an ear.
Face Folds
S: Another smooshy face problem is the folds in her face. As mentioned in the grooming section, these folds have to be cleaned with warm water and dried every few days. One time Pearl did get an infection in her folds - her whole face puffed up.
P: Mommy said she didn't recognize me.
S: With her face puffed up, the wrinkles almost went away. She looked so different.
P: But cute.
S: Always cute.
Eyes
S: Because Pearl's wrinkles kind of smoosh up under her eyes, she actually has little dark spots in the corners of her eyes right on her eyeballs. I don't remember what the vet called them but apparently they are only going to get worse. The only treatment would be to have her wrinkles removed.
P: We don't want to do that.
S: No, we don't. I guess this problem is common in pugs so we are just keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't ever get bad.
S: I have my paws crossed.
Breathing Problems
S: I don't know if there is a medical term for this thing that pugs do but we call it snorking. It sounds cute but it's not.
P: I can't breath.
S: When Pearl gets too excited or too hot or has her allergies aggravated (I think she's allergic to dust and grass), she looks like she is having an asthma attack. She has a lot of trouble breathing and makes a horrible sound while she tries to catch her breath.
P: It runs pretty fast.
S: When it gets really bad, she sort of collapes so that her belly is on the floor and her face is close to the ground.
P: I'm looking for beans.
S: That wouldn't surprise me normally but I think in these cases you've been trying to breathe.
P: You're probably right.
S: When she has these fits, I try to calm her down by gently rubbing her and telling her to breathe.
P: Mommy! Everyone knows dogs don't speak English.
S: You do.
P: Oh, yeah.